Arrived in Buenos Aires

Mark and I have just arrived in South America where we will enjoy a monthlong holiday. Our first week will be exploring Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The following two weeks will be on a cruise of the southern part of the continent. Our final week will be in Brasília.

I am now in the hotel after a walk around the city. Mark was in Buenos Aires two years ago so it was nice to be here with him, as he knew the city, like where best to go to exchange our American dollars into pesos. On every corner people yell out “Cambio!”, trying to entice tourists to their more favorable exchange rates. He also knew where the shops were and what sights to see. He was my designated city guide. I was a guide for him during Mark’s first visits to Helsinki and Cape Town.

Our flight left on Sunday at 10:35 p.m., meaning an overnighter. I took my contact lenses out in Toronto and tried to sleep on the plane, but only slept in broken spurts. We flew first to São Paulo and went through immigration. Mark spotted some people going to another shorter line as the line for “foreigners” was forever long. We went under the retractable barrier and were in and out of passport control in no time. No one followed us to the shorter line, as I was the last one there. We got a bus downtown and walked to our hotel. I changed into summer clothes and we left for a walk.

We are outside the Casa Rosada:

“Oh What a Circus” from Evita:

She had her moments, she had some style
The best show in town was the crowd
Outside the Casa Rosada crying, Eva Perón!

Tomorrow we go on a free walking tour of the city.