Hola from Buenos Aires!
We both arrived into Miami early in the day yesterday--around noon--so we would be higher on the standby list for the First Class cabin. We got a cheap hotel room to have a place to chill and relax comfortably. If anyone ever tries to talk you into a cheap hotel room at the Days Inn North Miami Airport--do NOT fall for it. The hotel is close to the airport, but that is the only good thing about it. To call it a sh*thole is being kind. It reeks of smoke the moment you walk into the lobby. There may be a section of the population that rents the rooms by the hour--couldn't say for sure, though...I nabbed a sheet from the housekeepers cart to cover my bed so I could lay on it in relative cleanliness...the room was moldy and icky and Lord knows what was on the bedspreads!! (And, it looked so good from the web site!!)Anyway, we had both gotten up early--Shel came from Charlotte, NC and I came from Dallas, so we both were up around 4:30 in the morning, so we needed naps. Slept a bit at the Dump Inn, then headed to the airport around 7 pm lat night.
We did have a nice flight last night--had a terrific Flight Attendant, Rick, in First Class--and two very tired ones that surely need to retire. One of them complained the whole time and did little and the other one just did little! Fortunately, Rick took very good care of us (and the 13 other people in his cabin!) Dinner was good, we both had a couple drinks with dinner then started watching the movie ("No Reservations" with Catherine Zeta-Jones) and promptly fell asleep.
\
Arrived in Buenos Aires around 7:30 this morning--did the immagracion thing, then proceeded to the salida (exit) which runs you right through the Duty Free Shop. Shel did some shopping (well, the Bailey's Irish Cream IS on sale there!)
We hired a remise (private taxi) to take us to our apartment, which is about a 40 minute drive into the city. Esteban, our driver was a hottie!! Que bueno!! There was little regard for the lanes on the road, and the driving was very chaotic--not just by Esteban, but everyone else on the road. It made Washington, DC traffic look very tame! I just had to look at the scenery, could not watch the driving--I would have put a hole in the floor of the car!
Settled into the apartment--it is very cute! Small, but both of us have our own bedroom and bath, and both have queen size beds. (In the apartment search, many had twin beds in the second bedroom or only one bathroom.) Anyway, it is very clean, and in a great place called Palermo near Las Heras Park and Avenida Santa Fe which has a lot of shops and stuff.
This is my bedroom.
This is our balcony, overlooking Las Heras Boulevard--Sante Fe Avenue is on the opposite side of the park.
Can you see the purple flowering trees at the park? There are many of these trees all over the city--they are beautiful!
More balcony views....it is very noisy with the traffic and busses and policia and their sirens...
A couple of billboards we saw today...
If we open the window in the kitchen, we can hear all the dogs barking. This city is in love with dogs, apparently! (Who isn't, besides me?? ) Anyway, we saw no less than 10 dog walkers with 8-10 dogs in their care--BIG dogs, too!
So, the dog walker walks the dogs then drops them off at the owners house...while he is dropping one dog off, the other dogs wait patiently for his return....
And, then they are off, again!
We walked around our neighborhood this afternoon for a bit. Found a Carrefour (grocery store chain) and picked up a few items. While there, we had security guards following us everywhere--thinking they were being surreptitious--but, they weren't. They were watching us because we were picking up all the different things in an Argentine grocery store that we don't see in US stores. Plus, we were trying to figure out what some of the stuff was...
We discovered a new drug--dulce de leche! Many of my family and friends will be getting this for Christmas--it is muy bueno y fantastico!
More purple trees...
I like the palm trees in the middle of the "regular" trees....
My new amigo, Juan at the corner cheese/meat/wine shop--he is very sweet and wanted to practice his English with us--and we tried our Espanol with him!Tomorrow, we plan to go to Calle Florida do a little shopping, as well as a City Tour just to get a layout of the city. Saturday, we are going to the market at Recoleta and Sunday--the "flea" market at San Telmo. Monday, hopefully, we'll go see Gustavo--recommended by our friend Robyn-- and get our hair cut and colored.