Hey there followers, as this is the day I head north to Salta, I have an important errand to take care of ahead of time. Since, I’m not sure about how easy it will be to exchange dollars out what rate I might get, I left the apartment walking at 9:00 AM to try and exchange dólares at a western union which was close. I wanted to compare this to my earlier experience to see what would be better.
One big advantage was that it was a lot closer. At 9:15 AM I was already at the San Telmo Western Union branch where I changed $100 USD for 124000 ARS. They gave me 2000 bills, with a slightly better exchange rate than I got a week ago at an informal exchange place. If that is the tendency, it’s probably better to just exchange at the Pago Facil Western Union branches. According to the Dollar Blue app it should be 127000 for $100 USD but I assume nobody actually gets that amount, and again, at the end of the day, for me or didn’t make that much of a difference. Perhaps if I had asked around in several places, I could have received even better, but as a tourist for a couple of weeks, I was happy with this exchange rate. I was also happy that I got 2000 bills, since it was a smaller bunch of cash.
I left the exchange house at 9:20 AM on foot, deciding to stop in at the San Telmo church at 9:27. It was simple by Catholic church standards in Latin America go, but I liked that. This place exists as a neighborhood place of worship, not a tourist spot.
After a brief walk through, I left at 9:35, headed towards the nearby apartment, but before arriving I stopped into Bar Británico at 9:54 to get a café doble and two media lunas. Again, I didn’t really know what I was asking for in terms of coffee, but that was one of the options. There were lots of people there, so I figured it must be a good place to get a light breakfast.
At 9:59 AM the coffee and pastries were served. These were my first “media lunas”, which is sort of significant since that seems to be the default morning food here. They are a sort of dense, lightly sweet, croissant shaped pastry. I paid 4200 ARS cash + 420 ARS cash tip.
I was there until 11:04 AM when I decided to exit since it had been getting a bit warm inside for me, as I had on my coat, so I walked across the street to Parque Lezama where I stayed sitting for a while.
Then on a whim at 11:30 AM I decided to check out the nearby Museo Histórico Nacional. As luck would have it, there was a free guided tour (in Spanish) which had started right at 11:30 AM which I was able to join. Entrance to the museum was also free.
I learned that the museum and park was previously a private residence which was donated by the Lezama family. At 11:42 AM the guide was doing a great job, and really made the story of San Martín come alive. She was very expressive, making things interesting. Her name was Florencia.
At 11:49 I was also impressed that the guide had a chair brought for an older woman who was having problems remaining standing throughout the tour. At 11:54 she told us about the first “National shield” that is known to exist in Argentina. It was actually painted on top of an older sister shield from before the declaration of independence.
I also learned that in 1813 in Potosí there was clearly a discourse in favor of abolishing the inequality of the indigenous people which took place under the Spanish. A clear symbol of this was the Tarja de Potosí. However, as noted by the campaña del desierto, that didn’t really apply to all the indigenous peoples. The Tarja itself is made of silver and gold. Note the representation of an indigenous man at the top of the Tarja.
At 12:09 the guide mentioned that in the early 1800s even tiny portraits were very expensive, and as such tended to only be for wealthy people. The mini ones would have been similar to how people used to carry a few pictures of their family in the wallet, but again, this was only for the very wealthy.
Another interesting tidbit learned at 12:25 PM was that during the war in 1816, most of the food that the soldiers ate was in the form of crackers that were so hard that they had to use a special grater to get dust from them which was then put into hot water.
Then at 12:40 PM I found out that despite being the national hero San Martin in 1824 left the area for Europe because he was no longer in agreement with the governmental system which had emerged. He remained in voluntary exile for the rest of his life.
At 12:44 PM I was able to see the original San Martin de la bandera portrait which he had hanging in his room in exile in France, and which is also the most copied image on currency and for reproductions. The painter is not known, but it is believed to have been his daughter’s painting instructor, but it may actually have been painted by his daughter or even a partially collaborative effort. In summary, they don’t know.
Right here was also San Martin’s saber which seems to be considered almost sacred. It’s in a very special climate controlled chamber. It has a special military guard next to it. He actually bought this year’s before in London. Historical studies indicate that it was at least 100 years old when he bought it and it was made with Damascus steel.
At 12:55 PM The official tour ended, but I stayed around to see the change of the guard for San Martin’s saber. The guard is very respected and loved by most Argentinians. The change itself happened at 1:03 and then I wandered around a bit more on my own.
At 1:11 PM in some ways it seemed to me that once they got started fighting, they just continued. The dispute between the federalists and the unionists, as well as military disputes with neighbors continued, then later on there were various military coups and dictatorships.
As of 2023, they had finished 40 years of uninterrupted democracy, the longest in Argentinian history.
At 1:23 PM I saw one of the oldest known white and blue Argentinian flags. It was found in 1883, having been protected there in hiding from opposition leaders. Originally this flag was used by those who supported keeping the Spanish king, but with Argentina being autonomous from Spain.
