No idea what this place is called, but it's diagonally opposite Kilkenny. It's not great but it's OK.
There's a bit of a breeze but it's still pretty warm out. I have my fleece on and am feeling slightly warm, I am mainly wearing it because it's just cool enough for it to be bearable and this way I don't have to worry about losing it.
I really need to book some flights and make some plans for the next few weeks, but I don't have a clue except that I want to go to Iguazu falls (however they are spelled) and probably do 4-5 days in Uruguay. The idea of poring over guide books trying to make some plans enormously fails to appeal. I think I also need to start taking malaria tablets a bit before I go to the falls, which is a bit of a bugger especially if (I have no idea) I can't drink while on them.
00:40. Just ordered another beer. The waitress didn't look too happy, but I shall assume it's her normal on the job expression. Or maybe she's thinking about the Falklands. :-) Went to the bog, they had something I've never seen before - 'soap on a stick'. Rather than a liquid soap dispenser or a loose bar on top of the sink, there's a big lump of solid soap stuck on the end of a metal bar attached to the wall. Man, travelling certainly does broaden your horizons...
I don't feel drunk but medically I'm sure I shouldn't be having this second litre on top of everything else. But then medically I should probably be in bed, at work (drinking nothing stronger than distilled water) or at a gym, so...
There is a pirate-themed bar next door. The staff are dressed in a piratical, if slightly toned down, manner and there are wooden pirates outside. I passed there earlier on my quest for a bar inside a bar, but swiftly decided against it.
There's a guy a few tables away who has a sort of comb-over, but from hair in the centre of his head. Maybe I should let my island grow out and emulate him. :-)
Oh, one of the staff I spoke to earlier did exhibit the apparently classic Argentinian 'sh' pronunciation of 'll'. I haven't noticed it much apart from that, though it may in part subtly account for my difficulty in understanding everything said to me here
01:45. Just asked for the bill. ARS36 for two litres, 40 with slightly stingy tip. (I risked saying '40 with tip' as I handed over a 50, we will see if this is a Puno situation.) That's not bad. Maybe chopp just is overpriced, or maybe this is a cheap bar.
Just got my 10 change. Makes me even more inclined to put that incident in Puno down as a rip off. But maybe they did misunderstand me. It's odd, sometimes I can converse (badly) with locals, sometimes I ask for the menu and people don't understand me. Anyway, glad that worked tonight.
It isn't far to the flat but I hope I can go to the bog here before I leave. I shouldn't have been out this late but sod it. I doubt I'd get up at 9am whatever time I went to bed.
Music from Kilkenny (I assume) has been faintly audible all night. Maybe I'll go back there around 10pm in a day or two and try to be more receptive if anyone does talk to me. Apart from possible further travel planning, vague plan for tomorrow is not to get up too late and wander around, then I shall consult the guide and take a chance on some other bars tomorrow night. Friday or Saturday I may try a club just for the experience, but tomorrow night something lower key will do.
A few beggars tonight while at this bar. I always say 'ah, no' and shake my head. I don't know why I do the 'ah' bit, but I always do. I think I do it in an attempt to just avoid saying an outright fuck-you 'no'. I wonder if those two words reveal me as a foreigner or if it's too short to notice my accent. Either way, I don't pay. Liverpool St has taught me something. :-)
Most people have left the bar now, though there is a couple and a big group still around. I don't want to stay out any more - I need to save myself for tourism tomorrow day and better nights - but it's nice I'm not the last.
00:10. Walked back OK, no problem. Had to ring to get into the building and it took a couple of minutes but all serene. The room airconditioning is set at 24C (I upped it from 20 earlier, trying to be ecofriendly) and it's still on. And even at this time of night walking into the room is like 'wow, it's so cool in here'.
Cristian, my Argentinian Spanish teacher, advised me not to come here too early as it would be too hot. I am so glad I listened. I don't know what geographical quirk makes it so much hotter here than Santiago, but it is. I guess it's a good thing for drinking at night in the street, but if it's like this in their autumn, what must it be like in summer?
Anyway, a bit (or maybe lots) of refrigerated soft drink and then to bed. I am mellowed by beer, the earlier stuff was a bit shit but I shall try to take the lesson not to be so suspicious with normal people in normal bars, and try to retain my clip joint suspicion for dodgy ones. It's still quite cool to be here.
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