I was surprised to have gotten up as early as I did this morning. I was so sure that I was going to sleep through the day. I wanted to go visit a bunch of museums and historical building today, and be back on time to meet Ines at 4pm. I was going to Recoleta and Palermo, two districts that were known for shopping, but had other interesting sights there as well.

I started my day by taking the subte to Plaza Italia, and taking a stroll through the botanical gardins. While in the gardins, I stopped to admire a staue, and all of a sudden a drunk, homeless person (apparently from Peru) came to talk to me. He was very friendly but I could not help but smell the foul odour of alcohol on his breath. I also had a lot of trouble understanding him. He followed me in my stroll, and to be honest, I really did not want him there, but I did not have the heart to tell him to leave...he was lonely...

We walked from Palermo all the way to Recoleta, until he started asking me for money. At this point, I got annoyed and told him to go away. I walked through this park that had a big flower in the middle with pictures of this woman in suggestive poses all around the park. When I asked a couple to take a picture of me, we went on into a conversation about the significance of this park. The girl was a very famous actress, named Isabel Sarli, in the 50s and was the first one to show her naked body in argentinean films. The park was an homage to her, done by an alcohol company to promote its alcohol. We then went on into a conversation about my travels and their travels. It seems like everywhere I went, I found really frendly argentineans!

I continued my walk to the famous cimetery in Ricoleta where a bunch of famous presidents and political figures were buried (even Eva "Evita" Perron was buried there!). On my way there, there was a huge area of outdoor artisanal kioks selling all kinds of stuff. It was really beautiful because the market was in the middle of a park lined with full of trees. At the door of the cemetery, there was a man asking for a donation for AIDS. He had his volunteer card and everything so I gave him 2 pesos, but something did not seem right...When I got into the cemetery, there was a woman there that told me that these people are not legit, and they keep all the money that is donated. Good thing I only gave 2 pesos!

After walking around the incredible cemetery, I had lunch at this bar notable. Bar notables in Argentina are cafes that have existed for really lond (more than 100 years) and the government injects lots of money to preserve the buidings as well as its authenticity. These bar notables are usually a little expensive, but not that much since they receive money from the government.

My next stop was Plaza San Martin. On my way there, I stopped at Freddo's for desert. Freddo's is a popular Ice Cream place that was recommended to me by the staff at the hostel. Since Argentina is also known for ice cream, I had to give it a try. It was good, but nothing more than simple ice cream, though...Hagan Diaz remains the top...

Plaza San Martin is a park that spans from Recoleta all the way to Retiro, another district (and where the bus station is). Once I was finished walking around and got to the end, I had time to go look around in the bus station for prices to Iguazu and Rio, my next destinations. I found a really great promotion with a Brazilian company named Pluma (100 USD to go to Iguazu for a day, and then Rio de Jeneiro!).

I got back to my hostel just in time to meet Ines, Wanda's cousin, but she did not come until 5:30pm...good thing I expected that (since I was used to South American time...). She met me at an internet cafe accross the street (since that was where I ended up waiting for her). Ines is 28 years old and is a massage therapist. She also takes care of two kids occasionally. She did not look at all like Wanda, but there were some things that made it obvious that they were part of the same family. Ines and I got along great, talking about everything and anything. She took me to an art museum in Recoleta, we then went for coffee in this mall next to the museum. She told me that she could not go out tonight because she had her cousin's birthday to go to, but planned to do something with me tomorrow. That worked out well because tonight I was planning on going to see a tango show.

I got back to my hostel around 8:30pm. The tango show was starting at 9pm. It was a good thing that it was close. I went to Cafe Tortoni, another bar notable that offered tango shows every night. It was one of the cheapest tango shows, at 70 pesos (most of the places had shows at 100 pesos). I decided to go all out here with supper, spending about 50 pesos (including wine). I felt like an aristrocat, sipping my wine in a very rich looking cafe, watching a tango show.

Th show ended at 11:30pm, and when I got to my hostel, the party was just getting started. The people at the hostel were going to Pacha after, another big club. However, once I heard that this place cost 85 pesos and was another place that only played techno, I was out. I stayed at the hostel bar, talking to a few people from England, then went to bed once everyone started going to the club at around 2am. I did not want to go to bed to late either because Gustavo was picking me up the next morning at 11am.

Today was defenitely a great day for me where I learned and saw a lot. Art here is so prevalent with more theatres than any other city in the world (even more than Paris!). Furthermore, the tango show sparked a desire in me to learn this passionate dance. I was so enveloped my Buenos Aires' charm, that it made me think of coming back here, for longer, or maybe living here for a year or two...