Our Final Week in BA
97 days traveling and counting...
14.10.2010 - 19.10.2010
As reported before, Santa Fe was amazing. We celebrated Ariels' birthday with him and his 50 friends. No joke the house was full of Argentines. I have to mention a short thing about the difference from growing up in the US as opposed to down here. I mentioned he had around 50 friends at his birthday because no one leaves home or goes to far from home after High School so everyone stays friends. I was talking with an Argentine who didn't understand our need to move from home after High School and rarely return, and after seeing everyone together I do understand why they stay home or close to home. It is a nice difference I think.
Anyway, we spent the next few days running along the river in the mornings and sitting in the sun in the afternoon. We even spend a Sunday with them, which mean ASADO. Yes, a pile of meat shared between the whole family. See Sundays are family days, and what are family days without a giant pile of meat. We definitely need to start that tradition back home.
We left Santa Fe on Wednesday the 13th via bus and arrived back in BA. It felt like we were returning home. Well, it mostly felt that way because we were able to rent the apartment next to the apartment we stayed in for 2 months. Worked out perfectly. Once here the weather was not great; cold, overcast, dreary, but we didn't let that stop us from being total tourists. We have spent the last 6 days seeing everything we could see, from Florida street shopping to a tango show and even a tourist bus hitting all the main spots of BA. Didn't want to leave one stone unturned.
Our final night came so quickly I felt unprepared, but we did it well. We decided that morning to book a dinner tango show and made our way downtown to buy the tickets. After talking about it, and seeing the tourist price ($240 per person...yikes!) we decided to only see the show and go out to our own dinner, which was the BEST decision ever because dinner was epic! We decided on an all you can eat buffet that we had heard about from 3 different people throughout our trip called Siga La Vaca. Wow, this was a true buffet. First of all its Buenos Aires so of course there was meat, but not just a few parts, every part of the cow was on display and waiting for you. They didn't just give you a measly piece either, they gave you restaurant portions. They also had a great salad bar with sandwiches and every veggie you could want, but really it's about the piles of meat. Not only that, but they give you a whole bottle of wine or a small pitcher of beer, whichever you prefer, and all you can drink bottled water and sodas. Oh and did I mention dessert? Ya, the chocolate volcano was to die for. Ok, so as you can imagine I have gained a bit of weight, but it is SO worth it!! I love food and BA is the place to eat..a lot!
After dinner we rolled out the door and made our way to the tango show. What a production! Tango is an amazing dance form and we were loving every minute of the show. The best way to end our time here in BA was definitely with a Tango show and all you can eat meat!
So now we head home...our flight leaves BA at 6:30am, which means we have to leave our apartment at 3:30am...it's possible we wont go to sleep. We arrive in LA at 7pm...long day tomorrow. The final travel day in a line of, what feels like, hundreds. We have been to Peru, seen Machu Picchu, rode horses, hiked in the rainforest, attended parades, shared Asado with two Argentine families, played tourist and local, improved our Spanish, hiked over and under waterfalls, ate like kings, and made long lasting friendships. We will miss Buenos Aires more than I could ever explain. BA will always hold a soft spot in my heart and I hope to return as soon as possible.
Thank you for following us and supporting us on this fantastic adventure. I plan to write more about our re-acclimation to life at home without jobs and trying to continue to find ourselves. We have Hawaii ahead as well, can't wait!! Stay tuned!!!