Gotta Love Buenos Aires

Upon further reflection of what I loved about our adventures in South America, I thought I'd share some of my favorite things here.

1. You can spend an entire afternoon in a cafe without anyone thinking you are lazy. (Below is a girl's lunch a day before the wedding where we drank lots of water, coffee and had tasty afternoon treats).

2. Catching a taxi and affording a ride in one is easy and cheap. (A trip all the way across town costs only $10!)

3. The pace of life is slow, but the traffic moves fast. You certainly can get anywhere you want in a hurry (especially if you are in a big car-- big cars rule the world there).

4. Everything is served with jamon y queso. While by day 10 of your trip you begin to think you can't possibly eat another dish with ham and cheese in it, there is something endearing about feeling like your life depends on consuming this seemingly national dish.

5. The beef is awesome! Need not say much more. You can get a mouth-watering hamburger or steak for half the cost in the US.

6. Uruguay is nearby. If you get tired of all the traffic and noise in the city, the chill environment of Uruguay is only an hour boat's ride. (Plus, having an extra stamp in your Passport is never a bad thing in my book!)

7. Train travel is cheap! We took a day trip to the delta region of the area, Tigre, going by train. The entire cost of the whole trip was 4 pesos which is a little over one US dollar.

8. The pharmacy techs are at your local Farmcity (Argentina's version of CVS) are some of the nicest people that you will meet. I developed allergies while I was there and Kevin a skin irritation. To get some useful meds, all we had to do was describe our symptoms and a purchase was easily made.

9. I sound like a broken record here . . . Lunch can easily take three hours! One of my favorite memories of the trip was enjoying a 5 course meal (very inexpensive I might add) that literally took three hours. It wasn't because we were sitting there talking for a long time after the meal, but because the food came so slowly. It is just the pace of life there. It is so anti-American culture and I loved it!

10. Tango dancing is everywhere. Truly it is a magical and there are plenty of people to watch whenever you feel like it.

With our new friends in this country, I suspect that we might visit this great city again in our lifetime. I don't think this would be a bad idea. Going to Buenos Aires was the most normal out of country experience I've ever had (maybe because my international travel roster includes places like Rwanda . . . ). I would recommend this country to anyone looking for a European experience at half the cost.