Buenos Aires (Argentina)
25 August 2012
Feeling those familiar waves of frustration, anger and disappointment starting to surge with the high tide I made my way to this new 'guaranteed location'. I did pass another office on the way to my assured destination, inside a post office of all places (I say all places because it was a Saturday! Where the hell in South America are post offices open on a Saturday). Anyway, in this office I appeared to either be the bringer of mid morning entertainment, and/ or, the butt of someones joke because the guy at the counter continued to laugh whilst at the same time interacting with a woman in a manner that suggested I was the trigger for their inspired hilarity. As expected the $700 transfer value was too much for them to cope with and they suggested that I head back up Avenida Corrientes (from whence I had came)........'ahhh nuts'....still, I walked to the corner of Corrientes and Florida, and in an addition to my new list of things that will go wrong, no office was to be seen anywhere near the address I was provided. This is now the start of the Purple line. Walking back to the Cordoba office I asked the lackadaisical and disinterested vixens for additional assistance, confirming if the address that had provided me was indeed correct. They were adamant it was. In fact they called the office and confirmed it was open!
Following the green line now, trace it, if you will, down Esmerelda, taking a right (as you look at the map), onto Corrientes and to its meeting point with Florida.Of course...OF COURSE NOW...If you're amazed by my location then don't be, I arrived at exactly the same place that I had been 20 mins earlier, and guess what? There was no office to be seen! Following the green line back to Cordoba I told the girls in the office that there was in fact NO OFFICE and their customer service orientated response was to kind of shrug their shoulders and shrink away from the counter into the dark depths of the back office. Was they merely illusions?Apparitions conjured up in my mind?And if they were then why did I allow for my mind to conjure up beings that were not helpful or sympathetic to my cause? The programe in the matrix has a lot to answer for I say!
25 August 2012
Until this day it had never occurred to me that I'd wanted to find the location of Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield, or even that I had a yearning, so deeply suppressed that it confounded even myself when it appeared, to venture to the periphery of the Argentinian capital on transporte publico. It was there in the carbon monoxide hazed flat lands of Liniers that I would inhale kilograms of dust kicked up by the incessant traffic, and also, stare confoundingly out onto the horizon, watching the sun drop on the western barrios of Buenos Aires in what was for me an arduous and demanding day. I would also stand end up standing on a lonely, beaten avenue half wondering if a stampede of gauchos would be making their way up the dust speckled Avenida Rivadavia anytime soon and questioning why it was that Wide World of Sports was axed from their four hour Saturday afternoon slot. I know, it doesn't make sense at all, right!? And even though that may be true I don't care, I'm telling the story here and my mind will wander wherever it pleases.
Whilst I was in Montevideo the day before, or perhaps more specifically, whilst on the bus from Montevideo to Colonia de Sacramento, I had visions of what this day may bring and what it would feel like. Of course there had been days like this previously. What did Van Morrison say now, 'When its not always raining there'll be days like this' - Perhaps that's right, but for right now I had a feeling it was going to very much be a day, not like this, but one of the same elk as Marrakech C.S.I, La Paz - You're worth what you've got , Mexico City - The Project and several others. They had already shaped my expectations and had given me an insight into the machinations of days gone wrong when travelling, because days not like this do happen and sometimes fighting the inevitable is a lesson in the serenity that can be achieved in managing the futility with as much reason as one can muster. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a fighter, I like making a mark in the small percentage boxes, the ones that people check for 'rarities', so I battle even when the outcome is inevitable. It can be a curse and failing. There is honour in being gracefully beaten but therein lies my problems, the very concept of being beaten.
I can't blame Buenos Aires for this day however, 'no,no no !'.She and I are more than 'just friends' and haven't even had so much as a tiff to with our relationship to date. Her ugly little tart of a cousin that lives just across the river from Buenos Aires, well, she has filled me with such bitterness and revulsion that upon her I seek to both meticulously plot and execute my revenge. It will take place on one fine sunny day, whilst she's basking in her pathetic glory of being a riverside town. You just stay where you are young lady, resting your head easy on the trashy side of the Rio de la Plata, I will return and when you least expect it I will pounce.
