May 8: Buenos Aires (going full circle)

I arrived in Buenos Aires at 10:00 a.m. on a perfectly crisp and sunny autumn morning. I slept most of the 18-hour bus ride, so I was ready to greet the day.  From the bus terminal, I walked with the two other gringos I had rounded up for safety purposes four blocks through a less desirable section of town to the subte.  We unknowingly got sprayed with shaving cream along the way.  I figure that if this is the worst that happens then I am doing ok.  Besides there are worse things to smell like than shaving cream.

Plaza de Mayo

I dropped my stuff off at the hostel, booked a boat ticket to Uruguay, and took the subte to San Telmo.  San Telmo is a European looking section of town complete with cobbled streets that hosts a weekly feria artesenal each Sunday.  The streets were lined with vendors mostly peddling crap, with a few nice items here and there.  There were street performers and in the main plaza there were vendors selling antiques.  It was too crowded to even take pictures, so I made my way back to the subte.

My next stop was on the opposite end of the city in Palermo.  The owner of my hostel told me there was some sort of celebration in the Japanese Garden.  I walked over from the subte station to find that there wasn´t a celebration, but there were a lot of people.  I paid the $2 USD admission just for the priviledge of using the bathroom and it was worth.  After one fast lap around the garden, I exited and decided to walk back to Recoleta. The weather was too good not to walk the 5 km or so.

Jardín Japones

I walked back past the floralis generalis and mused briefly that I had now come full circle on my South American odyssey.  I wandered into the plaza by the cemetary where the Recoleta feria artesenal was in full swing.  I browsed through casually, but didn´t have the energy to buy anything.  I can buy stuff next week before I leave.

Giant flower sculpture; the petals close at night

I made my way back to the hostel for a descanso (rest) before walking 18 blocks to my thus far favorite restaurant.  Cumanà is one of the few Lonely Planet recommendations that has not diminished in quality or increased in price since its listing in the traveller´s bible.  I was seated next to two porteño (from Buenos Aires) elder ladies who immediately took an interest in me.  I left with both of their phone numbers `just in case.´ The calabaza y lomo cazuela (pumpkin and beef stew) was every bit as yummy as I remembered!

¡Happy Mother´s Day!