The start of being on my own in BA

Not a wink of sleep last night!  My mind was too busy thinking...But yesterday we went and saw an apartment in Recoleta that Larry is looking at renting in February.  It was pretty nice!  Then Papa and I went back to where I got my phone and the girl there got it working with no problem!  Muy loco!  So now I have a phone!  Spent the afternoon at the apt. writing down musems and things I wanted to visit.  In the evening we went to Alcorta Carrefour which is the biggest everything-store I've ever seen!  Everything from meat to furniture to candles and home decor and food! 

entrance to Carrefour

We picked up a bunch of household items...toilet paper, candles, napkins, etc. and then Rafael met us and we went to Guidos (we tried going there Saturday but it was the only night that it happens to be closed!)  It was an Italian place, with high ceilings and pictures all over the wall from floor to ceiling!  We sat down and there are no menus - they start with anti-pasta and then pasta and they just keep bringing you food until you ask them to stop.  It was so good!  We're bringing everyone there in Feb!

Papa and Larry at Guido's

a bit blurry but a place full of photos and things on the walls

Hoy es jueves, y la dia que mi padre vuelve a Mendoza.  Mi espanol es mas o menos tambien.  Pero, puedo hablar mejor (that may not be proper grammar, but I'm trying).

Today, Papa and I went to the MALBA (museo des artes latinoamericanos de buenos aires) to see latin american art at its finest - apparently it changes frequently.  And the building itself is pretty futuristic! 

We started on the top floor - most of it was art by Yente and didn't excite me too much.  Lots of lines and squiggles...reminded me of art I used to do when I was younger.  Maybe it will be worth something someday!  The second floor was more interesting - paintings come to life when you look at them or are made with various materials like celotex, fibreglass, and aluminum...and they come to life when you push a button.  We had lunch with Larry down the street in a pub that had a lot of English sayings on the wall.  We all had tuna salads that came in these huge bowls and the tomatoes were enormous!!! Mmmm....

So Papa and Larry left and I've spent my first night solo.  I went out for a walk down Avenida Florida again and a tango show started.  I watched that for a bit.  There was an older gentleman who introduced them and the girl was so tiny and had these long legs that she would flick around while she danced...beautiful.  I talked with 2 guys who asked me where I was from and I told them I studied Spanish in school.  They said my spanish was good!  Ha, yeah right!  They asked me if I had an Argentinian boyfriend yet - why do guys here ask that?  I mean it's not important, but clearly when they see a pretty girl they have to ask!!  I had dinner at the mall and that was fine...I'm seeing things strangely at the moment...but tomorrow is MOVING DAY!!!

Darregueyra - My New Home

The sky here looks different.  The cloud formations seem different - almost like an alien sky.  Sadly, that's one thing that doesn't bring me comfort right now when it always used to.  Maybe I'll learn to see in it what I used to see. 

Today, I got an apartment and stepped in shit (right after I saved my father from doing that).  We got up early to greet the maid - she was late of course.  Larry says that punctuality is not a priority around here.

Oh!  I didn't mention how screwed up the phone system is!  So, from a landline, you can only call other landlines here - you cannot call a local cell phone from a landline - you can use a calling card which gives about an hour of time to Canada or call a local cell phone at a peso/minute - on a 10 peso international calling card.  Canada can call my landline or cell phone but dial a whole shit ton of numbers i.e. 011-54-11 then 8 numbers or trying to call a cellphone here and putting a 15 in fron of it or a 11 or from Canada dropping the 15 or 11 and adding a 9! Thank god for Larry....are you confused yet? I sure am!
So the stupid cell phone we got has no number!  It's been 4 days since we got it and when we went to a branch of the phone company, she said she couldn't help us and that we had to go back to the guy who sold us the phone at the kiosk.  It's like he didn't submit any of my information and the contract he wrote up has no information on who he is, or where he is located; just a bunch of numbers with my signature on the bottom!  So needless to say...did I sign a real contract? Or did I just sign a bunch of nothing? 

Papa and I went to the real estate place on Nicaragua street - Che Palermo - to put a deposit down on the apartment in Palermo Viejo (that's the neighbourhood).  It's pretty big and very nice - living room fully furnished, with couch, tv, table and 4 chairs, modern bathroom with jacuzzi jet tub, toilet with a bidee (as if I'd need one of those), bedroom with little bedside tables, and a king size bed and the kithen is pleasant and open with all proper appliances - oh, and it has a balcony that is the length of the living room and bedroom - absolutely huge!  It was originally going for 800 USD/month but we talked the owner down to 750USD/month - just over 2800 pesos.

