Hola from Buenos Aires, Argentina!

After spending 36 hours in Toronto with Mina and family, we flew on for another 13 hours and finally arrived, tired but happy, in Buenos Aires. We checked in and then walked around Recoleta, the district in which we are staying. What a lovely place this is … friendly people, warm weather,wonderful music and lots of colour. After a very sound sleep we spent several hours at the artisan market just outside the famous Recoleta cemetery, where Eva Person is entombed. We will definitely visit the cemetery another day. The market was jampacked with REAL artisans who had crafted the most amazing pieces from a wide range of materials… coconuts, old cutlery, gourds etc. as wellas the standard, but incredibly well done glass, leather and silver.

Restaurant after restaurant has a rotating bbq, called a Jack, inthe window. Goat,lamb, ribs and vacio roast over the wood embers all day and are served at the table on a small, woodfired barbeque. Too much meat for us, but definitely worth trying as the wood imparts a wonderful smoky flavour to the airdried beef. Wewill order just one portion of everything to share from now on as the portions are …. well …. HUGE!

The city seems to start waking up around 9pm and people eat any time from 9to 2 in the morning. Salads arewonderful, fresh and full of seasonal produce that combines fruit, vegetables and nuts. Fruit is ok, but so far ihave not tasted fresh fruit that wows me! Perhaps we have to buy from a different place.

The loft apartment we are renting is beautiful and very contemporary .. and bang, smack in the centre of Recoleta, close to everything, including this internetcafe right nextdoor.

Taxis are very inexpensive and while we are walking almost everywhere we did succumb to a taxi back to the apartment tonight.

Prices seem close to ours in Canada, except that when calculating theexchangerate, everything is only one third of the price back home!

it has only been oneday and i don´t like this keyboard so willsign off now. i don´t intend to spend toomuch time in an internet cafe but will come back and add news as and when i can.

Tomorrow night, Christmas Eve, we are going to a Tango Dinner Show that starts at 8pm and ends at 6am! imagine .. they serve dinner AND breakfast! I don´t think we will be there past 1am but i amlooking forward to it. Christmas Day will be another day of exploration … don´t want to miss anything!

Love to Daphne and the boys back home!

Feliz Navidad!