Our Stay at Hotel Mundial Was Ruined by Bed Bugs

Ever since we started traveling to Buenos Aires in 2013, there's always been one constant and that's the Hotel Mundial in Avenida de Mayo 1298. It's a two-star hotel, so you really can't expect much. But it had become like a home away from home whenever we went to B.A. And then something happened on our latest trip that guaranteed we will never set foot in that hotel again.

It started out as nothing more than a seemingly harmless skin discoloration in my arm. But the following day, my arm started itching. Again, I didn't think much of it. It was hot and sunny, and I wasn't used to being outdoor so much. So I just threw some rubbing alcohol and the itching went away. 

Then on our last day, I saw what appeared to be mosquito bites forming on one of my arms. Again, that didn't raise any alarms because it's summertime and there are mosquitoes everywhere. So we packed our bags and checked out of room 410 to head to the bus terminal.

But by the time I was home, those mosquito bites had multiplied and they weren't just in one arm but in both arms. They had also spread to my stomach, my back and my legs. I started panicking. I thought I'd contracted measles, but that was impossible because I was vaccinated as a child. I was never around anyone that looked infected either. Then I thought it was a heat rash, but they kept multiplying. So, I wondered if they were stress bumps. Things had been pretty crappy in our lives lately, so it wasn't out of the question.

Then I got tired of guessing, so I went to the pharmacist and later consulted a close friend in the medical field. And they both told me that it seemed to be an allergic reaction to bed bug bites. The pharmacist asked me if I had stayed at a hotel recently and then it hit me. I had gotten bit by bed bugs while I was at Hotel Mundial.

Two weeks (and a thorough cleansing of our clothes and home) later, the bites are barely noticeable except for a slight skin discoloration. But I think I'm going to have to spend a little extra for a more expensive hotel next time. So, if anyone can recommend a nice hotel in La CABA, I'd appreciate it very much.

Enjoying Our Final Buenos Aires Trip of 2019

The Comic Con was nice, but we wanted to revisit some of the other places that made us fall in love with Buenos Aires. So we took a moment to enjoy the water out by Costa Salguero. Admittedly, I got more sun than I'm used to, but it was nice.

Then we went to Donut Therapy in Thames 1999 to enjoy some delicious donuts. But instead of eating them at the place, we opted to enjoy them in our hotel.

But a few blocks away, we found this guy who was selling donuts and cinnamon rolls on the street. I was a little skeptical about buying from a street vendor. But my husband decided to try them. And as you can tell from the look on his face, he was very happy.

We also remembered how much we loved the mac & cheese from Chicken Bros at Thames 1795. So, we went and had ourselves some chicken strips and mac & cheese before calling it a night.

We also revisited the botanical garden, which was just as beautiful as the last time we'd been there. But it was such a hot day, so we didn't really stay too long.

Of course, we couldn't leave Buenos Aires without visiting Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy's. And in light of the fact that they closed American Chicken in Cordoba City this year, it became even more important to satiate our hunger for fried chicken at KFC. Of course, no one said we couldn't enjoy some Wendy's too.

Now we usually don't eat heavy when we know we're going to travel on a bus. But on our last day, we decided to risk it, and went to Wendy's for a second time. What can I say? Their baked potatoes are too good to pass up.

But nothing lasts forever, and it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful city once again.

Unfortunately, we hadn't realized that something had stowed away and followed us back to Cordoba City. But that's a story for next time.

Trixie American Diner in Buenos Aires Couldn't Get Our Order Right

The lines at the Argentina Comic-Con were super long, and we didn't feel like waiting in the hot sun. So, we went to the Trixie American Diner in Costa Salguero. The diner can make anyone feel like they've traveled back to the 1950s.

The bar with the stools reminded me of the scene where Marty McFly met his dad George in "Back to the Future." Suffice it to say, the 1950s theme, the jukeboxes, waitress uniforms, and pretty much everything else had us sold. We loved the place, but would the food blow us away?

We looked at the menu, which had tons of American style food items. I was tempted to try the New York Breakfast which offered the kind of stuff you'd expect at iHOP. The scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes were tempting, but for some reason, I had forgotten it was 11 a.m. and ordered us two margaritas. Hey! Don't judge! It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

And then I saw an option for an apple pie. In the last seven years, we haven't had a decent slice of apple pie. So I decided to order that instead. But what I got was a plate with two overly toasted waffles and an ice cream scoop on top. I was very disappointed. I convinced myself that they wouldn't know the difference between an apple pie and waffles if it walked up and shook their hand. My husband was like, maybe you should complain. And I'm like, yeah, and then maybe they can do something disgusting to my order. No thanks. 

Afterwards, we headed to the Comic-Con, but decided to give Trixie another try the next day. I ordered the apple pie again and a bagel, while my husband ordered French Toast. This time, the waitress did bring me an actual slice of apple pie. It definitely wasn't anything remotely similar to an apple pie from back home. Where was the crust? Why were the apples cut into thin slices and stacked together like this? Then I was like, oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

The bagel with cream cheese was okay, but it certainly didn't meet up with the standards of a decent bagel back home.

I also found iced tea on the menu. Since we can't find any in Cordoba City, I ordered it. The closest thing we had to Lipton Iced Tea here was FuzeTea, but I haven't seen that in years. But I like my ice tea to taste sweet. If I wanted cold unsweetened tea, I would just make it at home. Trixie's version of iced tea was blah, but I managed to save it by adding tons of sugar packets to it.

As far as the French Toast was concerned, it was just a slice of bread dipped in batter, coated in honey or maple syrup and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I know. I know. That's technically what French Toast is. But I guess we're just too spoiled. In the States, you could order French Toast and the slices are three times the size of the one we got at Trixie. Plus, it doesn't like a wet rag on a plate like this did.