After we were in the rental place for awhile, we were starving and went to the first place we saw in my new "hood".  It was called Chimm Churri I think...Papa had this weird salad as an appetizer that was pretty much shredded carrot and a couple hard boiled eggs - we felt sorry for the poor bastard that had to shred all that carrot - and my salad was a bunch of dried mixed lettuce.  It's funny how three quarters of the music you hear in the background is in English, but I bet most people don't understand the words.  After we were done (oh and when the men leave, Im swearing off bread - it's been present at every meal) we took a cab to Murillo (calle) where Papa was on a mission to buy a leather jacket.  The amount of real leather and leather goods and furs is unbelievable!  We only went into 3 stores.  The first was a bit pricey and I tried on a number of red lamb's leather jackets - one had a rabbit and fox fur collar - holy cow (I mean lamb!) haha!  The second store we browsed and the third Papa found one he liked which caught his eye because of a tiny, simple caramel stripe for half the price and they tailored it for him at no extra cost!  While we were waiting for the tailoring, we had a cafe nearby in a family-owned restaurant.  We also went exploring in a big supermercado (supermarket) nearby!  Fresh vegetables and basic food are so inexpensive compared to back home - veggies for 2-3 pesos ( a dollar), bread for 89 centavos (30 cents), pasta for a dollar, wine for 4 dollars - it's crazy!


We got back to the apartment and were going to resolve the stupid cell phone issue but it was already after 7 and figured it wouldn't be open and I forgot my passport. We hit another bank machine and figured we can only take out 2000 pesos a day (not coinciding with the Canadian bank limits) so we can start hoarding them for Friday when I get my apt.  We were going the wrong way down the street and bumped into the Wall Street Institute which specializes in language training so I'm taking them my resume tomorrow.  We had dinner a Chico Campo at Austria and French, where people do not pick up after their dogs (hence the first statement at the beginning of this entry)!  We had 2 steaks shared, salad, wine and fries for 20 bucks each!  Crazy!
Happy eating!

The Tour - here is your history lesson :)

Today we are going on a city tour - it's about to get choppy - this entry, that is, because I was writing feverishly...I love the history of this city.... Me encanta!


- 12 million people in Buenos Aires, metro - its the 3rd largest city on the continent after Mexico and Brazil
- Spanish rule said all cities must have square in centre with square blocks surrounding. 
- The Teatro Colon is one of the 4 most important theatres in the world and it's off Avenida 9 Julio (Argentina's independence).  The Obelisk is here on this avenue and is a meeting place for lots of people.  We ran into a protest here with hundreds of people, but we didn't know what they were going on about - the tour guide says no one really cares.
- Puerto Madero - it's the old port that has been converted to new neighbourhoods.  The Hilton is here and it looks like a small airport.  This port was used up to the 1930s but big ships couldn't get in and the port was abandoned for 50 years.  They tore down the warehouses and built avenues - it's probably the most expensive part of B.A. 

the entrance of the Hilton

- The Rio de la Plata (river plate) was where B.A. was founded.  There is a bridge called "Women's Bridge" because women complained there were no street names for women and it was all men so they made a bridge and called it that.  B.A. was founded by Spanish Conquistadors in 1536.  This part of the river is the widest river in the entire world because you cannot see Uruguay on the other side (translates as "silver river").  The Spanish were looking for silver and brought it from Bolivia ad took it to Spain from here.  The Latin word for silver is Argentum, therefore, Argentina means silver.  The Spanish fought Indians and the B.A. that was founded was burned.  It was re-founded in 1580 by the Spanish again. 
- Cities are always founded around a main square - in this case the Plaza de Mayo (pronounced Majo in Arg).  On the 25th of May, the revolution in 1810 finished in 1816 on the 9th of July for their independence after 6 years of battle. 
- Casa Rosada: the pink presidential house.  Civil war from 1816-1862 where 2 political parties wanted their government to rule - the Unitarios (white) vs. Federales (red) which together makes pink.  So the house was painted pink as a compromise.  Evita was the 1st lady of the country (Madonna who played her in the movie made her speech to the crowd from the window of he Casa) and was married to Juan Peron during his reign as president.  The monument represents liberty in front of the Casa Rosada.  On Thursday afternoons, the mothers of those lost in the 1980s during the "dirty war" protest their sadness.

