George and Deborah's Great Adventures: Day Two in Buenos Aires

Friday 9 November 2018

Day Two in Buenos Aires

Day two in Buenos Aires was much like the first but a warmer 28 degrees. After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, we rejoined the Hop On bus tour of the city. We still had one remaining line to travel to visit a few remaining neighbourhoods.

We continue to be struck by how many mature trees this city has in both its parks and boulevards. These are not new trees but by Deborah’s estimation over 100 years old.

The Covered Roof on the Hop On Was Appreciated Today!

Today’s tour took us along the Rio de la Plata (or River Plate in English). The Plata is the body of water separating Argentina from Uruguay. Some say it isn’t a river at all but a gulf. Regardless, it is muddy like a river but you can’t see to the other side. If it is a river, Wiki states that it is the widest river in the world. Uruguay is 220 kilometres across the water from Buenos Aires.

Our bus took us along the river shore and into the neighbourhoods of Palermo, Belgrano and others I can’t remember. I’ll let Deborah’s pictures tell the remaining story.

After we got back we returned to the hunt for money from the elusive currency filled ATMs. The first few we tried didn’t even let us try. They were locked behind closed doors. We did get lucky on the third try. Currency conversion is confusing here. We pay different rates depending on where we are. I guess when hard currency is in short supply the rates vary.

You Figure Out What They Pay Here for Gas

We didn’t go out for happy hour today. After wandering through the air-conditioned shopping mall nearby, we bought a bottle of wine, beer, olives, pickles, grapes and crackers for a sundown in our hotel. (Beer cost continues to be confusing. I bought a large Stella can of beer in a corner store. The label stated 95 pesos – I am thinking about $3.50 but when I went to the till it was 50 pesos, closer to $1.50. The Argentine lack of understanding my Spanish left me in the dark as to why.