Day 27, Pizza Heaven

(Thursday, the 4th of February, 2016)
Today was an interesting day. I made a little mistake, I had decided in my head yesterday that I wanted to stay another night here in Colonia, but I didn't tell the hostel until this morning and they were fully booked. I ended up having to move to another hostel called El Español, but they let me leave my bag for a bit before I moved so I went to the historic district again to check out the rest of the museums. Each of these museums were a lot smaller than the Municipal Museum, but they were all interesting and I enjoyed my time at each of them. I then went to the bus terminal and bought a ticket for a bus to Montevideo tomorrow.

I headed over to the new hostel and tried to hang out but the WiFi was terrible and then only friendly travellers were a few dudes from Sweden and Germany. Sadly the German guy was like 35 and the Swedish guys stuck together, so I tried to plan my upcoming days in Montevideo but I could barely get anything done through the intermittent 30 second bursts of WiFi. Since nothing productive was happening, I headed out for dinner to a place called Pizzeria Don Joaquin. This place was amazing, the pizzas were delicious and were ready really fast, the restaurant had a beautiful design and you could see the chefs working through a glass wall into the kitchen. It was so good that I think I might have to call it the best pizza I've ever had, it made me want to stay another night to be able to have it tomorrow for dinner. Sadly, I had already bought my bus ticket for tomorrow.

See all my photos here! Full size here.

Today's video feature is the "Chris Gaskell Quintet" preforming "When He Sleeps".

Day 26, Third Country

(Wednesday, the 3rd of February, 2016)
I woke up for an early breakfast and an early exit from the Lime House as I hit the Subte to get to the ferry dock. Getting through custom was a lot easier than I thought, online the ferry company website lists a bunch of rules, really similar to those of an airline. They don't really follow their own rules though, as I passed my snack (a bag of cookies, obviously) through the scanner no problem.

The three hour ferry ride was a new experience but otherwise pretty normal. My destination in Uruguay is a little town called Colonia del Sacrimiento, founded by the Portuguese a long time ago. The architecture of the town is quite picturesque and it has a disproportionate amount of museums compared to its size, which will keep me happy. I dropped my stuff off at a place called the Celestino Hostel and then I hit the historic district of the town for some lunch and some museum hopping. Lunch was pretty expensive and I thought I would be getting something other than what arrived, it was pretty bland as well, that restaurant was not going to be revisited by me anytime soon.

The Municipal Museum was open and it actually sold a pass that let you access all seven official museums of Colonia for the rest of the week for only $2.25 CAD, what a deal. So I visited the Municipal Museum which was small but nice, it provided a quick history of the town. I also ended up taking some money out at a Scotiabank on the main street. Yep, apparently Scotiabank has expanded into the Uruguayan market, sadly I didn't get a reduction on fees or anything for being a Canadian using a Canadian institution.

I headed back to the hostel for a while and I met this roommate from France named Simon. We spent the rest of the evening talking in French and Spanish about travel and whatnot, he made some dinner and we sat with a couple from New Zealand and shared some beer. He was headed to Montevideo the next day, so I said that I might see him later when I head over there. With that great evening behind me, I decided to sleep.

See all of my pictures here! Full size here.

Today's video feature is the group "AfroMantra" with the piece "11:11 Spirit".

Day 25, Planning

(Tuesday, the 2nd of February, 2016)
I woke up today and got to try the Lime House breakfast, and to be honest it was quite a lot more substantial than the breakfast at Hostel Tango. We get an orange, a small bowl of corn flakes and two "medialunas", which are pretty much a glazed croissant that the Argentine people are really fond of, they are really good.

I also had a nice call with my bank this morning, as it seems there was a slight oversight on their part that was causing problems for me, but with that out of the way, I headed off to see some museums. Or at least, that is what I wanted to do, but both the ones that were closed yesterday, were closed today as well one due to construction, which I didn't even notice yesterday. So instead I took the Subte a few stops over to buy my ferry ticket that will take me to Uruguay tomorrow. I did actually have to wait a while, but with that done I headed back to the hostel and just ended up chatting with other guests.

(Unrelated pictures of the view from the hostel)

Dinner was a cheap and unhealthy affair that I got from the grocery store, but not was satisfying. It was then time to pack up because the ferry leaves pretty early tomorrow.

See all my photos here! Full size here.

Today's video features " Ensalada de Pulpo" back again with "Intense".

Day 24, Lime House

(Monday, the 1st of February, 2016)
With a good bit of my laundry done and being well rested from yesterday, I packed everything back up and was heading back to the San Telmo neighbourhood, coincidentally, about a block down the street from the hotel I stayed at last night was a sign that said "Lime House Youth Hostel". The other side of the sign was broken so that is why I didn't see it on the way over. Turns out it's quite the nice place, cheaper then the Hostel Tango, and closer to the Subte and the bus lines, so I booked two nights and settled in.