the Casa Rosada

- Jose de San Martin is their national hero buried inside the Cathedral.  He was in Spain and came here in 1812 to organize the army to fight Spain.  He liberated Chile and Peru and is therefore the "liberator of America" and he met Simone Bolivar in Ecuador.  He died in France in 1850 and was kept there til 1880.  Now he is here.  The inside of the Cathedral was finished in the 20th century and looks very different from the outside which has a facade influenced by the French Neoclassical period.  The burning flame outside the Cathedral shows that San Martin is inside.

the Cathedral

- In 1862 when civil war was over, only one million people in Argentina.  The Government decided to attract European immigants because if they were brought here, Argentina could be more like them.  Natives are only 1% of the total population.  The rich families went to Europe often and everything here became European.  First European avenue is Avenida de Mayo by Alvear at the end of the 19th century.  It is here that the famous Cafe Tortoni occupies a spot. 
- the Avenida 9 Julio has so many lanes of traffic.  It's 140m from sidewalk to sidewalk (like 20 lanes all going down, up or cut across). 
- Argentina is the 7th biggest country in the world.  It is a republic with government, congress, and court of justice.  There are 23 provinces with their own government.  B.A is considered a province and city.
- San Telmo: where the richest families used to live.  30% of people died from yellow fever and moved to Palermo and Recoleta
- Tango started in La Boca and cabarets by prostitutes for when sailors came in but we dont really know where it came from (the music, that is...not the prostitutes).  The cobblestone was brought from Europe.  At the end of the 19th century, rich houses became tenement houses for immigrants and had 20 families or more in one house sharing one bathroom (eesh!).  But they were happy!  B.A. became a melting pot - 40% Italian, 40% Spanish and all over Europe - of many different languages. 
-  Eva Peron's foundation has a monument outside the building it used to be in and the monument is called Canto el Trabajo and is for the workers.  Its in the Eva Peron square and the building its in front of is now part of the Engineering Faculty of the University of B.A.
- Lots of buildings were torn down in the 1970s.  But now San Telmo is a historic district that is very bohemian - full of antique shops, art, restaurants and old houses. 
- La Boca: (the mouth [of little river] that flows into big river):  La Boca is the poorest neighbourhood and was filled mostly with Italian immigrants. 

- Yellow House - William Brown who created the navy from Ireland and is buried in a green mausoleum...funny eh?  The Boca Juniors (gold and blue) have their stadium here.  It's funny cuz the coca cola advertisement on stadium isn't red and white, it's black and white because red and white are the colours for an opposing team!  The colours of gold and blue are supposed to help improve way of life. 
- the River Riachuelo was the first port of B.A. 
- Schools and hospitals are free for everyone.
- B.A has the lowest illiteracy rate on continent including Canada and the US and the highest educational rate.  Sarmiento made education free.
- Puerto Madero is a great place to walk. 
- Luna Park is a stadium where in 1944, Eva Duarte met Juan Peron at a concert.
- Trains and buses reach suburbs - located in Retiro which is the 3rd port - 3 train systems!  The clock tower outside stations was  a gift from England for the centennial - even though war in 1982 on Falkland Islands. 
- There is a flower sculpture - a gift from an Argentinian architect living in Boston.  It opens with the sun and closes at 6pm each day and takes 17min to close. 

the flower

- Palermo looks like Europe..mostly embassies now but huge contrast to La Boca. 
- One of the best museums is Latin America art (MALBA).

We contacted Marco when we got back and he said that if I met him right then and there (in Palermo),he would show us a couple of apartments.  So off in a cab we went.  The first place was 1000USD and you walked in and there was a tiny sprial staircase and a nice little living room with some artwork.  The kitchen was pretty puny but there was  large balcony.  Going up the staircase we came to a bedroom with full bath (half bath downstairs) and a ladder to closet space on another level and part of staircase led to rooftop.  It was lovely but way to big for just me!  The second place we saw, I think we all fell in love with.  Fully furnished huge bed and bedroom, bathroom with a tub (and jacuzzi jets), a fab. kitchen, great living room/dining room and a huge balcony all to myself...It even has an air conditioner.  I could see myself staying here (obviously in the nicest apartment I've ever had the privilege of living in) and having people over or having them stay with me.  However, it's being priced at 800US - way over my budget.  But Papa likes it ...tomorrow I may have an apt. 

