I've got "things" to do today...lunch, find camping supplies and get my duplicate ferry ticket situation straightened out. After coffee, I'm back in the room for a shower, clean clothes...post to the blog. Around 11:00, I'm ready for lunch. But first, I stop at the front desk ans "sell" $350.00 U.S. for 3500 Argentine Pesos. I could probably get 12 pesos to the dollar on the street, but I feel a lot safer doing it at the hotel. I brought almost enough U.S. dollars in cash to cover my whole stay here in Argentina...they are distributed around in my pocket, my wallet and a money belt (handy!).
My spot for lunch is on the other side of town from my hotel...a $6.00 cab ride. The restaurant doesn't open until 12:30, so I wander around the neighborhood (Palermo)...do a little "window shopping", stop for a coffee.
The restaurant, Osaka, specializes in South American/Japanese "Fushion" cuisine...it got mentioned on every "Top 10" list that I looked at for Buenos Aires. It turns out to be a great place. My waiter speaks great English, and he guides me through the menu...Braised Beef Dumplings with a Peruvian Chile Sauce, Sauteed Scallops with a Spicy Japanese Pepper Sauce, and Spicy Shrimp "Won Tons"...all washed down with several glasses of Torrontes, a white wine unique to South America (it is very much like Viognier from California or France...I'm guessing that they are related).
There's an American family seated behind me, so I turn around, introduce myself and ask where they're from. And, in one of those miraculous travel "coincidences", it turns out that they live in Hobe Sound, Florida...about 20 miles or so south of where I live in Palm City...small world!
After lunch, it's all business. I cab back to the hotel, and set off in search of camping supplies. I don't have to go far...just a few blocks from my hotel, there's a shop with isopropane canisters for my camping stove and a cheap cooler...success! Emboldened, I hike over a mile to an office for the ferry to see if I can get me ticket "mess" straightened out. It's tough going...it's very hot, very humid...and there's a light rain falling. By the time I get to the ferry office, I'm soaked. And...this particular office can not solve my problem...I have to go to the main office at the Port. But I do have one very critical bit of success. I have taken my Garmin GPS with me, and now I turn it on while walking to let it "synch" with new satellites. I would have a most difficult time navigating out of Buenos Aires without the Garmin, so it's a very nervous twenty minute wait...before...success!
So...I head back to the hotel, stopping several times for a beer...water...a snack. There's very much a big city "New York" feel here...people are well-dressed...women are quite attractive...many blondes.
Now, for the last two hours or so, I've been back in my hotel room...reading emails, posting to Facebook, posting to the blog.
It's almost 8:00PM and, when I finish this blog post, I'll be heading out to La Cabrera...a famous (touristy) Parilla (or Grill) for a very large piece of Argentinian beef, chorizo sausages and some crispy ("crujiente"!) sweetbreads...all washed down with an enormous quantity of Argentine Malbec
wine.
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