So all in all, the food at Trixie failed to impress us, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the rest of our trip. I'll talk a bit about what we did in the next post.

Here's How We Dealt With the Cab Mafia at the Argentina Comic Con

I know I mentioned this after our experience at the Argentina Comic Con in May 2019, but I wanted to emphasize on this topic a little more.

So, the cab driver only charged us $225 Argentine pesos ($3.77 USD) from our hotel in Avenida de Mayo to Costa Salguero where the Comic Con is held. But once we were ready to go home, we tried getting a cab. The only problem was, that the cab driver tried charging us $700 Argentine pesos ($11.72 USD).

I thought it was just some jerk cab driver who was taking advantage of us for being foreigners. But then it happened again in December. This time, one of the cab drivers was like, "I take US dollars, too."

And we're like, "No thanks."

The issue wasn't because we didn't have the money, we just didn't like people taking advantage of us, or anyone else for that matter. And it was clear we weren't the only ones they were trying to mess with.

A lady was walking away with her son in tow and she was pretty upset. It turns out that she had just had the same issue with a cab driver. "Es una mafia," she yelled, which translates to: "It's a mafia!"

And she's right!

These cab drivers are the same people who threatened to attack Uber drivers because they felt that they were taking jobs away from them. But you know what? If Uber drivers are more honest than cabbies, then you can't really blame people for going with the competition.

But we still had no idea how to get back to the hotel. There were no subways nearby, and walking would have taken hours. So, we crossed the street and found a bus stop. Then we started checking to see if any of the buses took us to Retiro, which is the bus terminal in Buenos Aires. It turns out the 45 bus took us, so we used our SUBE card to get on. From Retiro, we had two options. We either got on the subway or took a bus. Well, we found it easier to just take another bus that dropped us off near Avenida de Mayo. From there we walked two blocks, and we were back in our hotel room.

But I'm the kind of person that likes to correct injustices. In the States, it was pretty easy. You simply went online, spoke to a few people, the media, or even the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and something was done to correct the problem. But in Argentina, people look at us like we're crazy whenever we try to solve a problem that would benefit everyone. 

Still, I had to try. So, I reached out to the Argentina Comic Con and explained to them what had happened. But they told me that they had no power over what the cab drivers charge people who attend the event. I thought that was pretty sad, but I sort of expected that answer.

So, then I asked them if they would consider posting other ways for people to get to the Comic Con like the 45 bus. That way, everyone would know that cab drivers weren't the only option. But as it turns out, they already had that on their website, and  they pointed it out. So that as they say is that.

There was only one other place I could turn to for help. I reached out to the Defensa de Consumidor, which is somewhat equivalent to the Better Business Bureau in the States. They read my message, but never bothered to acknowledge it. I assume that this is because they are either unable to get involved or simply don't care. 

Typical!

But that's okay. Now that I know there's another option, I won't be giving those particular cab drivers a single dime.

I Breathed the Same Air as Henry Cavill at the Argentina Comic Con... Well Sort of

The last Argentina Comic-Con we went to in May 2019 was pretty packed, but this time, it was even more crowded. The line, as one Argentine standing behind us put it, was bigger than a black man's manhood, and I had to agree. We assumed it had to do with "The Witcher" star Henry Cavill and "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" stars Kiernan Shipka and Gavin Leatherwood showing up. But did I actually get to breathe the same air as Henry Cavill? I'll let you know a little later.

We got inside after about an hour of waiting in the sun. The Argentine summer heat was intense. But once we got through those doors, it was time to geek out and have fun. We started out by helping Eleven repel a demogorgon.

Then we went over to Sabrina's house and fought over who should get to ride the broomstick. I felt I should have won, but you know... whatever.

And then we hung out with a couple of Disney characters.

But we got into a bit of tiff over what to do next and decided to settle it with a good old light saber battle.

Along the way, we ran into a couple of cool cosplayers and started hounding them for photos. Fortunately, they were all very obliging.

Hanging with an unmasked Green Ranger

Posing with the Red Ranger

Aladdin (not really) photobombed Maleficent and my husband

I tried getting some spoilers about the CW's Crisis on Infinite Earth from Constantine

Then I hung out with She-Ra from the rebooted animated series

Hubby and Klaus from The Umbrella Academy are looking good

Last May I ran into Michael Myers. This  time I had a bloody encounter with Jason Voorhees.

This guy was a real Joker

Chucky versus Jurassic Park Dinosaurs? Either way I'm screwed!

Then I hung out with Lex Luthor, not realizing that he had just recently killed multiple versions of Superman on alternate Earths.

But at least I got to hang out with Wonder Man. Before you say anything, there was an Earth 11 where all the genders of the superheroes were reversed and Wonder Man was one of them. Oh and  those muscles were real. Trust me, I checked.

But along the way we ran into some serious danger with animals we thought had been extinct for millions of years. Damn those scientists from Jurassic Park/Jurassic World!

This time around, the Argentina Comic Con brought the coffee set from the hit sitcom "Friends" and it was too good to pass up.

They even had a couple of exhibitions (some of them were made of wax) available to take photos with.

But were we able to meet Henry Cavill? No. Although he was a guest, the Comic Con didn't offer a photo op or autograph session. He did go on stage to promote his new series "The Witcher." And a privileged few were lucky enough to win a meet and greet contest. Others just hung out outside of his hotel and waited for him to come out to take a photo. We did breathe the same air, though. It was just mixed in with everyone else's. And we sort of got to meet Henry Cavill, or rather his alter ego in the form of a statue. Hey, beggars can't be choosers.

There was something that really ticked me off, but it wasn't inside the Comic-Con. It was outside. But that's a story for next time.