We had found a hostel we liked in Buenos Aires with a close by parking lot for our bikes so that we could stay here a few days. Indeed, it was not all about playing and having fun but also found a solution about the bikes. A long time ago, when we had put the map of our planned itinerary, it stopped in the middle of South America. A lot of people had asked us then what the plan was for the bikes. This is exactly what we had been working on lately, assessing each option we had. Ideally, we wanted to sell it here but it was impossible for an Argentinean to legally buy our bikes. We had therefor posted ads on websites for expatriates. It was the same issue in Brasil and Uruguay, the closer countries. Paraguay seemed an option as you can sell it with a 30% import tax so we were looking into that, despite the high poverty of the country. In addition, we were getting quotes to ship the bikes back to the USA via air or boat. Hopefully one of these options will lead us to a solution.
Getting a taste of the different Barrios of the District Federal
Typically, we would spend a significant part of our mornings checking our email, ensuring our ads for the bikes were posted, responding to emails or calling people interested in the bikes, doing some research on the internet about what had been done by previous riders. Not easy and so far, nothing obvious was jumping at us like the way to go about this. But we would make sure that our afternoons were dedicated to explore and get more familiar with the beautiful city we were in. We strolled along the biggest avenue of the world, admiring the big obelisk. Then, we continued south to the charming neighborhood of San Telmo. This is shopper's paradise if you are into unique things with character. The whole street we walked down was lined up with local vendors, selling anything you could think of on little tables: arts and craft, leather articles, books or CDs, antiques. It was just fun to see everything you could buy here. The street also had a lot of Antique shops or halls with exquisite things. Even if we were not shopping for anything, the crowd around us, the vendors and the eclectic mix of things you could buy was very entertaining.
The next day, we decided to switch it up a little and tour the Barrios of the north on Chad's bike. But before that, we had an important mission: buy some tickets for a soccer game that took place that night. It was in the south suburbs of town and we had managed to find out a game and where to buy the tickets. We did not know much about the teams playing but it should be fun regardless. We managed to find the headquarters of the soccer team and bought the tickets for that night. We could now go back to Buenos Aires to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Floralis Generica, a huge metal flower that had the unique feature of closing at sunset, as a natural flower would do. We did not have a chance to stop there at night to confirm it; the huge shiny flower in the sunny afternoon was impressive enough for us. We continued to Recoleta where we had a chance to see another very cool street market around the famous cemetery of this barrio. Mostly the rich and famous were buried there, and it was a little similar to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris: big white or darker monuments with impressive looking sculptures and through the ancient windows, you could see the caskets piled up inside. Not the most happy sight but there was something so nice about the cemetery.
A little further, we entered Palermo where we wanted to walk through the Japanese gardens. These types of gardens were always so peaceful and no matter how many worries you had on your mind, they would vanish in a minute. We walked along the perfect ponds, where big colorful fish would beg for food. They were obviously big enough and did not really look like they needed it. And then the typical red arched bridge, so typical in your cliché about Japan, that you had to stop and pause for a picture. They had also the cutest Bonzais for sale and we were admiring them after we finished our walk through the perfectly groomed gardens. It was getting late and we rode back to the hostel to get ready for the soccer game and see if we had any new message for the bikes.
We finally made it to the right section, people wondering why two tourists were coming to this out of the beaten track game. Our guide had been really great and we sat where we were supposed to, still before the game started. The stadium was warming up and the fans of Independientes were just getting louder and louder. The players finally came in and the madness started: loud drums filled the stadium, people were chanting, yelling and moving in coordinated waves under the red flags and decoration. It was amazing: we were more hy
pnotized by the fans than the players starting the game. During the first half, no one scored so the tension had significantly risen in the second half. The fans were still crazy loud and as the referee was making calls in favor of the other team, we were learning many curse words in Spanish that we would dare to write here. Five minutes before then end of the game, still no goal. The tension was at its peek when the unthinkable happened: the home team scored! It was a wave of joy all around us, each face with a smile as big as can be. A few minutes later the game ended and we had won. What a crazy game! We had loved it and were now ready to enjoy the traditional Choripan sold outside the stadium: a grilled sausage into French bread. Winning just opens your appetite!
