Hop On Hop Off Buenos Aires - Tag 1

We left today feeling well rested and rested. Daniela said to me, “We definitely have to change money.” Oh nonsense, I said, why, we have credit cards! We can pay by card everywhere. So we didn't bother with it any further.

On the way to the HoHo bus stop we passed a polo stadium. There was also a game there. Tens of horses stood outside the playing field. The players kept changing horses every now and then. It was really cool to see something like that live.

The bus now took us across the city. We were totally thrilled and Daniela didn't freeze for a change. I didn't imagine Buenos Aires would be that great. What can I say, I fell in love with this city. It is completely different from Santiago de Chile. Many houses in the city center are reminiscent of large European cities, such as Budapest or Paris. Everything is very clean and well maintained. The people are very friendly and helpful.

After a few highlights, we were hungry and sat down in a nice bistro. Daniela had ordered for us and when she had already finished her cola, she asked the waiter if we could pay by card. NO!!!! Oops, “and now”???? The waiter told Daniela where the nearest bank was and she started walking. After tens of minutes she came back and said "it didn't work". "You're kidding me, aren't you :-)"?! "NO"!!! The ATM wanted a 50% fee and after Daniela canceled the process twice with different selections, the card was no longer accepted. Other banks were completely closed at the weekend, as were the exchange offices along the way. Exchanging money with private individuals on the street is also not advisable, as we probably wouldn't even notice if they gave us play money (given the inflation rate, the difference isn't that big either :-).

Two older women who had also eaten in the bistro noticed our distress and explained to Daniela that she could exchange money with us. That worked too. Luckily Daniela had brought some dollars with her...

After dinner we continued through the city. We walked a lot again and also went to a museum (Historical National Museum)! Four employees jumped in our way because they wanted to know where I bought my Argentina shirt. Well, bad luck, that's from Germany ;-) So we started talking and since one of the employees could finally speak English well, we had a nice chat and also learned a lot about Argentina's recent history. During the military dictatorship in the 70s and 80s, some of the population suffered a lot :-(

In the afternoon we got back on the bus and spent two hours driving through the different districts. Yes, we are very excited about Buenos Aires.

Since the city is so big and there are a lot of stops with the HoHo, we decided on a 2-day ticket. So tomorrow comes day 2 and this time with Arg. Pesos.... promise ;-)!

Hasta manana, Anke & Daniela