During my first days in Buenos Aires...
1. I noticed the city is less pretty and more gritty than, but just as intense and addictive as I had remembered.
2. I saw Pope Francis posters and memorabilia everywhere. Typical 'our man in Vatican' syndrome but soooo cute.
3. I noticed everything became idiotically expensive even with black market USD rates.
4. I used street money changers to change money. It worked!
5. I found empanadas were just as exquisite as ever and coffee just as lousy as always :)
6. I realized that because everything was bigger in America, even macaroons are 'maxi' sized :)
7. I stumbled upon some incredibly excited people trying to buy everything they can at the lowest possible price and learnt that the night before Xmas eve in Argentina is the equivalent of the U.S. Black Friday - a full on shopping extravaganza.
8. I realized you can buy a SIM card in the city and have it cropped to nano size but the are costs AR$30 and the cropping service - AR$40. And cropping takes about as much time as stapling two legal sheets together. God, why did I go into translation?
9. I had a fun night on 24th - had plenty of wine and red meat at the restaurant and almost went dancing after midnight but the jet lag was relentless.
9. Woke up to find the city deserted and parched by the sun on 25th. The only denizens seemed to be Brazilian tourists. Made me think somehow the official language changed overnight.
10. Found Buenos Aires's Retiro bus station as crowded and huge as always.
11. Boarded a swanky bus to Mendoza - wow standards really went up in the bus business here. Oh and catering too. I was drunk on wine and Jerez refills before we even left greater Buenos Aires.