Blistered Feet but Happy Mind

Decorative Art Museum

I have walked more in the past two days than I think I have at any other point in my life. Tuesday I walked to the Botanical Gardens again (this time in the sunshine) to explore the park, and then in the evening I met up with Lionel from Couchsurfing and he gave me a very informative albeit quick-paced 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the entire Palermo area, complete with empanadas. He's a chef/food writer for a blog/magazine in the area so he was great about point out which restaurants I absolutely had to visit (and those I had to absolutely avoid) while we we toured. We then met up at one of Palermo's plazas for the Couchsurfing picnic. There were a surprisingly large amount of people and I instantly felt at home talking to a woman from Barcelona and a couple from Paris.

But yesterday was the real killer. I walked from my host's house in Palermo Viejo down Sante Fe/Ave Libertador to the Retiro Bus Station, and later the microcenter to take photos of the Casa Rosada, Obelisk, Teatro, etc.

Parque de Francia

beautiful graffiti art in park

The Casa Rosada

On my walk home I stopped at El Ateneo, the most beautiful bookstore I've ever seen - an old theater converted into today's bookstore, though the circular frame, red curtains, and box seats still exist.

I made it about 2 metro stops away from mine and then had to give in, paying the AR$1.10 to take the subte back to Ortiz and walk the 10 blocks back to the apartment. After looking at the map (and the many detours I took), I seemed to have walked over 100 blocks today. Which explains my blistered feet.

Today, I'm heading to the US embassy to get new pages for my passport which they appear to be charging $82 for now. WHAT?! Who ever thought you'd wish you hadn't gotten so many stamps in there. After, I'll be heading to Puerto Madero to meet up with SiSi's sister-in-law for lunch, and then maybe check out the San Telmo neighborhood. I have to find a hostel for tomorrow and can't decide if I want to stay here til Jed arrives, or if I want to try heading to Colonia del Sacramento for the weekend in Uruguay. Either way, I'll let you know!