Callao Plaza Suites Buenos Aires

... minus a few washers which became lost in the bikes. The cargo handling crew stayed an hour overtime for us to get the bikes together and be on our way. We had packed an electric drill for undoing the crates which Des now gave to the forklift driver, it nearly brought tears to his eyes, he was so grateful.

As we left the building, on deflated tyres, the sluggish handling of the heavy bike and gear gave me a fright ...

... get together and drink their faces off. Sounds great, $60 pesos (about $15 american) for all the beer, wine, and pizza you can drink for two hours, and then free shots and drink specials at every bar. It is run by a bunch of guys from Atlanta, which was interesting as I am now thinking to myself that I flew to the other side of the planet to hang out with my high school rivals, but there were enough foreigners there to make it fun, including a group of ...

... a full 30 seconds. It equated to the space occupied at home by our master bedroom, en-suite and wardrobe. Later, we discovered that Bea’s place is quite opulent, as it includes a patio; quite a rarity in BA. Despite its size (and clearly, we are spoilt for space in Australia), we were made to feel very comfortable whilst there and Bea was extremely accommodating.

Taking to the streets almost immediately, we were assailed by the abundance of dog ...

... that included a guy who could rub broken glass on his face without being cut. The real ''feat'' in my opinion, was the fact that he got people to actually put money in the hat he had sitting in front of him.

The sun was setting and the winter air coming off the Atlantic was making things considerably colder. We came back to the hotel to get some warmer clothes before heading to dinner. We chose ''Via Via'' on Calle Defensa where we ...

SO finally I´ve got round to writing the next installment... Argentina, land of steak and red red wine...

We headed back to Santiago after our cold spell on the coast to wait for Emma and Rob who were coming out to meet us for a holiday. Like 2 excited little kids on xmas eve we slept very little that night in anticipation and found ourselves hanging out of the window for about 2 hrs from the crack of dawn, waiting for their arrival. Finally we spotted them getting out of a ...

... culoare. Acum este strada artistilor. Plin de vanzatori de tablouase, bijuterii, tricouri si alte minuni, plin de restaurante in fata carora se danseaza tango si folclore argentiniano, pentru a atrage turistii. Mult mai scump decat pe Lavalle, care este in centru. Oameni statui, statui de rigips, cantareti, tot ce vrei. Iar aproape de El Caminito - La Bomboniera!! Pt necunoscatori - stadionul celor de la Boca Juniors. Am intrat in cateva din magazinele de pe acolo. Maradona peste tot ...

... On saturday, I stayed in bed till 1pm then just got up and walked around the city for a few hours, saw Casa Rosada, the pink palace, and the balcony where Evita used to address the crowds back in the early 50´s. On saturday night, I had a few drinks in the hostel with a group of English guys that I met in my hostel in Foz do Iguacu. I didnt go out though, just stayed in the bar till 2am and went to bed. On Sunday, I wne to a really cool antiques ...

... In a series of misadventures involving poor map reading, old information and not enough spanish speaking ability I ended up jogging the length of a very long street in my dress and heels in order to make it to the cafe before 10.30 so that our tickets weren`t sold, only to find that the price we thought the show cost was about three years old and we only had just enough money between us to scrape together the cost of the tickets and a taxi back to the hostel ...

... me to go to class, and come home and do laundry, run errands, cook dinner-- and repeat the next day. When would I ever see Buenos Aires? I could officially leave here and never wander into spontaneous suprises. I could leave and never have seen the city. How do I decide what to do? My gut wants to walk and wander all over all day-- but I haven't even had the chance (taken the time to) read my Buenos Aires ...

... thingos, nose rings (all the girls seem to be crazy about nose rings!!!...we think it all looks GROSS!!!) or cheek/chin studs!!! ewwww!!! ALSO all the guys have Andrew G haircuts and quote tilly `look like Andrew G till you see their faces` And finally, in comparing the culinary fetishes of Chile and Argentina- Chile is obsessed (especially Valparaiso) with Hot Dogs (el completo- because it is complete with mayo, tomato sauce, mustard and avocado) 24/7--you can literally pick ...