travellers, they were still in the high Andes, enjoying the thin air and
thick accents of their fellow Inca Trail trekkers...
After
recouperating from our trek and a night out on the town in Cusco (at
Patty O'Flannery's - the highest Irish Pub on the planet), we were off
to the airport for our flight to Lima. As we had a six hour layover
before our flight to Buenos Aires, we decided to take a cab into town
instead of hanging out in the airport again. After a quick check of our
trusty "Footprints South America" guidebook, we choose Plaza Kennedy in
the Miraflores neighborhood as our destination. It turned out well as we
zoomed past the graffittied barrios that surround the airport, then
down an express avenue following the Pacific coast at the bottom of a
large cliff (which looked strangely a lot like the PCH in LA) to a nice,
middle class area with streets lined with shops, restaurants and bars.
We strolled the avenues for a while, looking in bookstores and checking
out menus until picking a nice, Parisian looking sidewalk cafe for
dinner and drinks. After, we found an eclectic cafe for a cup of coffee
and talked with a German student studying Mairne Biology in Lima, then
it was back to the airport for our overnight flight.

we both slept almost the whole way to BsAs, however, the first two
hours in the Buenos Aires airport were spent going through customs
(easy) and finding a place to stay (hard). Almost everything was booked
up but we finally found a room in the San Talmos area of the city. After
a long cab ride, we checked in and headed out to check out the city.
The city streets are lined with Eurpoean looking facades and full of
sidewalk cafes and shopping streets.
Being
Saturday, I did some research and found a bar that showed American
college football. We stolled through the downtown area lined with old
European looking government buildings, then found Ave. Florida, a
pedestrian shopping street (think of a narrow version of the 3rd St.
Promenade, a bit older and more run down, but that continues for 20
blocks!). We pasted most of the main 'plazas' of the city, then headed
North to find my football bar - after a little searching, we found it -
Remember El Alamo - and guess what, it was founded by an ex University
of Michigan professor who hooks up several large screens to the Internet
to get ESPN GamePlan.com and watch football! Several screens in the
front of the nice, wood panneled saloon were dedicated to soccer for the
locals, but the gringos congregated in back for good ol' American
football. The Michigan - Indiana game wasn't on TV so we watched OSU,
then the first half of the USC game (there were other USC fans and some
Texas grads there too). I hope I have this luck at our next stop for the
Michigan - Ohio State game!

we strolled Santa Fe avenue for another 20 plus blocks with nicer shops
lining the entire avenue. I can't beleive how many stores there are in
this city - it really seems there are more here, at least in one place,
then I've ever seen in LA, New York or Chicago - it's really
unbelievable and I don't know how they all stay in business (plus prices
for the nice stuff aren't that much cheaper than in the US!).
On
day two in Argentina we slept in, then walked through some neighborhood
Sunday markets with loads of street vendors, performers and lots of
people dressed in costume (like a mix of Mardi Gras and Halloween) for a
reason we really never figured out. We checked out the area by the
river where a series of basins have been built to allow ship traffic to
pass, then back to our 'hood for a rest and a change of clothes, then
out to diner for a big Argentinian ¨Parilla¨dinner tonight!
Will write more soon.
2025-02-17