We made it to South America =)!! YAY. When we originally planned our adventure - we were flying in to Santiago, Chile and doing some travelling across the continent in or to eventually reach Buenos Aires in order to make a flight up to Ecuador, where we plan on doing a CELTA course.

However, due to a few last minute rescheduling because of the ash cloud - we flew directly in to Buenos Aires. Capital of Argentina, one of the most well known cities in South America - perhaps only behind Rio de Janiero, 'The Paris of South America' and, 'Home of the Tango'.

Our first couple of days in Buenos Aires were mainly just about catching up with Sarah, catching up on sleep and, getting used to the fact that, finally, we were in South America! So, we are staying in Palermo, about 10minutes walk from Sarah's place! Palermo is a very nice area of Buenos Aires, and - you can tell. I feel completely safe walking around this area of town, even late at night. The people are very well dressed and it is generally clean-ish. Another great thing about Palermo - there is a bakery on every block! Pastries are a big Argentine thing, and - they are delicious! Especially the famous Argentine Empanada! It's actually basically just a cornish pastie, just with a variety of fillings but very, delicious. I may have had a few.

Was fantastic to see Sas! Amazing how you can be on the other side of the world and, she is just her same beautiful self ... although now with a conveniently epic level of Spanish! Most of our first evening/night in BA was spent just wandering around with Sas and her pointing out different aspects of the neighbourhood and ever cheerfully informing us how beautiful the area is, just watch out for the uneven pavement and dog poop everywhere. There are a lot of dogs in Buenos Aries, both stray and pets - living in apartments, seems a little bit cruel. But - some of them, seriously cute!

Monday was our first full day in Buenos Aires and we spent in mainly wandering around and getting our bearings. Palermo is fantastic for that! It is full of lovely parks with a lake, statues, monuments, a lot of restaurants and shops etc. We also saw what happens with all the dogs living in apartments! The owners hire 'dog walkers' or the like who take them to the park during the day. One specific area of the park had literally hundreds of dogs, several anchored by their leads to the ground and a few others playing with the 'walkers' - they must take turns during the day. It is not uncommon to see one person walking ten dogs at once around here!

Palermo is clearly one of the more affluent areas of BA - which still has evidence of a poorer side - a lot of graffiti, the uneven roads and pavements and, the rubbish sifters who come out at night. I am beginning to learn, through talking to people, and seeing for myself that the gap between rich and poor in Buenos Aires, is massive.

Monday night was also one of Sarah's friends, another Kiwi, birthday. So we had a lovely celebratory meal for her, complete with a chocolate pavlova (perfectly made by Sas) and ventured out for a our first Argentine evening. It's amazing how, when you don't eat until 10 (which the Argentine with us ensured was not at all late) ... you can go out for a drink until 1/2am really quite easily! Even though we were still only in Palermo, not central Buenos Aires, places were still quite busy at this time. I am still yet to experience some South American dancing though.

Tuesday we plan to head to Rosario and check it out for a couple of days while Sarah is at work during the day but, we will be back in time for the weekend and I am certainly looking forward to that!

Also a side note, it is freezing! Don't let the romantic image fool you. Granted it is gorgeous, clear blue skies and sunshine but - cold! Actually, my kind of weather - I am enjoying it =)