I was only able to hit one museum today as the others were closed, but this one was quite interesting, it's called the Museum of the City, (Museo de La Ciudad) and it was a quaint little thing. They had a bit of a meta exhibit going on, basically they were displaying the promotional posters that they designed for past exhibits over the years. I do have to say that the art on the posters was good but the exhibit and museum floor was so small that it too maybe maximum 30 minutes.

With nothing else to I headed back to the hostel. This hostel has what the other was missing, I've met people here from Brazil, Peru, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, all within a few hours of getting in. I have also fooled three people (and I'm counting) into thinking I was older than I am, I guess it's the patchy beard or something, or the fact that I'm tall compared to the people down here, I'm not sure. Eventually the question comes up, "How old are you?" or "What are you studying?". The answers have gotten me three double takes so far (one thought I was 22-23), which is interesting, even though average age of the hostel guest is lower here I'm still the youngest. Dinner was fun, but so is sleeping so I did just that.

See all my photos here! Full size here.

For today's video feature "Bareto" returns with "Camaleon".

Day 23, Weekend

(Sunday, the 31st of January, 2016)
Today was a pretty slow day. I kind of cashed out and this day acted as my weekend. I have spent the past six days at the Hostel Tango so I checked out this morning and took myself and my massive pack to a cheap hotel one neighbourhood over. I booked one night and spent the day doing laundry in the sink and relaxing in my room. This was a nice change of pace, and most museums are closed on Sunday anyways. Well that's it from me today, boring day, boring post.

Find all of my pictures here! Full size here.

Today's video feature is "Conrad Herwig" with the piece "Haitian Fight Song".

Day 22, Brute Force

(Saturday, the 30th of January, 2016) (Warning: picture heavy)
A good and regular morning was had today, although I did putter around a bit this morning at the Hostel because Mario and Lorena told me that the market doesn't really kick off until about 1:00 PM. When the time arrived I headed back on the bus towards Recoleta (the bus is actually cheaper and quicker than the Subte). I perused the market stalls looking for a ring, I've taken to trying to get a ring for each country that I visit. I'm putting them on a necklace, they act as souvenirs for me. For my lunch, I had a bag of candied peanuts which now that I think about it, might not be any healthier than the bag of cookies.

After that delicious lunch and with my mission accomplished at the market, I headed off the the "MALBA", the Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art. It was quite beautiful, probably a toss up between this one and the MAMBA (Modern Art) for the best museum that I've visited. The bottom floor of the museum kind of dropped the ball, but the rest was great.

On the way back I stopped to buy a ticket for " Fuerza Bruta", Brute Force then I had an early dinner. I headed back to the hostel to drop some stuff off and to change. I did a little bit of research yesterday on Fuerza Bruta, but it didn't really explain it to me, all I could tell is that it was a postmodern theatre show and that not was critically acclaimed.

I must say it's quite awesome. A mix between Cirque du Soleil, a rave and a drumline performance. It had it all, drums, strobe lights, fog, gunshots, bloodbags and people flying around on ropes. If it ever comes to Toronto I'd strongly recommend going to see it, I'd go see it again in a heartbeat. All in all it only cost me $27 CAD. After that, I packed up to go back to the hostel, my heart still pumping.

See all of my photos here! Full size here.

Today's video feature is "Dandy Rodriguez" with "Son Montuno".

Day 21, El Cabildo

(Friday, the 29th of January, 2016)
I actually skipped breakfast today and settled for sleeping in. This also means that my lunch was better than the usual. Lunch was Calabrese pizza, not too bad. I decided to go find some museums to explore. I went to "El Cabildo", a historic building where the decision for Argentina to first revolt against Spain was made. Now this museum was free but I have to say, not as nice as the other I've been to. Just as I finished up, it started to rain so I decided to go back to the hostel to wait out the rain. I ended up sorting through pictures and doing administrative things, and even a nap.

(Unrelated pictures of a protest in from of the Casa Rosada and the Metropolitan Cathedral, I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of the Cabildo)

I was invited back to Mario and Lorena's house today, so I got to try out the bus system here in Buenos Aires, which have to say is quite nice and clean. I had a great dinner of steak and mashed potato with "dulce de leche" ice cream. They recommended going to an artisans market that runs every Saturday in the nearby park, they also recommended going to this show called "Fuerza Bruta". I tried asking them what it was but they hadn't been, but all if their exchange students highly recommended it. That sounded interesting enough for me, so I plan on buying a ticket tomorrow.

I took the bus back to the hostel where I was met with a roommate. I figured out that he was from Germany, but that is about all I got before we both from asleep.

All my pictures (organized) here! Full size here.

Today's musical feature is " Barbaro Fines y Su Mayimbe" preforming "Intro Mayimbe".