The next day, back to business. We met the two guys for the bikes and while they seemed excited about them and impressed by the good shape they were in, we could just not read if they would sell them or not. That night, we got a very positive email saying that they would like to buy both but for much less than we had had asked for. When we called them, it turned out that it was a ridiculously low offer: $3,000 for both bikes, including all the luggage and accessories. We declined politely and we agreed that if we would get desperate for lack of a better offer, we could always call them back. We stepped out of the hostel to get some fresh air and food as well when we heard drums and saw a big crowd nearby. We had no idea but it was actually Japanese celebration weekend and they had a huge par
ade of drummers, traditional costumes and martial arts walking down the stret. It was a fun thing to watch but finally our stomach were too hungry. It was after all 4pm and we've had no food since breakfast. In traditional Argentinean style, we ordered a steak and made sure to ask for it rare or super juicy since they have a tendency to overcook things here. Even Chad went for the rare order and this time, to our surprise, it came as we had requested: rare! In the capital where they are more used to tourists, they probably cook as they are requested to. Even for Caroline, it was very rare and for Chad, it was close to torture but he made it. Next time, we will ask for a little less blood:)
Getting a taste of the different Barrios of the District Federal
Typically, we would spend a significant part of our mornings checking our email, ensuring our ads for the bikes were posted, responding to emails or calling people interested in the bikes, doing some research on the internet about what had been done by previous riders. Not easy and so far, nothing obvious was jumping at us like the way to go about this. But we would make sure that our afternoons were dedicated to explore and get more familiar with the beautiful city we were in. We strolled along the biggest avenue of the world, admiring the big obelisk. Then, we continued south to the charming neighborhood of San Telmo. This is shopper's paradise if you are into unique things with character. The whole street we walked down was lined up with local vendors, selling anything you could think of on little tables: arts and craft, leather articles, books or CDs, antiques. It was just fun to see everything you could buy here. The street also had a lot of Antique shops or halls with exquisite things. Even if we were not shopping for anything, the crowd around us, the vendors and the eclectic mix of things you could buy was very entertaining.
The next day, we decided to switch it up a little and tour the Barrios of the north on Chad's bike. But before that, we had an important mission: buy some tickets for a soccer game that took place that night. It was in the south suburbs of town and we had managed to find out a game and where to buy the tickets. We did not know much about the teams playing but it should be fun regardless. We managed to find the headquarters of the soccer team and bought the tickets for that night. We could now go back to Buenos Aires to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Floralis Generica, a huge metal flower that had the unique feature of closing at sunset, as a natural flower would do. We did not have a chance to stop there at night to confirm it; the huge shiny flower in the sunny afternoon was impressive enough for us. We continued to Recoleta where we had a chance to see another very cool street market around the famous cemetery of this barrio. Mostly the rich and famous were buried there, and it was a little similar to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris: big white or darker monuments with impressive looking sculptures and through the ancient windows, you could see the caskets piled up inside. Not the most happy sight but there was something so nice about the cemetery. A little further, we entered Palermo where we wanted to walk through the Japanese gardens. These types of gardens were always so peaceful and no matter how many worries you had on your mind, they would vanish in a minute. We walked along the perfect ponds, where big colorful fish would beg for food. They were obviously big enough and did not really look like they needed it. And then the typical red arched bridge, so typical in your cliché about Japan, that you had to stop and pause for a picture. They had also the cutest Bonzais for sale and we were admiring them after we finished our walk through the perfectly groomed gardens. It was getting late and we rode back to the hostel to get ready for the soccer game and see if we had any new message for the bikes. Heading out to the stadium for a night of excitement
We found out about our first interesting lead for the bikes: two guys from the USA wanted to have a look at them and were interested in potentially buying both. We gave them a call and arranged for them to come the next day. In great spirit and quite optimistic, we headed out to the stadium to see Independientes play against Lanus. We did not know anything about the teams or the game but were just looking forward to seeing Argentinean soccer in action. Our bike parked, we walked the five blocks to the stadium and waited in line to get in. The policy was everywhere and we had to get through three security checkpoints before we made it to Door 2. There, separate lines for women and men, Caroline went in first since the line was shorter
but Chad was held by the security guy telling him something he could not get. It turned out we were at the wrong door but they had already teared our tickets. They sent us to the security guy who told us we should have gone to Door 3. He called the Door 3 security guy to tell him about the situation and that two tourists were on their way. Five minute walk later and two security checkpoints passed, we were at Door 3. The guy looked at our tickets and shook his head. We had been sent to the wrong door again: we needed to go to Door 5. He called that door to explain the situation and the guy told him to send us with an escort so that we would not get lost. So now we were the two foolish tourists walking all around the stadium with our young security guys leading the way.