We went for dinner at Bar Uriarte- a very nice upscale restaurant with a beautiful 'home and garden' modern patio that wasn't open.  It has a huge place that looked like a converted warehouse.  The bathrooms uptairs were all on their own - took me forever to figure out how to flush the toilet!  They are all different!  The food was pretty good!  After, Larry took us to Callao and Santa Fe where there was this huge ice cream place called Volta - surprisingly, a chain- and there were so many flavours - all in unlabelled containers in the countertop - but the server knew by heart...and all the chocolate...im in heaven....another modern looking closed-off patio with water and rocks - very aesthetically pleasing!  And then here we are at midnight having a glass of wine in the vacation rental apartment...goodnight!

San Telmo and a New Friend

Des nivel:  this was the name of the rustic asado we went into randomly in San Telmo.  It was loud and bustling - there were huge bbq pits where the chef had all different cuts of meat and all different kinds of meat cooking on the pit behind him.  We sat down past the smoking area (smoking isn't banned in restaurants like in Canada).  Whenever you sit down at a restaurant, they give you this huge basket of bread and usually butter, but last night it was a dip of some kind and then today it was  a soft cheese - very creamy.  There was also this steak sauce already at the table filled with chilies and oil and spices - chimichurri - so good to dip bread.  The menu was extensive - tons of meat!  We ordered grea big chunks of meat at 2pm!!!  Sunday brunch was steak heaven!  Papa's was mustard, mine was garlic and Larry's was peppercorn and all of our potatoes were different!  Papa ordered vino tinto (red wine) that came in this jug shaped like a duck and Larry got an enormous bottle of beer - the standard size no less.  My 2nd steak already - and the bill was just over 20 bucks for each of us - including liquor! 

When we were done, we proceeded outside and wandered around the biggest antique/flea market I've ever seen (in the Plaza Dorrega).  Hundreds of people and the stalls spanned many streets in the barrio.  There were so many antiques - we went into a home that had been converted into an antiques area but it had the three levels of patios where typically the first was living quarters, the second for cooking and washing and the third was for livestock (we were on Calle Defensa - the main drag for vendors).  There were tango dancers, men on stilts, puppeteers, many spoofs to attract tourists and their money (i.e. people pretending to be statues that only move when you went near them) and even the locals!  There were so many people!  This little old lady was playing homemade drums (I think they were cups) and when Papa tried to take her picture, she held up a sign that said "show me the money".  So Papa gave her some pesos and she let me hold a drumstick while he took a picture.  I also got a picture with one of the people pretending to be a statue.  A band went by banging drums and when Papa gave them money they stood around me and played while I danced a little bit.  Half-embarrassing.  All the antiques - old gloves and tango shoes and hats; old telephones and chandeliers from before the city became so poor; old tricycles and signs; parts of doors and houses; statues and furnitue - and tons more.  I can't wait to go back there. 

tango in San Telmo

on the weekend there is an enormous amount of people

this guy's act was to look like the wind was blowing him away

this man can do beautiful paintings with his feet

this man is a puppeteer and his puppet has the same outfit as he does

mate bowls

part of the antiques market

Papa and Larry were ready to head back to the apartment for naps, but I was going to stay.  So I walked back the way I came and went into a couple of crazy antique and arte moderna stores. At Calle Humberto 1 378, I found myself taking my own tour of the Museo Penitenciario Nacional which only operated until the 1870s and first served as an asylum for crazy women and then as a prison shortly after that. 

the penitentiary

Outside was a band playing - a number of violinists, 4 acordians, piano player, vocalist - for a pretty big crowd.  I then found myself outside the Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Belen, built in 1770.  It was beautiful but Pilar is 10x moreso.  Just when I finally got to San Lorenzo (I wanted to go to this cafe), I stopped to look at some signs for rental properties above the stalls, when this guy approached me.  Tall, dark and handsome, his English was bad, and my Spanish was no better.  I gathered that he lived in Buenos Aires province and his family lived outside the capital - he has a sister , works for the city and is going to show me around B.A, thank god, since I have no friends here yet.  It was exhausting trying to talk to him in broken spanish all afternoon.  He was nice enough to walk me the 15 blocks back to Reconquista.  Papa and I had dinner at La Barra which is around the corner - total was less than 30 bucks including the wine!!!  What a crazy day!

