Saying Goodbye to Krista

After a few days spent in Palermo it was time to explore a bit of San Telmo. This is a barrio largely populated with young, artsy university students and young families. And is quite obviously a lower income area. We had been winging it without a plan ever since Krista got here and with just a few days until her departure we saw no need to change our routine. Online we found the perfect hostel, America del Sur, in the heart of San Telmo, hopped in a cab and headed over. Things were running smooth as butter, they had a private room, everything was so clean and new and the staff was the best ever, so friendly and chipper! Just as we were about to start to settle into our new digs, there was a knock at the door. There had been a mistake at reception and the hostel actually had no vacancy... they called a hostel around the corner and made reservations for us as we sadly packed our belongings and headed for the door... the staff clearly felt quite badly for the mistake and reassured us that there was space in a private room for the next night and we would be given a hearty discount! The hostel around the corner definitely left something to be desired and begrudgingly we settled in but not without serious debate on whether or not we should stay. Krista and I meandered around the streets of San Telmo, checking out the various antique shops, street vendors and of course the food. This is the area that is so known for Tango and has a heavy Italian influence so there are about a million pizza joints in this neighborhood.

San Telmo antique fair is also another major draw for tourists and takes place every Sunday. Here Krista was able to find a fair few gems amongst to take home as souvenirs. After a long day wondering the cobbled streets of our new neighborhood we retired to our hostel. In the dark the place looked much better than it had that afternoon and we even made friends with a couple girls in our dorm, Britten from Montana and Vanessa from Ireland. One night one of our new gal pals, Britten, invited us to go out with her and her friend Juan, a local of BA. Being that it was Krista´s last night we agreed that it would be best spent at our favorite local pub, The Red Door. This tiny joint served tasty food, great beer, had English speaking staff and was conveniently located directly across the street from our hostel. Juan and his friends were really nice and we all had a lovely time. The next morning, entirely too bright and too early, Krista left… sad… It was so much fun to have her with me as we explored these two countries. It was an awesome trip and I look forward to our next traveling adventure together!