Upon arriving at Amy’s guest house, Amy led me into the dining area and immediately apologized again and again for messing up the airport pick-up schedule. Since her first hug at the door, I already started liking her. She is an amazing warm-hearted person.

She went to the kitchen and made me some banana orange drink. 🙂




Amy making banana orange milk shake



Banana, oranges, ice & milk

Ohhh…. So refreshing, like a walk in the spring shower. 🙂

Then, she asked me if I was hungry and I told her I wouldn’t mind having a little snack (actually I was quite hungry after a long flight).

She get busy in the kitchen and started frying some chicken and pork fillets. I started to worry and thought, “Is that going to cost me a bomb?” Friends had reminded me over and over before the trip to be “street-smart”. God knows I am a dumbo in everything.

Me: “Amy, is this included in the rent?”

Amy: “Yes, dear. This is all for you.”

It’s a B&B guest house. But Amy’s service has gone far beyond a B&B.



Hungry traveler must eat

Amy suggested pouring apple cider vinegar over the meat. She said that’s the Argentinean way. Sure. I am always up for trying new foods. The combination tasted great!




Pouring apple cider vinegar over the meat. Chicken fillet: parsley, garlic, egg.

Emanuel from Venezuela suggested eating ham with sweet croissant. Sure, why not? If you never try, you’ll never know.



Ham & croissant. Anyone?

Oooh-la-la. :rtdance3:



Patagonia berry tea

Happy day. :rtlove:

It was hot in B.A.. 85F. Borneo kind of hot, not as humid though. 🙂 I’m used to it. No problem.

I showed the taxi driver the address and he seemed confused. He made a few calls, and I could only pick up one word, which was “Matienzo”. It was the street name of my hostel. So, I thought he must be lost. I wrote down host’s phone number on a piece a paper and showed to him. The driver refused to take a look, just said, “No. No.”. A few minutes later, I wrote down the hostel name and showed to him. Again, he said, “No. No.”.

I guess he was trying to tell me, “I got it.”

I am the kind who likes to chat with taxi drivers and get a sense of what the local life is like. But in B.A., in that taxi cab, I felt paralyzed. I couldn’t communicate with the driver. I didn’t think he understand any English. Any!

Oh well, I sat back and enjoyed the view.

From airport. On the highway.

Macho taxi driver paid for toll

Oh, hi there! 🙂

Streets

Saw a giant flower

A horseman (I'll find out who he is in the next few days)

The taxi driver didn’t put the AC on. I could have requested it but I didn’t. I let the window down and enjoyed the view.

About 45 minutes later, I reached the hostel. I gave the driver a big round of applause. Finally, I saw a smile on his face.

Conventillo de Lujo, in a very quiet neighborhood

Conventillo de Lujo, entrance

A middle-aged lady rushed out the door, and hugged me tightly.

“I’ve been waiting for you. I’m Amy, your host. Welcome.”.

I did my research about the transportation in Buenos Aires. Bus ride from EZE airport to my hostel seemed pretty manageable and inexpensive. So, I had my heart set on using the bus service. I’ve always liked public transportation. HOWEVER, because I decided to take my carry-on with me, so I thought I should “reward” myself by ordering a pick-up. Does this make sense? Haha. Why stress? I have plenty of chances to have bus rides later.

Everything went smoothly from checking-in, custom and all that. I even had an empty seat next to me during the long flight and made a new lovely friend, Priya. You know how much I like Indians. 😛 I told her about the fire at Torres del Paine since she’ll be going there in a few days.

Coming out from the custom area, I expected to see a big, golden sign with my name on it. Nothing. Hmm… I scouted around for my name. Nothing. So I thought there might be traffic. I should just wait.

15 minutes later. Nothing.

I walked around the Arrival area a few times. Nothing.

30 minutes later. Nothing. I started to sweat a little.

Should I leave? Would they charge me? Were they waiting at a different Arrival hall? The taxi booth was right there, but I couldn’t leave.

I asked a lady at the Information counter for help. She answered in her very broken English that I could go to the phone booth and call the hostel. I was told by the hostel host to not to exchange any pesos at the airport, so I only had dollars with me. Sigh.

So, I waited another 15 minutes.

That’s it.

I pushed my luggage to an Internet center at the airport and asked for help. I showed them the phone number and they said it’s not an Argentina phone #. Oh Gosh. I was so confident that the pick-up was going to work out, so I didn’t even write down backup phone #. Sigh.

I quickly checked internet and found another number in the email.

The lady at the counter helped me to call and we found out that the hostel had mistakenly thought I was going to arrive tomorrow!! Not cool! The host apologized and quickly gave me direction to come to hostel.

Oh well!

I bought a taxi ticket at the taxi booth ($43, they accepted USD) and off I went.

The porter asked for tips. I felt bad that I didn’t have any small change with me. 🙁

Hello, Buenos Aires. My spirit was back. 🙂