A Day of Recoleta

Avenida Cordoba is the big major street near where we are located.  You have to be careful where you are crossing because the cars dont stop.  All the taxis around here (radio taxis) are black with yellow rooves.  So I forgot to mention before that Papa and I found an HSBC bank machine in the mall and weren't sure how high the limit would be on how much we can take out at one time/day or the fee we'd incur from the bank here- I took out 500 pesos with an 11,58 charge - total was 150.65 CAD!!!! weee....Guess that means down here I have some doe.


We are in another cafe - called Desiderio where they have pastries and coffees (full menu as well, but we didn't order).  It's still "winter" here and I use that term loosely because it's never colder than 10 degrees C but the observation is that everyone is still done up in furs and leathers and winter gear.  The intersection of Colonel Diaz and Santa Fe was crazy busy - 38000 cabs here compared to only 2800 in Toronto - well maybe not those exact numbers, but you get the idea.  We caught a cab at the Alto Palermo mall (another insanely huge mall with different levels and stores everywhere) to Recoleta which is the district where vacation tourists stay and has a reputation for nice housing and expensive places - this also has the cemetary where Eva Peron is buried.  We bought a cell phone for me outside the mall for 159 pesos...that's like 55CAD.  However,apparently the phone company sends you a text with the phone number in the next 3 days...weird, no?  Larry went off to get a massage and Papa and I went to the Recoleta cemetery.

view of the top of the cemetery from the Church

The cemetery is incredible....you have to see it to believe it. Neither one of us had seen a place so huge with mausoleums as big as small houses...it was impressive yet creepy at the same time.  Most of them say the family name on the outside...when you look in, there are usually 2 caskets and then, most often, stairs leading down to 5 or 6 more caskets on top of each other in levels.  Important family belongings are there.  Many mausoleums have their own altars.

it's a maze in here

We ran into a number of English-speakers tasked with the same mission as us...finding Evita's mausoleum.  Eventually, we all split up and went down different aisles trying to find her.  Someone found her and turns out she is buried there with the whole Duarte family - she was born in 1919, maried Juan Peron in 1951, but then died of cancer in 1952.  Today, she is buried 30ft. below ground and cemented in concrete because in 1955, her body was actually stolen and taken to Europe where she was stashed there under a different name.  When Juan Peron died in 1974, her coffin was sent back here to be with her husband (he's buried somewhere else though).

Evita's masoleum

The Cementario de la Recoleta itself gives you a sense of "walking into a city in miniature and...provides an architectural and artistic history of B.A. from its inauguration in 1882.  Nation's great leaders and enemies are buried...conflicting architectural styles and disagreement about who is buried there and why" (p. 177).  i.e.  Some tourism officials deny Evita is buried there because she is not in the same category as others that are there.  The cementery used to be an orchard back in the 18th century.

Papa and I wandered into the church - the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar which was also spectacular.

Walking into it there are these huge doors that open to a serene Church with a silver altar and enormous gold displays of holy figures.  The book tells me that it was built between 1716 and 1732.  We went into the Cloisters which was where monks used to stay and it was a 3-level museum for about 4 pesos.  Outside of the Church, there are a bunch of parks where there was the biggest and most intricate arts and crafts fair I've ever seen.  All these little booths that wound around the park...vendors calling out to you as you go by...(Oh, I forgot, on the Subte, you have to watch your purse and people will come by and put things on your lap which you either give them a bit of money for, or hand it back to them).  In Toronto, if you sold stuff on the Subway you'd be kicked off!  There was a live rock band playing at the Plaza Francia (another park) for a small crowd that had gathered.

Papa got a 10 peso calling card which would give us only an hour to NS.  But, for some reason, the landlines in Grand Pre were busy, which never happens.  I called Ian and it worked fine, so now we are slightly concerned about why we can't get through.  Funny thing is, since the phone system here is crazy, the same calling card will only buy 10 minutes to an Argentinian cell phone...Gosh, I feel like I'll never be able to get these knots out of my back from the airplane.

We wet for dinner in Palermo Viejo at a very nice restaurant that Papa was drawn to because it had big windows, a small menu, and less than a dozen tables - the social Paraiso - and across from that on Honduras was a very rowdy sports bar.  We got back to the apt. and one of the other apts. was having a birthday party - still going strong- not sure how I'm going to be able to sleep!

