You Can Go Uruguay...

Punctuality matters in this country. Last night, Diego asked what time we wanted a wake-up call. We said 6:30, he said, "Okay, six," and then they went ahead and called us at 5:30. Diego knows best, so who are we to argue? They brought breakfast in promptly at 6:00. This was their first visit, and NOT the last.

Phone call to lobby #1: Hi, can we have fake sugar for the coffee?

Man: Oh, yes! Yes!

Man arrives with sugar packets and leaves. It is not fake sweetener.

Phone call to lobby #2: Hi, we actually wanted FAKE sugar. Um... sugar sin sugar. Sin sugar?

Man: Oh, yes! I see! Yes! How many?

Shandon: Five.

Man arrives with five... croissants. True story.

Shandon: No, we wanted artificial sweetener, like Sweet and Low or Equal....

Man: Oh, yes! I see! Yes!

We were starting to think that perhaps, just maybe, he didn't quite see. But we did get five croissants out of the situation, so that's a plus. He came back with the "sugar sin sugar" and thanked us profusely for helping him meet his Fitbit step goal, all before 7 a.m. Not really.

Phone calls #3 and #4 involved more coffee and asking for him to call us a cab. If that won't put a post-it in your hotel file as annoying guests, I don't know what will.

Our cab driver took us to the ferry port, and pretty sure they based Grand Theft Auto on his driving skills. When he saw a corner coming up, he preferred to hit the gas rather than the brake; that's WAYYY more fun.

You know what else is fun? Argentinian Immigration Control. We got our exit stamp to leave Buenos Aires, then you just have to turn a full 180 to get your entry stamp into Uruguay from the counter right behind you. Very efficient.

One hour on the ferry and a trip through customs and we were on Uruguayian (??) soil. We wandered the town of Colonia all day and it was glorious. Lighthouse? Saw it. Stone wall? Climbed it. Cafe con leche? Drank it. Cobblestone streets? Tripped all over it. Old ruins? Loved it.

Colonia was just the best place to wander. When we got back to Buenos Aires, it was about 5:30, which in America is about time to wrap up the day. In Argentina, you have to get your second wind so you can make it to restaurant-opening time, which is 8 p.m. Soooo we went on an excursion to find the best local coffee shop - nothing commercialized for us. More lies. We were looking for Starbucks. Any Starbucks. That adventure was a fail, and we eventually had to give up and get a taxi to take us back to the Palermo neighborhood. That was almost a fail too, when the first cab driver denied us because it was just a bit too far for him to bother driving. We eventually found someone willing to take our 140 Argentinian pesos, and exactly twelve seconds after getting in the cab, we pulled up in front of... you guessed it... Starbucks. Fails all around.

We attempted to go to Sarkis restaurant (the food of my people), but the line was around the corner right at 8:00; all was well, though... we ended up with phenomenal tacos and called it a night. Next up... Iguazu!