Buenos Aires – Day 2 | We Are Tripping

As Krystal mentioned, the late culture here has really helped us ease into the time change. We’re 3 hours ahead of Oklahoma. So, we slept pretty late on Saturday. I figured that a good workout would help wake me up and give me some much-needed energy for the day. So, we went to the gym at the hotel. It was killer! The machines were all so high tech. They had web access and televisions built in. I was able to check in on Facebook, and catch up on the news while I was on the bike. On the way out, I saw the pool. It was a huge, indoor lap pool. I couldn’t see how long it was without walking out to the pool area. As I walked down the steps, I stepped right into a crystal clear, invisible water-filled “rinse” area with my shoes and socks on. Quite embarrassing. I’m used to seeing rinse pools at beaches, to rinse sand from your feet. But, I didn’t expect one in the spa/gym. Oh well, shake it off, gringo!

We had planned to do a Buenos Aires Bus Tour of the city. The bus route hits all of the important landmarks and most of the major neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It’s a hop on/hop off type of tour that circles back and starts over every 3 hours or so. You can get on and off the bus at any of the stops. We had intended to get on the bus at stop 18, which is just a few blocks from our hotel. We would then ride the whole circuit, making notes of places we’d like to return to (probably via taxi). But, this was not to be. We went to the corner where stop 18 was indicated on the map. The buses are supposed to run every 20 minutes. We stood there for about 30 minutes before spotting a “tourist information” booth at the end of the block. So, we asked about the tour. Turns out, on Saturdays and Sundays, you can only purchase tickets at stop number 1. On weekdays, you can purchase tickets and start your trip at any stop. Since stop number 1 was so far away, we blew it off. But, we did get a map from the tourist info booth. They had run out of English language maps. So, we had to do our best with the Spanish Edition.

We sat down with the map at La Biela, a restaurant we remembered from one of the tourist guides we have on Krystal’s iPad. We both had sandwiches. I’ve realized quickly that I just can’t have a thick, juicy steak at every meal. So, I ordered a steak sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and an egg. I was expecting a fried egg. But, the sandwich showed up with a sliced hard-boiled egg! Dang! This was a great sandwich!

Krystal ordered a cured ham and cheese sandwich. Krystal hardly ever eats pork. This was completely out of the blue. But, she said that she’s preparing herself for Madrid. Her sandwich was delicious, too!

During lunch, we had decided to visit the Museum of Modern Art. Luckily, Krystal had gone out to ask the woman at the tourist information booth what time the museum closed. Because, as it turned out, the museum had moved several miles away from where it was listed on our map. So, we got a new address.

We spent some time walking around the GIANT artisan market near the restaurant before grabbing a taxi to the museum. The first taxi driver we asked told us that we were only 5 blocks from the museum and could easily walk. So, we walked, and walked, and walked. The best we could guess is that he had pointed us in the direction of the museum’s previous location. So, we got in another cab and told the driver where we wanted to go. We showed him the name of the Museum on the map. He ignored the name and just started driving toward the listed address… the old address!! Luckily the woman for the tourist info booth had written the new address on the map. So, a few minutes later we were headed across town to the museum’s new location.

The museum was beautiful and quite inspiring. Even the architecture screamed modern art. There was an incredible staircase. I can’t even explain it. And, I don’t usually whip out the camera at museums. So, you’ll just have to take my word for it. We saw some incredible paintings, sculptures and video exhibits. Afterwards, we walked around the great neighborhood where the museum was located and took lots of cool pictures.

Returning to the hotel, we rested up for a bit before heading back out to one of the hotel restaurant where we had reserved a table for a killer 5 course meal and a Tango show. It was outdoors, with a live band, and a great singer. And, the dancers were fantastic! The food was super upscale. My first experience with foie gras (gross). Some other interesting selections from the meal: caviar (yum!), salmon ice cream (yum!), zucchini flowers stuffed with prawns and cauliflower (yum!), lime and basil sorbet (double yum!). And, those were just the two starter courses! I’ll let Krystal tell you about the remaining 3 courses.

The show was a lot of fun. The wine was flowing! All in all, it was just another beautiful night in Buenos Aires. We got back to the room just in time to see God turning his back on Tim Tebow.

Here are some pics from the day: