[Paisleychick-lj] leaving Buenos Aires

[Beatrice M's blog]

Friday morning, after not enough sleep, we packed up and checked out of our apartment, getting our full deposit back. We said goodbye to our "landlords" and caught a taxi to take us down the street to the train station so that we could check our bags for the day. Which train station did we want to go to - there are three? Um, how about the largest one? Putting out backpacks back on, we walk into the train station and see an antiquated sign "depositos de baggajes". Cool! Um, it's only an antiquated sign, a kiosko lives underneath it. D'oh! Kragen finds the police station and asks where we can leave our bags. Turns out there is a luggage store at the nearby (300 meters away) bus station. We walk back outside in the hot sun and make our way through the crowds to the bus station, through the bus station and down stairs to the luggage dropoff. 30 pesos and one ticket exchange later, we are relieved of our belongings and walk upstairs to find breakfast. Ah, much better.   
  


[![][1]][2]   
[Apple Center][3]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

We find an internet cafe and find the location of another Apple Center in Buenos Aires since the first place (Mac Station) we tried was unhelpful. Turns out that Alfauno is within walking distance from the bus station. We take a circuituos route, but get there within 30 minutes. My power adaptor is covered by the warranty, YES, but they need the serial number of my machine, which is back in luggage check. I tried to search my gmail, log on to apple and pull up my information, but all to no avail. I left Kragen at the store with his computer and wifi and took a taxi back to the bus station. They had no problem letting me check out one of my bags for a minute or two. Nice. I wrote down the serial number and hopped in another taxi to get back to the store. Mission accomplished, we left my power adaptor at the store so they could repair it or just give me a new one when we return to Buenos Aires next week. So, I don't have a working computer until I have power again, but Kragen has given me an account on his machine and we're sharing for now. Look at me - I'm using linux and thanks to Ubuntu, it's not too painful.   
  
  
>From Aflauno, Kragen and I walked to San Martin Plaza and made out under the shade of the trees. We kept on saying we were going to go to the parks and make out, as so many other lovers do, but never got around to it. We finally made it. =) Public displays of affection abound in Buenos Aires, yet another reason it is called the Paris of Latin America.  
  
The last time at the bus station, I remembered that I had left two items in the bathroom of our apartment. Kragen suggested we give our "landlords" a call. They were still there and they had found my kerchief and my SpaHairTowel. My friend Annelies gave it to me one Christmas and it is just wonderful!!! This is the most useful item and I suggest people with long hair get one if you don't have one already. You wrap all your hair into it after the shower or the bath and then put the button on the bottom into the loop on the other end - _voila_ a turban without a towel. It's smaller than a towel, stays in place and dries out my hair quite a bit. Well worth the trouble of going back to our apartment and picking it up before we left town.  
  


[![][5]][6]   
[Front of Buquebus Ferry][7]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

We hopped a bus to the bus station, picked up our bags, and took a taxi to the Buquebus terminal. We arrived at 16:30, in plenty of time for our 15:45 ferry to Colonia, Uruguay. It felt very much like going to a simple airport. The ferry felt like a wide airplane. It was all very efficient, and yet comfortable, an uncommon mixture. Uruguay is one hour ahead of Buenos Aires, so we're 6 hours ahead of the Bay Area. We arrived in Colonia around 20:00, and caught yet another taxi to our Posada. Posada de Angel. It's cute, there are angels everywere decorating the hallways and the stairwells. I unpacked a bit, hit the bed and woke up twleve hours later, in time for breakfast.   


   [1]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/354665134_c7bb94f2c3_m.jpg
   [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/354665134/ (Apple Center)
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/354665134/
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [5]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/357484135_23255d2dc0_m.jpg
   [6]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/357484135/ (Front of Buquebus Ferry)
   [7]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/357484135/

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/286116.html