Day 50:
| Vegetarian Buffet | 119 |
| Taxi to Sarmiento park | 30 |
| Municipal pool | 50 |
| HH Beer | 80 |
| HH beers | 160 |
| Beer at concert | 270 |
| Total: | 709 ARS (83.6 RMB) (USD 11.93) |
I joined a group of the volunteers from the hostel to beat the heat with a trip to the city owned pool, which was quite nice and an interesting experience with a brief medical check of your feet to be permitted in. I should have failed with my gross looking feet, but the doctors didn’t really care that much. In the evening, I grabbed one beer at a huge (but empty) beer garden before buying 2-for-1 at a bar where a language exchange (Spanish & Cervezas) was happening. I didn’t practice much Spanish, but on my way back to the hostel bumped into a group of volunteers going to a “jazz festival.”
Day 51:
| Bondiola de cerdo | 310 |
| Rupestre Hostel (2 nights) | 714 ARS + 2.25 |
| Ice cream | 95 |
| Wine and snacks | 261 |
| Total: | (178.5 RMB) (USD 25.47) |
I learned a valuable lesson about reading the menu carefully when I ordered a meat dish “a la mostaza” and was surprised to find it completely covered in a mustard sauce. My first real food fail in Argentina, where I’ve really gotten into the groove of finding good lunches. I changed to a third hostel in Cordoba, a much smaller and quieter place to stay in a different part of town. Too lazy to go out clubbing, I drank some wine in the living room and plugged my harddrive into the TV to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Day 52:
| Mediterranean Salad w/ bread, drink & dessert | 300 |
| Coffee beans | 400 |
| Beers | 260 |
| Total | 960 ARS (113.2 RMB) (USD 16.16) |
It had been a couple days since I had made my own cup of coffee, but I finally followed a tip from a local to buy some gourmet beans at a cafe in the bohemian part of town, which hosts an artisans market on weekends. I was feeling more up to the going out at night, but ultimately just settled on a quiet beer at a craft brewery closer to my hostel than in the clubbing district since I was alone and there wasn’t anyone around the hostel to put a group together. When I got back, there were a few people around and I went across the street for a “nightcap.” It was a good thing that I bailed on “partying” because the light drizzle of rain turned into a full on storm.
Day 53:
| Dante Food truck Choripan | 180 |
| Starbucks Dulce de Leche Frap | 210 |
| Beer and Chips | 240 |
| Bus ticket to Retiro (Bs As) | 1750 |
| Luggage handler tip | 10 |
| Total: | 2390 ARS (281.8 RMB) (USD 40.22) |
Having been told multiple times that choripan (sausage sandwich) is a must-eat food of Cordoba, I finally decided to trek around the Sarmiento park to find one. I was shocked by the price, but it was pretty good. Having checked out of the hostel, I killed sometime in a Starbucks, which was surprisingly empty and proves just how different the daily rhythms are in Argentina as opposed to other places. A Sunday afternoon in any given Starbucks should be nearly impossible to find a seat. Before heading off to the bus terminal to return to Buenos Aires, I squeezed in a brief date with a friend to continue the daily drinking. Of course, there was also wine on the bus because I “splurged” on an executive class ticket.
Day 54:
| Luggage handler | 5 |
| Sube recharge | 100 |
| Star Wars ticket (3D) | 530 |
| Popcorn and drink combo | 415 |
| Vegetarian buffet | 80 |
| Art Factory Palermo Hostel (5 nights) | 30.41 USD |
| Empanadas | 69 |
| Beers | 410 |
| Total: | (402.8 RMB) (USD 57.49) |
Back in Buenos Aires for Star Wars and Christmas! I am staying in the swanky part of town–Palermo–which I hadn’t even visited the last time I was in Bs As. After dropping my stuff at the hostel, I rushed to the Cinemark to buy my ticket, which I was unable to procure online because I don’t have an Argentinian ID. I grabbed a healthy lunch to compensate for the bloating from a greasy Sunday and spent most of the day trying to pick up a wire transfer because I was dangerously low on cash. I went out with a couple backpackers in the hostel to a tapas place for some (expensive) happy hour beers and bought a round of cheaper lagers at a different bar. (Palermo is the party district of Buenos Aires and there are so many bars and clubs everywhere).
Day 55:
| Coffee and medialunas | 100 |
| Grilled Fish | 555.5 |
| Boat tour | 300 |
| Beers for boat | 180 |
| Supermarket beers (at night) | 156 |
| Total: | 1291.5 ARS (152.3 RMB) (USD 21.74) |
I decided to take a day trip to Tigre with two Brazilian women I had met at the hostel the night before. Tigre is about an hour away from Buenos Aires and a popular weekend destination where the top thing to do is take a boat tour around the confluence of rivers where people have restaurants, homes, and hotels only accessible by water. It was quite interesting. In the evening, I purchased a glass bottle of beer in the supermarket for the first time and figured out the deposit system. They charge an extra 25 pesos unless you exchange an empty. Fortunately, I had held on to an empty bottle from the late night drinks the night before. The beer was my “payment in kind” for the backpacker I met in the common space who shared some bread, cheese, olives, and tomatoes with me for my dinner.
Day 56:
| Regional Cuisine (Super Tamale) | 900 |
| MALBA | 140 |
| Fruit (Cucumber & Lemon) | 25 |
| Total: | 1065 ARS (125.6 RMB) (USD 17.93) |
Wednesday is discount museum day, but the Museum of Latin American Arts still costs quite a lot if you aren’t a student. I covered the lunch of my new friend, who spent the next two days paying me back (as will be documented for accounting purposes). The cucumber and lemon were to bulk up a couscous that said friend was sharing with me for dinner. Though I took a walk through the bar district in search of a happy hour promotion, I ultimately decided not to drink any alcohol since I had to stay up until 3:30 am to watch the new Star Wars. The theater was not sold out, but there was a decent crowd of young Argentinians almost all dressed with various Star Wars related T-shirts.
Running Total: 9675.4 RMB (USD 1380.88)
Daily Average: 172.78 RMB (USD 24.66)