When I booked my ticket to Buenos Aires, I had 2 weeks left before my flight to Australia. I chose to spend all that time in BA actually. It felt good to be back in the city again, after long long time inland, in the mountains, deserted places & mainly meeting people who wanted hiking. BA is enormous, and have EVERYTHING! If u go here, this is not the city u want just a few days in. This is a city u want to be in, experience and enjoy.
View from our rooftop terrace |
Etter de 4 dagene på partyhostellet Milhouse, valgte jeg et mindre topprangert hostel på hostelworld. Mindre og mer intimt, betyr oftes nye bekjentskaper/venner. Og denne plassen hadde også en enorm takterasse, en liten bar og den eldste heisen du kan tenke deg (ikke morsomt å sitte fast i vel og merke). Dette hostellet ligger også sentralt langs Avenida de Mayo, hostel Tarrazas Evoril.
I can't call myself a ordinary tourist anymore. I don't fell like I HAVE TO see and do everything the guidebook says I Have to do. I do what I want, exactly when I feel like it. And it was amazing to be in one place over a longer period of time, not moving hostel every night, second night. The big hazard is off course to actually pack your backpack, AGAIN, and check out in time.
After 4 nights in Milhose (partyhostel), I chose a smaller one, top ranked on hostelworld. Smaller and more intimate, most of the time means new friends. Hostel Tarrazas Evoril also had an enormous roof-top terrace, a small bar, music around the clock, and the oldest elevator I've seen (not fun to be stuck in). This hostel is also central along a mainstreet, Avenida de Mayo.
En dag jeg valgte å være turist, dro jeg på sykkeltur rundt i visse deler av BA. Utrolig stor gruppe folk også. De tok oss gjennom veldig kjente nabolag: San Telmo, Puerto Madero, La Boca. Det er det som er med Buenos Aires, det er ikke så mange steder og spesielle ting du bør se, det er mer å oppleve de forskjellige nabolagene. De er veldig forskjellige.
One day I chose to be a tourist, and went on a bicycle-tour in some parts of BA. We where a big group, maybe 30 people? It lasted for maybe 5 hours, costed around 100 NOK, and took us through amazing neighbourhoods like: San Telmo, Puerto Madero, La Boca. That's the thing about Buenos Aires, its not loads of special places to visit, and special things to see. It's more about experiencing the different parts of the city. They are very different.
Jeg hang endel med Ellen fra Nederland, og sammen hadde vi en felles venn fra Brasil, men han hadde bodd i BA i 3 år. En hel dag med ham, vandret vi rundt omkring i byen. Å bare vandre rundt er for meg desidert den beste måten og se og oppleve en ny på. Jeg elsker det at vi bare kunne sette oss i en park eller noe slikt, og bare slappe av. Se på folket også vel og merke, som er min hobby når jeg er ute og reiser.
I met Ellen in the hostel, a girl from Holland, and we got a new friend from Brasil, who had lived in BA for 3 years. A long day with him, walking around the city. He could tell us so much. To walk around in a new place is for me the best way to get to know a new city/place, and to live it. I love it when we can just sit in a park, or something similar, and relax. And off course, "people-watching", which is my big hobby while traveling.
La Boca |
Vi endte omsider opp i nabolaget Recoletta, en veldig kjent bydel. Minte meg litt om Paris (det er nok gjerne det de prøver litt på også), gamle høye pene bygårder, med gater nesten dekt av høye trær hengende over gatene. Leo og Ellen hadde vært på den kjente kirkegården: Cementerio de la Recoleta....før men vi gikk dit en tur likevel. Absolutt verdt et besøk. Det er en liten by! Så bla.graven til Evita. Tror nok at om jeg hadde kjent til historien om mektige familier og slikt i BA, vill ejeg fått så mye mer ut av det.
Leo som hadde bodd i nabolaget, tok oss med til en kjent Argentinsk resturant. Det var ikke helt enkelt og forstå denne grillmenyen så han bestilte litt forskjellig vi kunne prøve. Blant annet var det kinnet fra ku/okse (det var helt greit, men ikke fantastisk), og hans favoritt: innvoller... Absolutt ikke noen favoritt, konsistensen og alt var bare ekkel.
We ended up in the famous neighborhood Recoletta. It reminded me a bit about Paris (but I think that's by intention, they call BA, mini-Paris), with nice high apartmentbuildings (old style), with huge trees almost covering the streets. Leo and Ellen had been to the famous cemetary: Cementerio de la Recoleta before....but we went there anyway. Worth a visit. It's like a small village, with a city square and streets and so on, a bit creepy. Among loads, I saw the grave of Evita. I think that if I only knew more about the history of BA, very important families and so on, I probably would have enjoyed it more.
Leo, who had lived in the neighborhood, took us to an Argentinean resturant. It was a bit difficult to understand the bbq-menu, so he ordered different things for us to try. One of his favorites: intestines. That was SO not a favorite, strange consistency and was really strange to chew.
@ the cemetery |
På vei hjem gikk vi innom noe som har vært et teater en gang i tiden, som nå er bygd om til en stor bokbutikk, the Ateneo. På "scenen" har de nå en kafe. Var absolutt verdt et besøk. Stiligste bokhandelen jeg noensinne har sett.
When we where walking back to the hostel, we went to this bookstore. Once upon a time it had been a big theatre, so they fixed it up, and changed it to a very very nice bookstore, the Ateneo. Where the scene had been, it now is a cafe. Coolest bookstore ever.
The Ateneo |
Beer and pizza in the streets on our way out!!! |
Neste dag tok Leo meg rundt på ny sightseing. Han skulle veksle noe penger på det svarte markedet, og jeg ble med. Det er er ikke så svart at det er hemmelig akkurat. De står i gatene og roper "cambio, cambio", altså veksling/bytte. Jeg angrer bitter på at jeg ikke tok med meg amerikanske dollar inn i landet, hadde tjent så godt på det! Den offisielle verdien 5 pesos/usd, bytter man på gaten får man 8 pesos/dollar. Etter dette dro vi på shopping, eller han egentlig, jeg fant absoltut ingenting. Det varte og det rakk i outlet-butikker i Palermo, merkebutikker vel go merke.
Next day, Leo took me on a new sightseeing in other neighborhods. He was going to change some money at "the black market", and I came. It's the black market, but not so discrete, and nobody ends up in jail because of it (not that I've heard of). They stand in the streets shouting "cambio, cambio"...change. I SO regret that I didn't take American dollars with me into Argentina, I could have gained that much! The official changerate is at 5 pesos/dollar, in the street you can get it for 8 pesos/dollar. Anyway, after this we went shopping in fancy areas in Palermo. I couldn't find anything, so it was mainly him. Outlet stores everywhere in a few streets in Palermo, brand-stores.
Etter dette var det jo på tide med et par øl rundt kjente.....en stor Quilmes kostet der oppe rundt 40 pesos (45 kr), mens på hostellet, halve prisen. Så det var for turistopplevelsens skyld rett og slett, en øl i Palermo.
After hours of watching someone else shop, it was time for a couple of beers. A big Quilmes up there costs about 40 pesos (45kr), but at the hostel, we get it for half the price. So that was just a symbolic beer in fancy Palermo.