There's no need for me to recount the events of Montevideo for they have already been well chronicled in a previous entry. My ticket for this day was however purchased in a transaction across the river the day prior, and as I recall now, in the evening hours of that night the pain of what I was to experience during following day was somehow already abundantly clear and very tangible to me. This clarity was presented in the physical manifestation of the inevitability and manner of South American logistics and bureaucracy. It was the dread and understanding that comes from knowing that you should never underestimate the capacity of this continent to fail you, even when offered with the real likelihood of a positive result it will snap back with outcomes so ludicrous that your own belief remains suspended in a state of surreal oblivion.
So now, to get a feel of how my morning progressed I provide to you exhibit A (see below), the City map of Buenos Aires. This was the stage on which the path of my life was going play out for the first 3-4hrs of the day, but stay with me on this, my day was only to get better and far more eventful from this point.
The 'idea' I had or rather the 'concept' of the morning was to locate a Western Union office that was open on a Saturday. I anticipated a battle just to succeed with that and therefore took my first stride upon the streets of San Telmo at the stroke of 9 as I was unsure as to how many open offices Buenos Aires would offer me on one of the days of rest.
Now the red line that you see on the city map is my starting sequence. The one where I was still very much optimistic and held high hopes for a simple transaction, one which would allow me to take an early more stroll through Centro in the anticipation of flying out to Puerto Iguazu the following morning. The red path leads from the bohemian heart of the wonderful barrio of San Telmo, up Avenida 9 de Julio to a point on calle Sarmiento where that standing ground of the largest Western Union office was. A location that I had filed in my memory bank during earlier meanderings because my past experience suggest that I have a penchant for f**king up and utilising WU services! The largest office of WU that I had memorised was also and a very much non operational office, highlighted by the familiar sign cerrado (closed). Not unexpected for a Saturday I must say but a little disconcerting that the largest office was taking their weekend siesta quite seriously. No problemo though, time to walk up to another office that I recalled being located on Avenida Corrientes.
I located the office on Corrientes and it was opem - 'there we go, piece of cake' I thought, what in the world was I worrying about? I walked in, got down to business with a lady at the counter.Immediately I received the response;
If you're following the map then this is the mid blue part of the circuit.
Arriving on Cordoba my spirits were up. I had been told by office Corrientes that there was an office open and that it could undertake my transaction, should be pretty simple from here, right!? Oddly, on entry to the Avenida Cordoba office I found that the lights were dimmed, the door stood ajar and its office space felt entirely uninviting and unappealing even though the 'Abierto' sign was hung proudly in front of its closed Venetian blinds. I walked in. Two girls gazed at me in a challenging manner, almost amazed in their expectation and knowledge that I was going to ask them to undertake a task, actually making a request them to work that morning. I gave them my details, interacted in my best Spanish, smiled charmingly and then came their response;
'No, the amount you are requesting is too much, this office can't do anything for you'.
The girl turned and left the counter - 'Ah lady? Any advice on where I CAN get this done'.
I called her back and asked her that question. She told me that an office was definitely open on the corner of Corrientes and Florida, for the players at home that is now the mid blue line down Esmerelda and the orange line to the corner of Corrientes and Florida.
So now, to get a feel of how my morning progressed I provide to you exhibit A (see below), the City map of Buenos Aires. This was the stage on which the path of my life was going play out for the first 3-4hrs of the day, but stay with me on this, my day was only to get better and far more eventful from this point.
The 'idea' I had or rather the 'concept' of the morning was to locate a Western Union office that was open on a Saturday. I anticipated a battle just to succeed with that and therefore took my first stride upon the streets of San Telmo at the stroke of 9 as I was unsure as to how many open offices Buenos Aires would offer me on one of the days of rest.
Now the red line that you see on the city map is my starting sequence. The one where I was still very much optimistic and held high hopes for a simple transaction, one which would allow me to take an early more stroll through Centro in the anticipation of flying out to Puerto Iguazu the following morning. The red path leads from the bohemian heart of the wonderful barrio of San Telmo, up Avenida 9 de Julio to a point on calle Sarmiento where that standing ground of the largest Western Union office was. A location that I had filed in my memory bank during earlier meanderings because my past experience suggest that I have a penchant for f**king up and utilising WU services! The largest office of WU that I had memorised was also and a very much non operational office, highlighted by the familiar sign cerrado (closed). Not unexpected for a Saturday I must say but a little disconcerting that the largest office was taking their weekend siesta quite seriously. No problemo though, time to walk up to another office that I recalled being located on Avenida Corrientes.
