argentina: buenos aires again

we went back to buenos aires because bo's time in argentina was almost over...boooo
the late arrival of our bus back in buenos aires was not particularly convenient...it took us a bit to find our way out of the massive bus station, partly because we tried to find someone who would give us change...we knew we were going to ride a local bus, which doesn't give change, and we didn't want to overpay simply because we didn't have small change...
the local bus dropped us in a neighborhood called san telmo...(i mentioned this neighborhood in an earlier post)...after a lot of discussion and investigation, we'd booked a hostel in this neighborhood...though rosario is only three hours from buenos aires, we checked into the hostel 7 hours after we left rosario...

our dinner was at a self service place across the street from our hostel, i had empanadas...yummy, as usual...after dinner we walked to plaza dorrego, and tried to find a mural of che...the guidebook says this mural is on plaza dorrego, but it wasn't there...we looked everywhere, but it wasn't there...it might be in a small side street in the surrounding area, but it isn't easily found...if it's even there...
the next morning we got up in time for the breakfast that was supposed to be included in the hostel price...it was less than adequate, to say the least...after breakfast bo started rearranging his pack, in preparation for several flights on his way back to the states...

we went for a quick walk, one last effort to find the che mural...we failed again...
then we walked up a main street to the money changing area of florida street, i needed to change money...we had lunch at a fantastic empanada place called la cocina...(the same place i went with the girls before bo arrived in argentina)...
more walking led us to a supermarket with wine, bo stocked up with three bottles...
after returning with the wine, we stopped for a cup of tea at a cafe on plaza dorrego...the decor of the cafe is super old school, great for sepia toned photos :)

we returned to the hostel, and bo finished packing...he knows how to pack wine bottles so they don't break in transport...we walked to the shuttle bus place so bo could catch a bus to the airport...a bus left almost immediately, so we said goodbye and went our separate ways...
my next chore was to buy train tickets, and buy a sube card...a sube card can be used to ride buses and subways in buenos aires...you can charge them in heaps of places in the city, but it is far more difficult to figure out where to buy the card itself...eventually, i succeeded, after going back and forth between several locations for a while...

i rode the subway to constitution train station, and bought train tickets for the next evening...then i rode the subway back to an area called retiro, and walked to the fantastic german bakery called smeterling...(i think i mentioned it in an earlier post)...i bought and ate too much...YUM...
on the way home i ate real dinner food, and listened to a bunch of the podcasts stored on my iphone...
the next morning i reserved flights online, then walked to the airline office to pay for the flights...i reserved the flights pretending i was argentinean, which got me a much cheaper fare...to make that work, i had to pay in cash, at the office, pretending i was paying for a friend...(domestic flights are heavily subsidized for argentines)...

i spent the afternoon back in the hostel, reading...it was raining, and i'd spent plenty of time in buenos aires, so i didn't feel like i was missing out...all of my stuff was packed up, as i had checked out that morning...
after finding dinner at the place across the street again, i grabbed my bags and took the subway to constitution train station...
my night train to bahia blanca left on time :)