Visiting for couple weeks; hoping to wander in the city a bit. Coffee chat; other advice...

Noce

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Hello BAExpats, from Arlington, Va.

My wife an I will be visiting for two weeks starting later this week, with few objectives other than taking it easy and pretending we might live there someday.
We have no specific plans for relocating now or later, though we find the idea attractive, and will use it as a frame of reference to experience BA slowly w/o trying to pack in sites or excursions.

(1) Joining a coffee chat is a distinct possibility (yes, we will try to RSVP if it looks like we can join).
If anyone has specifics to suggest on any of these more specific, i covet them:
- (2) recommended public bus route to ride end-to-end, simply to see it all go by;
- (3) insider tips on using ecobici [i use the bikeshares in the Washington DC area for commuting and knowing their rebalancing patterns is invaluable for planning trips);
- (4) by the way, do i need an APP (on a phone) to use Ecobici, or can i pick up a FOB of some kind, or load my ID onto a Subte card or something to access the bikes?);
- (5) suggestions for converting a blue-stripe once i am in town Wednesday morning, since i will probably exchange the minimum at EZE to get downtown [arranged a driver thru a contact, but still need to pay him]; [I have found LOTS online about Calle Florida--maybe after being on the ground a little I'll "walk by" to check it out. but anybody have an in with a cueva or help navigating this: https://secretsofbuenosaires.com/best-places-exchange-money-buenos-aires/? i have spent time scoping watermarks etc., but not averse to hand holding.
- (6) where else to hang out for couple hours Wednesday until i can drop bag at lodging near Botanica? [my wife arrives on Thurs, so it is just me]
- (7) half of us (ahem) are interested in getting to a futbol match one of our Sundays in town (surely there is someone elsei can tag along with, rather than the "tours" i see advertized);
- (8) is there a more reasonable lap pool for daily use (correspondence with GEBA offers "un costo mensual de $6500"[prohibitive!]);
- (9) absent a lap pool for exercise, some other pool to access for body temp control!
- (10) getting advice for tix and navigating attendance to futbol match (Teams other than Bocal Jrs, or La Plate are fine);
oh--(11) i would love to watch an American Football game scheduled for 7pm ET Saturday (OSU v Wisc) with others if there was an obvious pace to do that. My prior searches turned up names of places that may not exist now, like "Sugar Bar" "El Alamo" etc. suggestions?

We have more free tour walks, downloaded BA Tours info, etc. than we will want to use, but we'd enjoy learning off-the-beaten-path intel regardless.

i use WhatsApp, but will need to get a local SIM into my phone once on the ground downtown. Separate replies welcome, if this kind of detail is inapprop for the forum.

TIA,
paz
 
Hello BAExpats, from Arlington, Va.

My wife an I will be visiting for two weeks starting later this week, with few objectives other than taking it easy and pretending we might live there someday.
We have no specific plans for relocating now or later, though we find the idea attractive, and will use it as a frame of reference to experience BA slowly w/o trying to pack in sites or excursions.

(1) Joining a coffee chat is a distinct possibility (yes, we will try to RSVP if it looks like we can join).
If anyone has specifics to suggest on any of these more specific, i covet them:
- (2) recommended public bus route to ride end-to-end, simply to see it all go by;
- (3) insider tips on using ecobici [i use the bikeshares in the Washington DC area for commuting and knowing their rebalancing patterns is invaluable for planning trips);
- (4) by the way, do i need an APP (on a phone) to use Ecobici, or can i pick up a FOB of some kind, or load my ID onto a Subte card or something to access the bikes?);
- (5) suggestions for converting a blue-stripe once i am in town Wednesday morning, since i will probably exchange the minimum at EZE to get downtown [arranged a driver thru a contact, but still need to pay him]; [I have found LOTS online about Calle Florida--maybe after being on the ground a little I'll "walk by" to check it out. but anybody have an in with a cueva or help navigating this: https://secretsofbuenosaires.com/best-places-exchange-money-buenos-aires/? i have spent time scoping watermarks etc., but not averse to hand holding.
- (6) where else to hang out for couple hours Wednesday until i can drop bag at lodging near Botanica? [my wife arrives on Thurs, so it is just me]
- (7) half of us (ahem) are interested in getting to a futbol match one of our Sundays in town (surely there is someone elsei can tag along with, rather than the "tours" i see advertized);
- (8) is there a more reasonable lap pool for daily use (correspondence with GEBA offers "un costo mensual de $6500"[prohibitive!]);
- (9) absent a lap pool for exercise, some other pool to access for body temp control!
- (10) getting advice for tix and navigating attendance to futbol match (Teams other than Bocal Jrs, or La Plate are fine);
oh--(11) i would love to watch an American Football game scheduled for 7pm ET Saturday (OSU v Wisc) with others if there was an obvious pace to do that. My prior searches turned up names of places that may not exist now, like "Sugar Bar" "El Alamo" etc. suggestions?

We have more free tour walks, downloaded BA Tours info, etc. than we will want to use, but we'd enjoy learning off-the-beaten-path intel regardless.

i use WhatsApp, but will need to get a local SIM into my phone once on the ground downtown. Separate replies welcome, if this kind of detail is inapprop for the forum.

TIA,
paz

Hey,

No time to help with most of those questions right now, I'm sure others will do in due course.

I would however recommend you use Tuenti as your local SIM card. They use the same network as the other major players, so you get good coverage, but are cheaper and can be paid monthly to get a better deal.

Most kiosks should stock them.

Good luck, and enjoy BA!

Cheers!
 
thx much RichOne, and Neil for the side-bar chat just now (oh the magic of WhatsApp!).

any futbol aficionados interested in a tag-alonger, advise!
 
Something to consider - when flying out of an international airport, look for the currencies exchange desk. FYI, they usually have pretty standard hours, 8 AM to 5 PM. I have found when going from the US to Argentina that many times they will give me more pesos for the dollar than the current blue rate in Argentina. So ask the rate and you may consider changing $100 or so to save you from exchanging at the Ezeiza airport upon arrival. On the reverse, it almost wasn’t worth selling back pesos to get dollars coming back to the states because they gave me about half of the going rate in Argentina.

Never mind as it appears you may already be in BA!
 
thx BS Pup - i like the tip/consideration and i will remember that for future travels.

as it is, when i left Dulles yesterday, i happened to glance at advertized rate (was it a TravelEx booth?), and while i cannot recall what it was, i recall logging in my brain at the time that it was lower that the 65-66/$US some had told me ahead of time i could readily get in BsAs (let alone possible fees?).

BTW, Banco de la Nacion was paying 57.5 this morning at EZE, and at least one walk-up cambio (no ID, introductions, etc.) off of Santa Fe was paying 65 today [as was Coto, in change]).
 
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