I located the office on Corrientes and it was opem - 'there we go, piece of cake' I thought, what in the world was I worrying about? I walked in, got down to business with a lady at the counter.Immediately I received the response;
'No, our office is not doing these types of transactions today, there is an office open on Avenida Cordoba, go there'.
If you're following the map then this is the mid blue part of the circuit.
Arriving on Cordoba my spirits were up. I had been told by office Corrientes that there was an office open and that it could undertake my transaction, should be pretty simple from here, right!? Oddly, on entry to the Avenida Cordoba office I found that the lights were dimmed, the door stood ajar and its office space felt entirely uninviting and unappealing even though the 'Abierto' sign was hung proudly in front of its closed Venetian blinds. I walked in. Two girls gazed at me in a challenging manner, almost amazed in their expectation and knowledge that I was going to ask them to undertake a task, actually making a request them to work that morning. I gave them my details, interacted in my best Spanish, smiled charmingly and then came their response;
'No, the amount you are requesting is too much, this office can't do anything for you'.
The girl turned and left the counter - 'Ah lady? Any advice on where I CAN get this done'.
I called her back and asked her that question. She told me that an office was definitely open on the corner of Corrientes and Florida, for the players at home that is now the mid blue line down Esmerelda and the orange line to the corner of Corrientes and Florida.
Feeling those familiar waves of frustration, anger and disappointment starting to surge with the high tide I made my way to this new 'guaranteed location'. I did pass another office on the way to my assured destination, inside a post office of all places (I say all places because it was a Saturday! Where the hell in South America are post offices open on a Saturday). Anyway, in this office I appeared to either be the bringer of mid morning entertainment, and/ or, the butt of someones joke because the guy at the counter continued to laugh whilst at the same time interacting with a woman in a manner that suggested I was the trigger for their inspired hilarity. As expected the $700 transfer value was too much for them to cope with and they suggested that I head back up Avenida Corrientes (from whence I had came)........'ahhh nuts'....still, I walked to the corner of Corrientes and Florida, and in an addition to my new list of things that will go wrong, no office was to be seen anywhere near the address I was provided. This is now the start of the Purple line. Walking back to the Cordoba office I asked the lackadaisical and disinterested vixens for additional assistance, confirming if the address that had provided me was indeed correct. They were adamant it was. In fact they called the office and confirmed it was open!
Following the green line now, trace it, if you will, down Esmerelda, taking a right (as you look at the map), onto Corrientes and to its meeting point with Florida.Of course...OF COURSE NOW...If you're amazed by my location then don't be, I arrived at exactly the same place that I had been 20 mins earlier, and guess what? There was no office to be seen! Following the green line back to Cordoba I told the girls in the office that there was in fact NO OFFICE and their customer service orientated response was to kind of shrug their shoulders and shrink away from the counter into the dark depths of the back office. Was they merely illusions?Apparitions conjured up in my mind?And if they were then why did I allow for my mind to conjure up beings that were not helpful or sympathetic to my cause? The programe in the matrix has a lot to answer for I say!
City Map of Buenos Aires - Now just follow the colours
Red = Start - Corner of Peru & Chile
Mid blue = my original circuit between Western Union on Avenida Corrientes and the next on Avenida Cordoba
Orange = The walk down to the corner of Corrientes and Florida
Orange = The walk down to the corner of Corrientes and Florida
Green = my loop back from Corrientes and Florida to Cordoba
Purple = is my loop back to Corrientes and Florida
Light Blue = my walk back to the the hostel
It was at this point I that I was comfortably falling into the dejected category. Certainly not defeated but dejected never the less. Sometimes you just need to take a bit of time and think your way out of what may feel to be losing scenario. I strolled down Avenida 9 de Julio and thought that I might be able to obtain a cash advance from one of the hotels that I passed on the way whilst playing 'scenario bingo' in my mind. The staff however were not in the ball park when it came to execution of my solution. They were happy to advise me that the 'maximum' they were willing to provide for cash advances was 100 pesos ($20 AUD) and that in itself would only be allowed for hotel guests on 'special occasions' - oh yeah, is that like for birthdays, weddings and escort services? They did suggest that I contact Western Union directly as they were also CERTAIN that there would be an office open that could provide me with the funds I required. I took their advice. I called Western Union from the hotel, typically however their computers were down when I called. They asked that I call back in two hours.