The Beginning - Sept 3rd @ 1230am

Well, here I am on an 11-hour flight to Santiago, Chile.  Its hard not to have cold feet right now...all I want to do is run home...(run home Jack)...for the first time since I can remember, I don't have a window seat!  I'm lost in the shuffle sitting next to two Chilean gentlemen, a girl across the aisle who keeps staring and 3 guys behind me...one who keeps jabbing my back.  I guess this is one of the reasons why I'd rather be flying this plane instead of riding back here :)  First class passengers get their own individual seats that turn into beds...I knew I should have had a nap today...I'm usually too excited to sleep.  I bet they get free liquor too. 
My stomach hurts.

It's hard for me to sit here and feel like everything's okay...I know it will be okay...but right now I have no job and hopefully will find a place to live within a week (I'm ready for the bare minimum).  What I'm not ready for is being without the people that love me and support me.  Dad's going back home after a week and I hope I can do this...I might lose my mind.

1015am: Well, I think we are finally getting ready to land in Santiago...oh and by the way, airplane food is pretty gross.  I keep trying to interpret the Spanish announcements, but they talk so fast!  It will be hard to have a conversation with an Argentinian person but as long as I can ask them to speak slowly (por favor, habla mas despacio) then I should be okay. 
If that guy beside me jabs me with his pillow one more time, I swear...

1130am:  So here we are back on the plane again waiting to leave Chile...at least Dad's traded seats with me for this leg of the flying.  When we were landing, I saw a bit of the Andes!!...that's when I knew I wasn't in Canada anymore...let alone North America - nowhere close!  The mountains are breathtaking...I've never seen anything so beautiful and monstrous (side note: first thing we see when we enter Santiago airport is a Starbucks! haha)

Starbucks in Santiago

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 3pm-ish (same time as Halifax)- on the same airplane, mind you.  Absolutely exhausted, we de-planed and found ourselves at customs and immigration.  It was here that I received my first stamp in my passport!  I was thrilled!  It was completely empty until today! A porter grabbed my bags (after I randomly had to put two of my bags through another x-ray machine on the way out - maybe they thought I'd acquire a gun or something between the plane and the exit- and an Argentinian dog was sniffing the bags as they came off the carousel) and took a remise (airport cab) which, for a half hour ride, cost about 28us.  The exchange rate is 3:1 so it's pretty easy to see how cheap things are (i.e. real leather pants for 30 bucks!).

Driving into the heart of B.A. was pretty crazy.  We must have gone through about 3 toll passes just to get into the city.  There were so many tenements coming into the city - and the number of trucks on the road in general.  After going around in circles on one way streets (they are all one way in the barrios [districts]), we finally found Avenida Reconquista which is near the microcenter of the downtown.  We are staying in an apartment with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms.  When you walk in, there is a huge metal door that opens to a corridor where there is another glass door....and then you are in this courtyard where ivy climbs the walls and there are plants and little trees and flowers starting to bloom on the walls (like your own mini-rainforest).

The foliage between the elevator and the front door

Then up one flight of stairs (there's one of those old-fashioned metal single-occupancy elevators).  The ceilings are so high- about 10ft and the apartment is huge.  I have my own little bedroom upstairs.

After dropping the bags, Papa and I went on a jaunt to the mall nearby, the Galerias Pacifico and holy spectacular!  Coffee shops and confiterias galore! We stopped in a coffee store where you sit down and order what you want - many Argentinians in this area seem to know English- they learned it in school.  My Spanish isn't perfect, but it's coming back to me in bits and pieces and I'm not entirely clueless.

Papa in the Galerias Pacifico mall

the ceiling of the mall

There are so many leather stores!  Papa and I walked into this huge leather store where the saleswoman was on us like a hawk.

leather store

We walked down Avenida Florida which is pretty much pedestrian with tons of shopping and flower booths and people trying to sell you things.  The buildings here are so European, its crazy!  Just like Paris! So at 930pm we went for dinner down the street at Rigoletto where we had copious amounts of wine (Papa went into a wine store beforehand full of Argentinian wine-then we found 5 others on the way back to the apt).

wine store

The restaurant was busy at 11pm and the steaks we had were juicy and melt-in-your-mouth.  I got to meet Larry's friend Rafael, who is going to help me get set up and introduce me to some people. By the way, there are too may pictures for me to just stick them up on here...will post on facebook