15/12/2019 – Travel day Buenos Aires to Pilar, Argentina

We got up and made ourselves brunch in the flat, before showering and packing our things up. Our air bnb host Juan said we could use the room for as long as we wanted, as he has no more guests arriving, which was kind. Juan recommended that we visit San Telmo market as it is a Sunday. We ordered an Uber and drove across the city to the San Telmo area near Plaza Dorrego. On a Sunday there are flea markets, pop up galleries, street art and performances, antique dealers, and lots of street food. We wandered the busy streets, it was almost a sensory overload, there was so much to take in. There was a great atmosphere even though it was raining lightly for most of the afternoon (this was welcome as Cordoba had been so hot!) We stopped at an asado (BBQ) food stall lined with bar stools, and both had a beautiful entrana steak, served alongside an aubergine salsa and a small loaf of sliced bread, so simple but with an unbelievable amount of flavour, it was a party in my mouth! We wandered around a bit more and then Josh decided that some shorts we had seen earlier in a vintage shop needed to be his, so we walked back and he treated himself to a bargain pair of colourful short shorts, which he is excited to wear for carnival in Brazil! We went to Bar Dorrego as recommended in the lonely planet guide and had a coffee and croissant (called a medialuna which literally translates as half moon!) It was a really nice old building, with little wooden tables, black and white tiles, and waiters wearing smart suits and bow ties. Although a coffee and snack are always welcome, we mainly went there to use the WiFi to order an Uber back to our air bnb. When we got back to the air bnb we gathered our belongings and walked a couple of blocks down to plaza Italia. Josh sat with our bags near our bus stop, and I found a subway station to buy a SUBE card (Buenos Aires version of an Oyster card). I then faffed around on a computer in Spanish and eventually managed to top the card up, with what I guessed and hoped would be enough for our journey! It wasn’t long before the local bus number 57 to Pilar pulled up, and so we hopped on and I asked the driver to tell us when we were at the specific location our Workaway host Liliana had asked us to go to. We were on the bus for about an hour, and used the time to write a list of things to request from mum and dad when they come to see us in a few weeks. Mainly pants for Josh and multivitamins for us both, and lots more immodium and dioralyte! We got off when the driver told us, and there was a lady waving from her car across the road, it was Liliana. She had driven to pick us up even though the house is closeby, because she had expected we would have a fair bit of luggage, and she wasn’t wrong! I think we have over 40Kg between us at the moment, which is quite a lot for two people to carry! We drove through the security of Lilianas housing complex, and details from our passports got taken, as a security measure. It is a very nice area and Liliana said they had some robberies in the past, so now there is always security on site. We pulled up outside the beautiful house and got shown in, where we were immediately greeted by a little shaved dog named Umma. The last three pets we have met have all had this name by weird coincidence! We dropped our bags in our room and got shown around the house. It is lovely and modern and had a big green garden and swimming pool outside. Liliana is a nutririonist specialising in vegan and vegetarian diets, although she does eat meat herself. She told us that many people in Argentina cannot understand a meal without meat, which is similar to that of what Frederico had said to us in San Rafael. Liliana is also very artistic and has lots of her own beautiful photographic prints and watercolours framed in the house. She has a studio in the house. She has all sorts of different collections, like woven baskets, masks, cacti and flower pots. There is so much to look at in the house! She has even made little chandeliers of things like her childhood tea set. It is very quirky and interesting! We spent the evening chatting with Liliana whilst she made us dinner. We had homemade aubergine lasagne with salad and bread and olive oil, served with a glass of malbec on the side of course! It was a very warm welcome and we quickly felt at ease. Josh and I washed up while Liliana took Umma for a walk. We unpacked, showered and crashed out in bed.