Following the light blue line now you can see the route that I took back to the Ayres Portenos some 3-4hrs after my morning commenced. Slow and painful, my mind was fighting the idea of giving in and remaining busy in trying to come up with ingenious solutions. To give in right at this moment would be to give away the idea of seeing Iguazu falls and as luck would have it that would make it the second time in two years that my plans have to make it to Iguazu had been foiled.
If you've made it with me this then let me advise you, this was only to be the entree, just the first act in what would be a stellar performance chronicling the mental disintegration of one Senor Elisher on this day. Read on though, fun and games in Buenos Aires certainly still abound.
If you've made it with me this then let me advise you, this was only to be the entree, just the first act in what would be a stellar performance chronicling the mental disintegration of one Senor Elisher on this day. Read on though, fun and games in Buenos Aires certainly still abound.
Back at the Ayres Portenos I told the staff 'my deal'. They advised that I contact Western Union also (I know dudes, tell them to get their system up and running hey). Anyway, after a couple of hours I was able to make the call. What then commenced was to be one of the most pointless and demented conversations that I ever had. The guy on the other end of the line just kept repeating and spellling out my name, over, and over, and over. It kind of went something like this;
Operator - 'Heeeenry'
Me - 'Yes'
Operator - 'Heeenry'
Me - 'Yes'
Operator - 'Heeenry Eeeelisher'
Me - 'YES!'
Operator - 'Heeeenry........what is your transfer reference'
Me - 'XXXX-XXX-XX-YYYY'
Operator - 'Heeeeenry.....'
Me - 'YES!!!!!!!'
Operator - 'Heeeenry...Elisher'
Me - 'YES!!!!!'
Operator - 'Heeenry....where are you now?'
This inane and idiotic question and answer fun time made me want to do damage to ducklings!! He kept repeating the facts of the scenario that led to me needing a transfer. He didn't even need to know that, I shouldn't have had to have told him a thing about me! All I really needed to find out from this guy was
1) If a branch was open, and if there was, one that could;
2) Allow me to obtain the sum of $700AUD that was transferred to me! T
That was all! I did manage to get one of the staff of the Ayres to painfully extract that very piece of information from the guy and the response, finally was this;
1) Yes there is, and;
2) It's located in a shopping centre in the suburb of Liniers, the address being Ramon Falcon, 7155. The time now was 2:15pm.
Operator - 'Heeeenry'
Me - 'Yes'
Operator - 'Heeenry'
Me - 'Yes'
Operator - 'Heeenry Eeeelisher'
Me - 'YES!'
Operator - 'Heeeenry........what is your transfer reference'
Me - 'XXXX-XXX-XX-YYYY'
Operator - 'Heeeeenry.....'
Me - 'YES!!!!!!!'
Operator - 'Heeeenry...Elisher'
Me - 'YES!!!!!'
Operator - 'Heeenry....where are you now?'
This inane and idiotic question and answer fun time made me want to do damage to ducklings!! He kept repeating the facts of the scenario that led to me needing a transfer. He didn't even need to know that, I shouldn't have had to have told him a thing about me! All I really needed to find out from this guy was
1) If a branch was open, and if there was, one that could;
2) Allow me to obtain the sum of $700AUD that was transferred to me! T
That was all! I did manage to get one of the staff of the Ayres to painfully extract that very piece of information from the guy and the response, finally was this;
1) Yes there is, and;
2) It's located in a shopping centre in the suburb of Liniers, the address being Ramon Falcon, 7155. The time now was 2:15pm.
OK, lets jump a train and take a ride!
I love the character of these old wooden carriages, sadly they were taken off all lines this month (February 2013) - Buenos Aires - Argentina
The highlight of my day was travelling this line. One for the 'old school' carriages and two for the fact that on my very first stay in BA, I was located in Boedo which was a stop on this line - sweet memories.
My ride today took me to the end of the line at Plaza de los Virreyes station. From there I was advised by my helpful assistant at the hostel that it would be only be a two block walk to 7155 Ramon Falcon, he even outlined the streets on a map and showed me that it where it would reside. So I walked, thinking all the while that my little fight for the day would end up being successful and would certainly be worth the effort.