Just to see, at 1:31 PM I checked out the small gift shop, and noted that there were various attractive and mostly affordable items available for anyone wanting a souvenir.
Finally at 1:36 PM I left the museum and headed back to the apartment to get ready to go. As I walked across Parque Lezama, the sound of the parrots was constant.
At 1:46 PM I departed the park and headed back to the apartment to get my stuff out. In the distance at 1:49 PM I noticed some graffiti high up on the side of a building, and I wondered how they had done it.
Soon after, at 1:54 I arrived at the entrance to the apartment to gather my things.
I had some tense moments when I couldn’t remember exactly where I had put my other passport and cash in the many pockets of my green bag, but these sort of last minute jitters are common when traveling.
At 2:13 PM I was out the door and at 2:25 PM I was then on bus 33 headed to AEP airport. Along the way at 2:46 I saw what appeared to be low income government housing. There was a street mural honoring Padre Mugica in this area but I couldn’t get a picture. The vibrations in this bus when stopped were crazy, it was like being in an out of control massage chair!
I got off the bus a couple stops early (this time on purpose!) at 2:54 PM as I wanted to see some things right there nearby, and I had plenty of time.
Still, it didn’t take long and at 3:02 PM I was in the airport and then in the quickly moving Fly Bondi line at 3:07 PM, next heading up to security at 3:17 PM. This line was also fast and I was through to the departure area at 3:30 PM.
At 3:43 PM at Pizza Zen I paid 9400 ARS (660 INR – $7.9 USD) with a card to have 1 humita empanada, 1 roast beef empanada and 1 cerveza Patagonia.
The airport wasn’t crowded, and this was a peaceful place to wait until 4:43 PM when there was a boarding call and I headed over to gate 8, already finding my seat on the plane at 5:06 PM.
I was a bit confused because when I bought the ticket it said that all hand luggage had to go under the seat, but I see a lot of maximum size carry ons. . . But also when I asked as I was checking in, they clearly only wanted me to check it in. . . I should look into this more on the flight back. I just checked, and technically it wouldn’t be allowed in as my bag weighed 7.5 kilos, but I doubt anyone actually checks the weight.
The plane didn’t actually take off until 5:44 PM. It was not especially comfortable, but I figured it would be fine for two hours.
At 7:35 PM the plane touched down. The flight itself and also the touchdown was very smooth. I guess there would be no problem with my checked bag, but based on what I had seen so far, despite numerous online recommendations to the contrary, flying with Flybondi seemed like a good option. Oddly, as we finished moving down the runway into our parking spot, at 7:37 PM the passengers applauded. Previously I’ve only seen that in the United States.
The moment we stopped, just like in India, almost everyone jumped up out of their seat before the seatbelt sign was turned off so that they could open the overhead bins and get their things down, as if that meant that they would be off the plane any faster . . .
At 7:46 I walked off the plane and straight into the airport where people were already waiting at the luggage belt where my bag quickly emerged at 6:52 PM. The exit was also right there, and my driver was waiting just outside with a sign that had my name. As luck would have it, I was the only one who had contracted the transfer, so I had a private van transport for 6500 ARS. It goes without saying that I recommend Transfer VIP NOA, especially for solo travels coming in later in the day.
The road from the airport to Salta was in excellent repair and the driver appreciated the 1000 ARS tip I gave him when we arrived outside my lodging at 8:05 PM. For some reason I had not been able to get the online payment/reservation system to work, but when I contacted them via the WhatsApp contact on their webpage they quickly helped me reserve and said I could pay in cash directly to the driver.
After getting settled in, at 9:52 PM I left the apartment walking towards calle Balcarce, which had been recommended to me by several people. At 10:21 I passed by a huge park and a statue at the roundabout.
So at 10:54 I arrived to calle Balcarce, and while the area was very nice, full of restaurants with live music and traditional dance shows, it clearly was not made for people to come alone. I went up and down the street a few times, wanting to be able to go into one of the places, but they were all packed. There was no way I was going to be able to get food there and much less get a table where I could in any reasonable way appreciate the music and shows. So, I finally gave up at 11:52 PM and set off to try to find somewhere I could at least get some food.
Finally, very hungry, at 11:59 PM I found a place that was also fairly crowded with no smaller tables, but when I asked if it would be okay for one person to eat alone, they were quick to assure me that I was very welcome, and they put me at a table for four. At Don Juan Alberti I had a delicious parrillada for over and a small bottle of wine. At 1:49 AM I paid 23700 ARS (1663 INR – $19.94 USD ) with my Indian credit card, and also left a tip of 2200 ARS cash.
Then at 2:08 AM I started walking back. It should have been a faster walk, but I was meandering quite a bit, so it wasn’t until 3:01 AM that I finally got back to the apartment and promptly went to sleep.
So it was a very long day, but despite my initial issue getting dinner, it was also a very good day. Who could tell what time I would finally wake up, and I also had no set plan, so if you want to find out what happened on Day 9 you will just have to wait for the next entry. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Travels with Jay 