Let's get fat in Buenos Aires!

Buenos Aires is a great big city of around 14 million people. It remids me of NYC, though it is more spread out and missing a few conviences. That's another blog.

The bus from Mendoza was an overnight and we arrived in BA when we woke up (sort of). My friends from Denver, Sudy and Amanda, had been visiting BA for three weeks and invited us to stay at their apartment in a central part of the city called Retiro. We had our first little adventure from the bus station to the apartment. After a refusal to take us from the first cab, and the second cab claiming it would cost us thirty pesos to get there - we knew better - we found ourselves in the cab with Pedro, an honest Argentine man who put us on the meter and then spent the ten minute cab ride emphatically explaining to us that the Argentine government is corrupt, the young are lazy, and the other cab drivers at the bus station were "hijos de putas". Welcome to Buenos Aires chicas! Call me if you need a ride.

Once we piled our stuff at Sudy and Amandas we headed out for a lunch of Spanish tapas, and of course, wine! We stopped for fantastic ice cream on the way to the Recoleta Cemetery where the famed Eva Peron is laid to rest. I was in awe of all of the sarcophagus', statues, and buildings within the cemetery. I found myself thinking about how much my friends Steph and Kimberly would love to wander around with their cameras and imaginations.

Over the next few days before Christmas, Jenna and I ate more than our share of fantastic food including, but certainly not limited to, steaks, empanadas (fritas!), pizza, ravioli, and of course ice cream. We drank many types of Argentine wine with every lunch and dinner. We visited the main cathedral, the obolisco, the pink house, Malba Art Museum, and the neighborhoods of San Telmo and Palermo.

For Christmas Eve Jenna and I went back to the cathedral for midnight mass. It was the second Catholic mass I had attended on this trip and it was equally as beautiful. The mass was very traditional and was lead by a bishop! After mass we went to meet Sudy and Amanda at Casa Bar where they were serving Christmas dinner and watching Christmas classics. We met an expat from NYC who took us to a "tranny and hipster coke bar" called Kim y Novak. We all celebrated the holiday until the sun rose. Christmas day we made dinner for dad and mom, what we were by then calling Sudy and Amanda, and we shared a bottle of port wine that somehow managed to successfully make the trip from Mendoza.

We found a great salsa bar on Saturday night, Azucar. Then on Sunday we went to the San Telmo market where everything was so beautiful and cheap!

Monday Jenna and I moved to the Gecko Hostel in Palermo Hollywood where we had plans to meet Karen and Yvette who we met through the Couchsurfing website. I love networking. That night Sudy escorted a harem to La Bomba de Tiempo. This is a must-see spectacular drum show in a large warehouse every Monday night. Lights, drums, dancing, and plenty of beer! Tuesday night we were lead to a cool bar by our expat where there were local rappers on stage performing.

Wednesday we visited La Boca. Then hurried back to the hostel to get ready for our tango lesson, dinner, and tango show at Complejo Tango.

New Years' eve was upon us and after picking up a fifth girl, Brittney, we decided on dinner and dancing at Crobar for our celebration. Feeling like the rock stars that we are, the four of us managed to find our way to the bus station New Years' day. Our destination was Foz de Iguazu. We were all sad to leave, but ready for the next adventure. Jenna and I love BA. Four thumbs up!