Santa Fe

The hotel reception consisted of a small sliding glass window from which an old man sat behind watching his tv. I couldn't see the tv from where I was standing but I could hear it very faintly. Its light flickered around the tiny closet-like space within. The old man asked for his money up front which I thought was rather odd then escorted me up the dark and gloomy staircase to the third floor where I was able to view the room. This didn't look like your usual hotel and something gave me the impression we weren't the usual type of clientele. I'm guessing most of the guests who check-in here don't have baggage.

The room looked clean enough. It was 5:00 in the morning and frankly I didn't have the energy or motivation to be fussy. I accepted the room, "Si señor, muchas gracias" and returned to reception. Ali was evidently tired and eagerly awaited my thumbs up. The room was small and basic but looked quite comfortable. Next to the bed there was a small table and a lamp. No bulb. The walls were crimson coloured with some cheap tacky art strung here and there. The most unattractive of features however, was the giant mirror located at the foot of our bed. I immediately checked the ceiling in case their was a second. Thankfully, there wasn't. Just a ceiling fan which circulated so violently I thought it was going to murder us at any moment.

As soon as we were dressed for bed I turned off the light and the ceiling fan. It was quiet and surprisingly still bright. As we both climbed into the double bed together I tried not to look at Ali or our reflection in the big mirror behind our feet. There was an uncomfortable silence. A few moments later Ali couldn't resist asking "did you see the splashes on the wall behind us?" "Splashes? What kind of splashes?" I replied. "I don't know, just splashes" she continued to whisper. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about it. I was successful for about an hour until I awoke to the sounds of people having sex in the room next door. A prostitute most likely. Ali of course was sound a sleep. Or at least she pretended to be. I started singing in my head in an attempt to block out the sounds of our excited neighbors. Besides prostitution, I wondered what else Santa Fe had to offer and looked forward to sight-seeing the next day.

After a much needed sleep we left our hotel room around midday. We strolled around the city looking for places of interest. Places to admire and linger in. We could'nt find any. None of the limited museums or sights where open so we could only appreciate their exterior. Even bars were hard to come by. Like Corrientes, Santa Fe seems to lack atmosphere. A buzz. Life! I suppose it must be the lack of population as about a third live in Buenos Aires. But there are so many buildings. Shops. Evidence that there was at least once a population to justify such development. We stayed another night in the seedy hotel before leaving the following day.

Next stop, Mendoza. Surely just their wine alone will take my fancy...