Buenos Aires, Argentina

Today felt a bit like a **** sandwich, you know where there is good either side of a bad bit. It started well, packed up the flat into the case again which takes as long as you allow it! I tried to be ruthless as the airline limit tomorrow is 15kg and I arrived with 20kg. I am not sure I have cleared 5kg, so I think wearing heavy clothes will be needed. I tidy up the apartment and leave the keys, shutting the door for the last time. Definitely ready to travel again but have enjoyed my life in Buenos Aires. I wheel my case for about 15minutes and check into Epicorecoleta hotel. Nice hotel and my room has a bath, such a treat I shall look forward to a good soak later. This afternoon I am meeting Sarah and Inka to look round San Telmo and El Zanjons, which is a old house. Quickest route is via the subte line to Independencia, this is where Justin and I stayed so it is nice to be back in the old neighbourhood. Now for the bad part, I exit the tube and I am on the wrong side of 9 de Julio so I check my phone and wait to cross the street. Whilst I can remember it clearly it was probably pretty fast, a person on a motorbike sped past, snatching the phone as he went. I managed to shout but then watched him go in disbelief, you just don’t expect it and I was really angry, gutted all at the same time. It’s hard to know what to do after it happens, I figured the Police would just log it and I couldn’t magic it back. I went on to meet the girls, ranting to myself all the way. I wasn’t hurt, all the info would be on the iCloud and as long as the phone locked it would be pretty useless to them. Sarah and Inka were lovely, but I figured it shouldn’t stop our day and we entered El Zanjons. El Zanjons is a really unusual house. The street it’s on was once a small river—the zanjón, or gorge, of the property’s name—where the first, unsuccessful attempt to found Buenos Aires took place in 1536. When the property’s current owner decided to develop what was then a run-down conventillo, he began to discover all sorts of things beneath it: pottery and cutlery, the foundations of past constructions, and a 500-foot network of tunnels that has taken over 20 years to excavate. These were once used to channel water, but like the street itself, they were sealed after San Telmo’s yellow-fever outbreaks. The original affluent owner who built this house in 1830 constructed it over the river like his neighbours so the river became enclosed creating the tunnels. The owner sold it only 20 years later as they became afraid of the yellow fever and moved to Recoleta. It was interesting to see the restored house and explore the tunnels beneath the streets of San Telmo. We wandered through the market as we left, pausing to feast on choripan and visit the Illuminated block which is another old building in the area. It was dark by the time I caught the Subte home but lovely to see some of the historic buildings lit up at night. Ended the day with that lovely soak in the bath I had promised myself!