We found out about our first interesting lead for the bikes: two guys from the USA wanted to have a look at them and were interested in potentially buying both. We gave them a call and arranged for them to come the next day. In great spirit and quite optimistic, we headed out to the stadium to see Independientes play against Lanus. We did not know anything about the teams or the game but were just looking forward to seeing Argentinean soccer in action. Our bike parked, we walked the five blocks to the stadium and waited in line to get in. The policy was everywhere and we had to get through three security checkpoints before we made it to Door 2. There, separate lines for women and men, Caroline went in first since the line was shorter
but Chad was held by the security guy telling him something he could not get. It turned out we were at the wrong door but they had already teared our tickets. They sent us to the security guy who told us we should have gone to Door 3. He called the Door 3 security guy to tell him about the situation and that two tourists were on their way. Five minute walk later and two security checkpoints passed, we were at Door 3. The guy looked at our tickets and shook his head. We had been sent to the wrong door again: we needed to go to Door 5. He called that door to explain the situation and the guy told him to send us with an escort so that we would not get lost. So now we were the two foolish tourists walking all around the stadium with our young security guys leading the way. We finally made it to the right section, people wondering why two tourists were coming to this out of the beaten track game. Our guide had been really great and we sat where we were supposed to, still before the game started. The stadium was warming up and the fans of Independientes were just getting louder and louder. The players finally came in and the madness started: loud drums filled the stadium, people were chanting, yelling and moving in coordinated waves under the red flags and decoration. It was amazing: we were more hy
pnotized by the fans than the players starting the game. During the first half, no one scored so the tension had significantly risen in the second half. The fans were still crazy loud and as the referee was making calls in favor of the other team, we were learning many curse words in Spanish that we would dare to write here. Five minutes before then end of the game, still no goal. The tension was at its peek when the unthinkable happened: the home team scored! It was a wave of joy all around us, each face with a smile as big as can be. A few minutes later the game ended and we had won. What a crazy game! We had loved it and were now ready to enjoy the traditional Choripan sold outside the stadium: a grilled sausage into French bread. Winning just opens your appetite! The next day, back to business. We met the two guys for the bikes and while they seemed excited about them and impressed by the good shape they were in, we could just not read if they would sell them or not. That night, we got a very positive email saying that they would like to buy both but for much less than we had had asked for. When we called them, it turned out that it was a ridiculously low offer: $3,000 for both bikes, including all the luggage and accessories. We declined politely and we agreed that if we would get desperate for lack of a better offer, we could always call them back. We stepped out of the hostel to get some fresh air and food as well when we heard drums and saw a big crowd nearby. We had no idea but it was actually Japanese celebration weekend and they had a huge par
ade of drummers, traditional costumes and martial arts walking down the stret. It was a fun thing to watch but finally our stomach were too hungry. It was after all 4pm and we've had no food since breakfast. In traditional Argentinean style, we ordered a steak and made sure to ask for it rare or super juicy since they have a tendency to overcook things here. Even Chad went for the rare order and this time, to our surprise, it came as we had requested: rare! In the capital where they are more used to tourists, they probably cook as they are requested to. Even for Caroline, it was very rare and for Chad, it was close to torture but he made it. Next time, we will ask for a little less blood:) 
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