The progress of the translation work has been very slow, because PJG still has a fever and diarrhea today. Unfortunately, he can only rest in the apartment again today, and it is another day when the little bear and I go out alone. In the morning, I went to the laundromat to get our clothes washed, and will pick them up tomorrow. Then I went to the pharmacy to buy some antidiarrheal medicine and the supermarket to buy mineral water and apple juice for PJG. After that, I went to Chinatown, which is a very small little Chinatown with nothing special, several supermarkets, and many small shops selling cheap Chinese crap. Today it is still scorching hot, and a day for wandering in the sun with my bear alone.
PJG started to have diarrhea in the middle of the night last night, and it got worse by the morning (was it that pork dish I gave him?). He still insisted that we walk to Western Union to exchange money. Because today is Sunday, there was only one store relatively close to us that was open – the exchange rate was 1:304, not the best. After walking back to the apartment, PJG didn’t have lunch and just went to straight to bed. I bought takeaway for lunch, and then went to the famous Japanese garden, alone.
Today will be a very easy day, moving to the Hollywood district of Palermo. The “Hollywood” district is so named for its television studios and film production companies. We will stay here in Buenos Aires for another five nights. So far, this is the area we like more, it is quieter, there are many outdoor restaurants and bars, and there are many places with Asian dishes. We took a bus to the apartment, and walked around the neighborhood to get familiar. In the afternoon, we also went to the Palermo Soho area separated by a large road. At 4 o’clock, we went to a bar to watch the epic battle between Argentina and Mexico. It was a great game to watch. Argentineans are happy!
Today we went to the Caminito section of the famous La Boca district, a very colorful community. The community started as a bridge over a creek that dried up and was filled to create a railroad, but was soon abandoned and turned into a veritable dump. Still later, Caminito’s flamboyant turn is credited to artist Benito Quinqueira Martín, known for his depictions of the rugged port life around the La Boca district. In the 1950s, Benito Quinqueira Martin began to paint the buildings of Caminito with bright colors, and his tenacity laid the path for this neighborhood to become the brightly colored Caminito, a unique landscape of Buenos Aires.
两个铁哥们儿 – Two Amigos卡米尼托最标志的建筑，真是游客的必打卡之地 – The most iconic building in Caminito is really a must see for tourists很多饭店里有跳探戈舞的来吸引顾客 – Many restaurants have tango dancers to attract customers跟这些跳探戈舞的拍照要给钱 – These tango dancers charge money to take photos with them. 贝尼托·昆奎拉·马丁的雕塑 – Sculpture of Benito Quinqueira Martin, the founder of Caminito.午饭的饭店就是一座彩色的建筑 – The restaurant for lunch is in a colorful buildingPJG的简单的沙拉和烤馅饼 – PJG’s simple salads and Empanadas, staples in BA.我的牛排三文治和薯条 – My Steak Sandwich and Chips, very dry.博卡区的博卡青年竞技俱乐部- Boca Juniors soccer stadium这里有好多卖足球旅游纪念品的店 – There are many shops selling football souvenirs here宪法广场上的总火车站 – Main railway station on Constitution Square火车站内部 – The grand train station宪法广场上的地铁站 – Metro station on Constitution Square下午四点是美国对英格兰，在酒店附近的一个酒吧看球！- At four pm, USA played against England, we were watching the game at a bar near the hotel.前面的那两个人是从阿拉巴马州来的，当然也是美国队的支持者 – Those two guys in front of us are from Alabama and are of course are Team USA supporters我俩的酒店Marriott – Our hotel Marriott今天晚上吃印度菜，这家饭店叫做Delhi Mahal，终于吃了一顿正常的不是烤肉的饭 – We decided to have Indian food tonight. This restaurant is called Delhi Mahal, finally we have a normal meal that is not just meat and empanadas炸大虾 – fried prawns大蒜烤饼，380比索，1.16美元，在美国至少要3-4美元 – Garlic naan, 380 pesos, $1.16, would cost at least $3-4 in the US我俩常吃的香料烤鸡咖喱, 2,250比索，6.84美金，在美国要12-18美金之间吧，花菜和马铃薯咖喱，2,100比索，6.39美景，在美国也要2-18美金之间吧。味道和在美国的印度菜还是有些区别，香料烤鸡咖喱奶油更少些，总体来说还是很好吃的 – Chicken tikki curry, 2,250 pesos, 6.84 US dollars, it costs between 12-18 US dollars in the US, and Aloo Gobi, 2,100 pesos, $6.39, it costs 12-18 US dollars in the US. The taste is still a little different from the Indian food in the US. The chicken tikki curry is less creamy, but overall it was still delicious.
