Monday, our 4th day in Argentina, was all in all a quiet day. I (Marga, who is blogging now) started it by packing up. We were planning to go to Buenos Aires later that day. We'd only been at the hotel for 3 nights, but our stuff was already all over the place. I can't believe how messy we are! It takes soooo long to pack back up! We then went to breakfast at the hotel and then off to exchange $ and the travel agency to pay for our tickets for our Patagonia tour. The dollar has been going down and down, and therefore everything is becoming more expensive for us. Oh well, if the peso was still the same as the dollar we would never have been able to do this trip.
After going back to the hotel and finishing packing we went over to Glady's house for lunch. It was nice and relaxing and we hang out for quite a while there before taking a taxi back to the hotel for our suitcases and then over to the bus station. Then it was on to a bus to Buenos Aires. Thanks to some very nice passangers we managed to get out only a couple of blocks away from our hotel.
We are staying at the Gran Hotel Argentino, a place I saw described as the kind of place people from the provinces would stay in (it seems like it). It´s a 3 star establishment and pretty cheap at A$60 for a ¨suite¨. It doesn´t have the amenities that the hotel in La Plata had, however. There is no internet and no fridge in the room, and we have a view of other people´s windows. Still, the room is large and the bed was comfy. The lack of a fridge presented a dilema for us last night, as Mika is in the habit of waking up late at night or early in the morning and demanding milk. We weren´t sure what to do, but we decided to buy a carton of milk that doesn´t need refrigeration, and open it up if needed.
Fortunately for us Mika slept all night long without waking up, and once she did in the morning she wanted to run around, not drink milk. Our little girl is growing up!
I am apalled by the prices of baby stuff in Argentina. Milk, in itself, is expensive from a comparative point of view, but diapers and baby food are just ridiculous! Mike bought a 12 pack of Large Huggies for her at A$10.50, we pay less at home! A jar of baby food at the supermarket is about A$4 (about $1.50), at home it would be $.65 (less if on sale). I have to wonder who can afford to feed this stuff to their children. We are going to try to feed Mika as much grown up food as possible.
After we checked in at our hotel, we went walking up and down Avenida 9 de Julio, calle Corrientes and calle Florida. Mike was amazed at how quickly porteños walk. At 7:30 we met with Graciela, a friend-colleague of mine, and we went to a nice restaurant near where she works. We had dinner and Mike very kindly took care of Mika, while Graciela and I talked and planned. All in all it was a very good day.
Today we started by having breakfast at the hotel (most Argentine hotels offer a free buffet breakfast). The quality of the food was clearly lower than that of our La Plata hotel, but free food is free food, so we ate. We then had showers and went off to explore the city. And exchange $. Exchanging $ is not an easy task in Argentina, banks are only open for a few hours a day and not on weekends. Oh well.
We went to Plaza de Mayo and had a blast playing with the pigeons. You can buy seeds there to feed them, and the things will flock all over you, get on your hands, arms, back, head, wherever. It was really cool.
After playing for a while we had lunch and then came back to the hotel and now here we are. Mika is sleeping in her stroller while Mike is guarding me.
Off for now.
Posted by mike at May 6, 2003 10:21 AMit's good you have Mike guarding you while Mika sleeps in a stroller. you never know when they might attack. on the other hand, can he truly protect you from such a deadly combo?
btw, i'm really enjoying your travel blogs. i hope you'll be able to continue them throughout your trip! give my regards to aunt gladys if you get the chance.
Posted by: ashley's minion at May 6, 2003 04:54 PM