I walked the blocks, I made it to between the streets where this shopping centre should have been. What should have been there however was certainly not. I retraced my steps, in fact I walked all the way back to the station. I did the route again, same freakin' result! Where the HELL was this place!!? Then I noticed something, the location where I was now standing was something like 1500 Ramon Falcon, my destination was 7155 Ramon Falcon.....a-ha...locate the error in waiting! Mentally calculating the distance now, considering that each block jumps in 100 increments, I figured that I was about 60 BLOCKS from where I needed to be!! 60 BLOCKS MAN!!! Now that's not a problem if there's public transport that can be utilised withoout much though but I'm no local, don't know the bus system here, nor do I have money for a taxi because a Uruguayan ATM jacked my card from me the day before and I wouldn't be here if I had it! Only one option hombre, it was time to but my rubber soles to the pavement and move them muchos rapido.
60 blocks, piece of cake. I walked, then I jogged, then walked and jogged again. By this time it was close to 3:30pm and here I was cutting my way through the back blocks of BA in the middle of nowhere (for me) effectively. I had it in my mind that I wanted to make the shopping centre before sunset because as being out in 'da hood' in unfamiliar territory after dark was just not my thing and not BA streetsmart either.
Somewhere along my back block discovery I stopped to ask a guy as to the address of where I was heading, Donde esta Ramon Falcon numero 7155 por favor? He looked at me and immediately pointed me back in the direction from where I had just come!!! What the hell dude, are you serious! ¿Qué hombre? This stopped me in my tracks once again. I had been moving along Ramon Falcon for about 25 mins and was in the mid 3000 vicinity, now this guy was telling me that it was actually somewhere back there!? Back there ( I actually pointed).My internal dialogue at this moment was something akin to two men with turrets screaming at each other as to who owned the best swear word!
My rationale to return back down Ramon Falcon was, I felt, rational but not correct. My scizophrenic mind anticipated that it leant a lot further to not being correct but more hoped that my decision to run up Ramon Falcon was an the real error. I hoped that the random street guy was giving me the right advice and more than hoped that the guy that assisted me at the hostel was right to begin with when he marked out the location on the map, I mean their advice added up. So I turned and headed back to Plaza de los Virreyes.
Approximately at the 2000 mark on Ramon Falcon I cut across to Avenida Rivadavia, a main thoroughfare running parallel to Ramon. There I encountered a policeman and put to him the question of the where the hell it was that I should be going. He stopped and stared at me for a moment, turned his head slowly and then pointed back up Rivadavia, the exact direction from where I had just come!
'ARRGGGGH FUCKSICLE MELON POPS TARTILICIOUS MOULDY CHEESE FUCK BALLS!!!!' ...and feel free to quote me on that response by the way.
He suggested to me that I utilise a bus to cover the distance to Liniers (which has the nice little A marker on the map below) as the distance walking, about 8kms or so, would just be plain stupid to attempt. I suggested to myself that perhaps he was correct. So I camped on Rivadavia and awaited my ride. Not knowing terminate at Liniers or pass through the suburb. Ok no problems, 'because nobody else has given me a bum steer what number to take, the policeman just advised me that 'most buses' today!'.
'ARRGGGGH FUCKSICLE MELON POPS TARTILICIOUS MOULDY CHEESE FUCK BALLS!!!!' ...and feel free to quote me on that response by the way.
He suggested to me that I utilise a bus to cover the distance to Liniers (which has the nice little A marker on the map below) as the distance walking, about 8kms or so, would just be plain stupid to attempt. I suggested to myself that perhaps he was correct. So I camped on Rivadavia and awaited my ride. Not knowing terminate at Liniers or pass through the suburb. Ok no problems, 'because nobody else has given me a bum steer what number to take, the policeman just advised me that 'most buses' today!'.
City Map of Buenos Aires showing my quaint journey to Liniers
There I waited on Rivadavia. I tried waving down one bus but the little Mestizo bastard drove right on by, then another drove by, what was this? Bend over Elisher day!? Finally I got myself onto a ride that was heading in the right direction. I asked the bus driver to kindly advise me when we had reached Liniers as that was my stop. I asked him twice in fact and he nodded in acknowledgment on both occasions.
