A picture from Paseo del Rosedal
Buenos Aires is the 11th largest city in the world, home to about 15 million.
It was a huge relief to get off the plane after an 11-hour red-eye. Note to self: never fly United Airlines again (except on the way back since we are already ticketed); our seats were unbelievably cramped and to make it obvious to everyone in economy, they parade you past the 1st class sofa/entertainment and business class seating. It was really inhumane how little space we had for so long.
Customs was easy and we moved through effortlessly… we had read about an entry fee that varies depending on your country of residence and it is true, for U.S. citizens it is $140. Their position is that the U.S. started the fee to come to our country so they are reciprocating.
In advance of our arrival we rented an apartment in the historic San Telmo barrio (neighborhood). The plan was to call the local apartment caretaker from the airport so he could meet us at the apartment after a 30-minute or so cab ride ($38 US). We found an airport phone, called the caretaker but discovered he was delayed so he could not meet us until 4-5 pm. We had already booked the cab at the airport kiosk and the driver was waiting impatiently during the call, so we hurriedly formulated the plan to go to the apartment and wait, maybe get something to eat. We debated going to the hostel we had chosen for a backup.
Shortly after we were dropped off at the apartment door, it started to rain. Luckily someone who lives in the building opened the over-sized door so we schlepped our bags inside the hallway. Unfortunately, the massive doors lock from the inside as well… this is me, a little wet and very tired, searching for Wi-Fi (which is everywhere here) and pretty peeved at the caretaker who actually is a very nice guy and speaks more English than anyone else we have met.
Waiting patiently
About 45 minutes later the rain stopped and a future neighbor opened the door so we wheeled our bags two blocks to La Poesia a notable San Telmo literary café, plopped our bags down and had lunch. The lack of sleep, lunch and the large beer created just the right mindset to appreciate our arrival in Buenos Aires and how close we had gotten to a nap!
Looking up!
The caretaker arrived around 3:45, apologies spewing left and right and took us to the apartment on the 2nd “floor” with a total of four doors between us and our new accommodations. Each door opens with a unique key, which several days later can still be a challenge.
Two-sided (4 x 2 possibly combinations)
After months of planning, we had established ourselves in Buenos Aires.