明天要搬去另外一个区域的民宿完成在布宜诺斯艾利斯旅程的后半段。
Tomorrow, we will move to a new area to complete the second half of our journey in Buenos Aires.
Today is Thanksgiving in America, and Thanksgiving in the summer is a strange feeling. We got up at the ungodly hour of 6am this morning to catch our ferry. After breakfast, we walked to the Buquebus port and took the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, a small Uruguayan city on the opposite side of the river from Buenos Aires.
In the morning, we went to buy two boat tickets to Uruguay for tomorrow, plus a 40-minute guided walking tour. We originally had planned to stay there for one night next Monday, but after chatting with the ticket seller, and he didn’t think it was worth staying there for the night. After buying the ticket, we took a bus to check out San Telmo, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires.
We have a lot of things to do today. We woke up at 8am in the morning and went to the hotel’s “free” breakfast. It is said that PJG uses his Marriott’s points to include breakfast, haha.
We are on the way to our next stop, Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. In the morning we took an 20 minute Uber to the airport. Customs went smoothly although it took 30 minutes. The flight to Buenos Aires took about an hour and a half. The plane was a large 787 and the seat between us was empty so I could lie down and sleep. Before I knew it, we had arrived. The customs in Buenos Aires is very thorough: you have to take photos and register your fingerprints and answer many questions, but unfortunately they don’t stamp your passport!
Today is our last day in hot and burning Santiago. It was a relatively relaxing day. As soon as we left our apartment in the morning, we smelled a strong smell of burning paper. We went downstairs and though the outside door of the community, and saw many fire trucks fighting a fire in an apartment right near us! Smoke was billowing out of an apartment and water was being poured onto the flames! I wanted to go over to take some pictures, but a policeman stopped me, with a very visible “NO” -he wouldn’t let me get nearer. Indeed a burning day! Hope there were no casualties.
It was another very hot day, so we went out earlier (10am) and went to climb San Lucia Hill – a remnant of a 15 million-year-old volcano, and it is also a famous tourist destination in Santiago. The hill’s present form was designed by the city’s mayor in the late 19th century, who, inspired by French landscaping, decided to transform the volcanic rock into an elegant park with gardens, fountains, terraces, gazebos, many trees and intricate trails and steps.
It’s almost 9 o’clock when we woke up. At home, it’s hard to sleep past 7. PJG went down to the supermarket and bought some fresh croissants for breakfast. We plan to go to Mount San Cristobal, which is a hill in the north of Santiago, only 850 meters above sea level, but is the third highest peak here. On the top of the mountain is one of the main places of worship of the Chilean Catholic Church and a symbol of Santiago, Chile. It took more than 20 minutes to walk from the apartment to the foot of the mountain. The two of us who planned to hike up the mountain were defeated by the hot weather and instead bought two round-trip Funicular tickets.
Time flies. After returning from the Mediterranean trip in May, it seems my tax busy season was over in a blink of an eye. This busy season was also my last busy season at the firm as I found a new job! A trip to South America is a small celebration for the end of my life’s journey through public accounting. Thanks to PJG for spending more than a month carefully planning this trip!
We are leaving in about a week and the pleasures of traveling is starting to kick in. Zhaoyang is finishing up her last week of work at the accounting firm and will be starting a new job after we get back. So along with looking forward to a new continent to discover, she will have a new job as well!
We have been watching Youtube videos to get acquainted with the places we will be visiting, the food we may encounter
