Day 3: Picnic

As luck would have it, the Argentinean holiday provided us with an excuse to start the day off late (again).  Cool with me!

 

We rented bikes and took a nice self guided tour of the city.  Being the type A punctual freaks that we are, Kyle and I arrived back at the designated meeting point (some random plaza) to return our bikes a few minutes early…aaaand there was nobody to be found.  [???] 

We were slightly concerned because (a) they had our credit card number, (b) they were supposedly closing down for the rest of the weekend in 10 minutes, and (c) we had no interest in schlepping the bikes around with us for the remainder of the day (we had a schedule!).  What the hell!?!  My mind went from confusion to panic in 5 minutes flat [note: I kept a poker face the entire time because Kyle was really freaking out, but inside I was far from calm].  First I began brainstorming ways to avoid storing the bikes in our apartment for the weekend.  Then I started to wonder if the whole rental thing was a scam.

To be fair, my sister had warned us about how laid back they are in Buenos Aires, but it’s hard to completely ignore the clock when it comes to things like bus schedules and flight times.  Would you even believe me if I said I was trying to ditch my uptight American ways?  Well anyway.  To cut to the end of the story, we finally got some random guy to help us use a nearby pay phone to call the bike rental number we had written down earlier in the day to ask them if they were coming back to the fountain.

Picture me, standing by myself in the middle of a park with two bikes (no wallet, no ID, no money) and Kyle off with some random guy completely out of my sights.  This is typically when things turn very bad in the movies.  Luckily, my fate wasn’t written by Hollywood. 

30 minutes later the rental peeps came back to retrieve the bikes and all was well.  I have no clue if they would have returned if we hadn’t called them, but I was trying not to think of all the shady things that were going on around us at the time.

If nothing else, my racing heart worked up quite an appetite for lunch.

 

Picnic.  Another recommended eatery.  Florida 102, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

There were cookies on the counter which I sampled as we waited in line to order.

 

The fact that there were lots of vegan options on the menu excited me.

 

Unfortunately, they were out of everything.  Literally.  I couldn’t get my first, second, or third choice.  The staff was really nice and felt bad that they had nothing left, but it was pretty disappointing.  Why bother having a menu at all?  It’s not like it was a super extensive one either…there were a handful of sandwiches and salads…not too hard to manage in my opinion. 

 

Kyle got the “clasico” veggie burger (they were out of the “big bang” one he wanted) with a mustard sauce on the side (they were out of the BBQ sauce he wanted). 

 

Meh.  They also messed up the sides we got.  His plate had my “salad” (a heap of lettuce, no toppings, no dressing).

I got a falafel pita (with his fries on the side).

 

Four falafel balls and a sh!t ton of veg.  No sauce. 

 

This was so dry it left a lump in my throat with each bite. 

I ate the tiny falafel balls and some of the pita, but the raw radishes and lettuce was so unappealing to me. 

 

At least we had a nice view?  The restaurant has three levels with a cute decor.  We sat on the second level overlooking Calle Florida.

 

The good news about my mediocre lunch was it left a lot of room for dessert.  I “sampled” liberally and then got a napkin to take even more for the road. 

 

Good flavor, but a little hard. 

 

After our day of adventures, we were in the mood for a mellow evening in.

 

And that’s exactly what we did.

Have you ever been scammed on vacation?  Do you know anyone else who has been?