Day 24 - Recovery

A day of recovery and planning.

We slept in to help Gail get over her cold. She took advantage of having a washer to do several loads of wash and we looked at where we want to go after Buenos Aires. Made some reservations in El Calafate and explored options for Iguazu. Later we went to El Zanjon, a restored space of tunnels and cisterns, but found it was only by guided tour, which we'd already missed. Did some strolling/exploring around the neighborhood.

I've mentioned that the economic situation is hard here for most people - rampant inflation, frozen salaries. In spite of that, there seems to be a lot of construction going on. As we look out on and walk the streets, we frequently see dumpster divers scouring for cardboard to recycle. As we sat in Plaza Durrego yesterday, we were approached every few minutes by beggars. That poses an ethical dilemma. We feel for the people but can't give to everyone so how do we choose who to give to? We haven't solved that dilemma, yet.

For dinner we went to the corner just across the street to Bar Federal. This was the top listed dining spot in our guidebook for the San Telmo area. We had two great steak dinners. We were early (by Latin American standards) at 7:30 PM, but the old, wood-paneled bar filled up as we enjoyed our meal.

Language is often a problem - in a different sense. My Spanish is pretty good so I try to speak it when dealing with the people we meet. Many people, however, speak English and we often wind up with me speaking Spanish to the Argentines while they respond in English. Sometimes it's just comical; other times it produces misunderstandings.

Yes, that's a Buddah in the living room of the apartment. The owner lives in London and only comes back here during the summer. The apartment is furnished in a very eclectic style with modern furniture, old world accessories and avant garde art on the walls.

The Bar Federal is on the corner. The sign says, "We're open when we arrive; we're closed when we leave."Read more