Heading west into the setting sun the outskirts of BA started looking a lot different from what I'd experienced of central BA. The faces changed, the make-up of the area was significantly different and there I was, riding off into the land of Punt. As we we merrily bounced along I sighted an area that could very well have been Liniers, in fact, many of the signs said 'Liniers', but surely my bus driver knew where it was that I should be getting off the bus more than I did, right!? YEAH - WRONG!!! In fact, not so much wrong but just that the oddball had forgotten my request, even though I was standing right next to him. When he finally asked me where I was going and I responded he hit his head and kind of rolled his eyes....we were a long past the drop of and now I had to go back....to get my hat.
I exited the bus, miles from anywhere. Waiting on the other side of Rivadavia I jumped the next ride going from whence I had just came, familiar plot the day really. At least now I knew where Liniers was. I got off the bus in the approximate location and blindly fumbled my way through what looked to be a Bolivian enclave to the Liniers shopping centre Valhalla on Ramon Falcon, number 7155, just in case anyone had forgotten that that's where I was heading. The shopping centre is located literally at the end of the road. Where the shopping centre resides is where Ramon Falcon terminates. At this point Ramon is no more and right now I knew that my chances for a departure the next day were vanishing like the Maldives at high did. I mean know my fate now! Even though I have the location, even though there have been confirmations as to the availability of money and the fact that Western Union office was openat this very location, I inherently know that my quest will end in one massive failure. Take a photo of me now ladies and gentleman, splash FAIL in bold across the image and put it up on Facebook, this is my lasting tribute to the 'FAIL epoch'.
I entered the centre and spotted the Western Union sign two floors above me. There was a queue on arrival but that was no issue, I'd been at this for nearing 9hrs now, 5 more minutes wasn't going to hurt nearly as much as the time that had already passed. Arriving at the counter I see my fate all in an instant, it's like a double tap to the head. The lady that is about to 'assist with my query' has years of boredom, disappointment and disillusionment etched across her 'I couldn't be f**ked' face. It's as plain as day and the outcome is blatantly obvious and yet I need to play this game out to the end, I need closure. I slip her through my identification and transfer references plus anything else that was required. She shakes her head in a sadistic manner, half smiles in that way that people do when they gain internal pleasure from f**king someone over and says 'No, no we can not do this today', immediately she looks over my shoulder and asks the next person to step forward.....................OH HANG THERE!!!!! I block the path of the other person and demand that she assists me. Again she says 'No, we cannot do this today, we have no systems to complete the transaction'. No systems! But of course, without systems this world has nothing, but in much the same fashion now I have nothing. My valiant attempt was now over.
Moments later I was bent over the third floor balustrade looking down on the activity taking place below me. I was exhausted, mentally beaten. I just wanted to head back to the hostel and drink, although I'm not sure how much 37 pesos was going to get me because that's all I have left on me until I could figure out a place on Monday where I could obtain my $$.
I'm dazed for most of the journey back but to Sant Telmo but it doesn't take nearly as long as anticipated, it just remains an uneventful passage in the way most things are when you couldn't really give a toss. Walking down calle Peru I managed to find a bottle shop that kindly sold 8 peso bottle of red win. Why the hell not I think? It was going to be my only win for the day and realistically was the only alcohol that I could afford at this point.
Lying on my bed in the hostel I received a message on Facebook from Jorge, a guy that I met two years prior on my very first visit to Buenos Aires when staying in Boedo.He's a cool guy and he literally lives one minute away, on foot, from the front door of the hostel. In fact a couple of nights earlier I had jumped of the bus from Boca stadium and heard someone yel out 'Hey Henry' as I got off the bus. I can't tell you how bizzarely awesome it is to be on the other side of the world and have someone recognised you, it's off the charts unexpected.I convinced myself to get up, get moving and walk the 100mtrs to his place. Thankfully it was the right decision. I spent the evening drinking beer and chatting in my broken Spanish with both Jorge and his sister. It was exactly the tonic that I required after the disaster of navigating the Ramon Falcon for the afternoon. Hours pass and my memories blur in those evening hours however. The beers take over and I start feeling much more at peace with my situation. Doing a quick sanity diagnoses I realise that I'm in one of my favourite cities in the world, drinking with a friend that I made on my previous stay in BA and when the sun peaked over the horizon tomorrow, well, it was going to be a brand new day. In those moments I convince myself that Puerto Iguazu could wait, I'll arrange a date with it yet. For this evening I have Quilmes, great conversation and Colombian coffee, and that ain't half bad either!
Colombian coffee on calle Chile - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
