Sures Belgrano Suites Buenos Aires

... until 4pm but, hey, tranquillo. OIA is in a lovely leafy area of Acassusso in North BA. Jools and I meet all the staff and have coffee with Pedro. We need to leave at 5.30 to get to Dakar Motos but Sophia and I arrange to meet at 4pm on Wed to go over my presentation. Pedro organises us a car to Dakar Motos and we arrive just before 6pm.
Sandra and Javier are immediately very welcoming and Sandra has some good news that bike is here and waiting for me. YEEE HAAAA ...

... br>Not a whole lot happened over the last few days. Saturday was mostly relaxing as Amy's ankle was hurting her so we didn't want to walk too much. Yesterday it was feeling better so we walked to an area of town called San Telmo. They have a famous outdoor market that takes place every Sunday and we wanted to check it out. It was pretty cool actually - mostly antiques but the booths all had different things. Sometimes you go to ...

We have spent the last 3 and a half days in Buenos Aires, trying to acclimatise to both the time difference (11 hours behind) and the lifestyle difference (restaurants don´t always open before 10pm). I´m not sure what time we are currently running on, but its not either of those.

The taxi ride in from the airport was interesting, Bevan tried out the conversational section of the phrasebook to everyones amusement. Our driver was pointing things out to us that we ...

... cool! They have given us free range of the kitchen and all things inside it. Her mom is adorable! She bought us bacon and eggs so we could make them for breakfast, because you know, all people from the US eat bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast. They have made us amazing meals every night. It´s incredible! Yesterday we ventured into the city and walked around for a while. Eventually we found some street vendors and well, we went into ...

last minute change of plans. Ity appears that due to drought conditions, there is little to no water at Iguazu Falls. Although this is one of the wonders of the world, and high on my list ofthings to do, it is ultimately a 3 day detour for about 8-10hrs of spectacle. Since I satyed later in BsAs, and have found more that I want to do in NW Argentina, I have made the tough choice to skip the falls ...

... back home. Finally, Puerto Madero. Theres a great deal of hype directing you as a tourist here. Its the redeveloped docklands, mostly restaurants, nightlife, apartments and offices. I enjoyed an hours walk here on Saturday morning, but that was quite enough for me. If you've seen South Street Seaport in New York, or Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco, or Port Olimpica in Barcelona, or St Katherines Dock in London then you've seen Puerto Madero. .

Up yesterday at 8 am........ok sleep for both..bed very comfortable. Had breakfast outside on the balcony....not the most quiet of areas as there is a ton of construction in the neighborhood. I guess recession has not yet occurred here as hundreds of condo and office towers are being built in the city.... coffee, toast and cheese fortified us for the beginning of a long day of walking. Left the Apt. at 10:00am (I guess we ...

Day 24 - 30/01/09 The bus stopped this morning a couple of hours outside Buenos Aires, so I rushed out to have a cheeky ciggy. While I was experiencing a strong nicotine rush from my first cig in 12 hours, a guy starts speaking to me in Spanish. My response being "No Espanol", I think I'll be using this phrase a lot in the coming months. Anyway, he then starts speaking to me in English, of course when he asks where I'm from, the conversation swiftly moves onto football and Carlos ...

... dans la rue. Mon hostel ne se trouve plus qu'à une cinquantaine de mètres quand je suis subitement aspergé d'une substance liquide et nauséabonde sur le côté droit de mon visage et de mon cou. Je me retourne, je regarde en l'air mais je ne vois rien. Je ne comprends pas d'où vient ce liquide à l'odeur fétide qui m'est soudainement tombé dessus. Alors que je suis toujours occupé à marcher, un manifestant Argentin s ...

... is no small feat as the sidewalks are under construction, have holes, uneven surfaces, or dog poop. We're getting better at navigating these, but it does slow our normal walking pace; I'm sure we'll improve on this skill in the coming days. The city feels strangely familiar although this is our first time here. It seems that each city block has its collection of flower stands, fruit stands and newsstands, much like many European cities. And the trees! Oh ...