I’m going to try to recap the trip while it’s still fresh on my mind. Bear with me…this will take a few parts - and I’ve included some links to my Ginger Snap Instagram. Enjoy - I know I did!! :)
Tuesday, December 26:
Flight to Buenos Aires was uneventful. Did not sit next to a handsome stranger, but I did sit in the window seat and next to a small woman who was on a tour with some other women. She was nice and we chatted a bit. She was on her way to Antarctica by way of Patagonia! I drank a couple of glasses of wine and watched some mindless movies. Actually fell asleep for a little while (don’t think I’ve ever really done that in coach on a nearly 12-hour flight before). All-in-all, was okay in coach class because I was so excited for the trip.
Wednesday, December 27:
Landed on time in Buenos Aires. Had a couple of hours to wait at the airport for Elaine’s plane to get in, and I wanted to wait in the first class lounge, but I realized pretty quickly that there wasn’t a way to get to the lounge - I had to pass through immigration and then I couldn’t get back over to where I could get to the lounge. I decided it would be no big deal to just find a place to plop myself down and wait…which I did. But I also discovered that it was HOT and that I was fairly bundled up so I found a bathroom to change into a sundress and waited and people watched. Elaine showed up on time and we were off to hop in a cab and get to our hotel.
Hotel was ADORABLE with a capital A. It was a tiny boutique hotel in the heart of the Palermo Hollywood (which is a section of the Palermo neighborhood, north of downtown). It was this neighborhood that became OUR neighborhood for the next 5 days.
Palermo Hollywood, and it’s neighbor, Palermo SoHo are the hip, tree-lined hoods of BA, filled with little cafes, boutiques and craft beer halls - the area is like a giant piece of street art with nearly every building painted with murals or at least brightly colored. Our hotel fit right in. In fact, it was nearly camouflaged by climbing ivy greenery and kind of tucked back off the street. Inside, a midcentury modern dream come true with funky decor and art everywhere.
The staff were hip and handsome (all bearded men....and the accents!) who were super friendly and somewhat helpful. They were able to arrange a couple of dinner reservations for us (we quickly found out that dinner is eaten VERY LATE in Argentina - usually around 10pm) and advised us on taxis - sometimes hard to get - and Uber - sometimes unreliable (well, WE actually figured that out by ourselves pretty quickly, though Uber became a lifesaver a few times since taxis are nearly impossible to get during times like New Years Eve!).
Our room was very small, but worked out well for us as we didn’t spend tons of time there. Two twin beds, two nightstands, a small wardrobe (we’d both carried on, so not a lot of need for a big space for clothes, and a nice-sized bathroom. A large picture window looked down upon a garden area that included a breakfast/lunch cafe that I found the most stunning part of the hotel.
This area where breakfast/lunch were served opened out into a super lush, green garden and a swimming pool area. It looked like an urban oasis. You can see it here with the pool in the background. And here is the pool. They must occasionally have some CRAY parties here because Elaine and I both had to sign a waver that if we brought any non-guests to the pool it was an extra $30US!
Oh, and behind the pool was a totally hidden secret guest house! I would have never known if Elaine hadn’t told me - until we noticed that a stunningly beautiful couple with a small child was staying there. We never did quite figure out who they were - the guy had long blond hair and tattoos and the girl looked like a Brazilian swimsuit model (and had no problem showing us her bikini bod a few times) and their child was a gorgeous tow-headed toddler who was, at times, a boy in swim trunks and a princess in a flowing robe at other times. Stil scratching my head about them.
Anyway, the garden was our spot to sit and have our coffee and breakfast in the mornings and plan our days and watch the other guests. Most other guests seemed like young rockstars to me, though there were a couple of other older folks having breakfast with their laptops (presumably working).
On this day, we unpacked a little and headed out into the neighborhood to walk around and check it out. This is when we learned about the crazy sidewalks in various states of disrepair with cracks and holes and all kinds of craziness. We also discovered that the footwear of choice for women are these crazy platform sandals. Check these out! They add a bit of height while keeping from breaking stiletto heels and the like. I knew I’d want a little stability while I was there, so I packed wedges, but even they were a bit hard to maneuver on the challenging pathways. Okay, let’s be honest…even our flats were difficult. Those sidewalks were HARSH!
Still, that didn’t stop us from seeing the sights and loving the barrio!
That evening, we didn’t have dinner reservations, but our hotel concierge picked out a lovely seafood place where we sat outside in the wonderful warm air, split a delicious bottle of…something…I don’t remember, but we wanted to save our REAL wine experience for Mendoza, and Elaine had sushi and I had some kind of wonderful seafood mix skillet somethingorother. It was delicious and we were tired by the end of dinner.
Walked back to hotel and ended the day at probably around 11pm. So far so good!
more to come…
xox,
GS
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