Estoy en Buenos Aires

So after a trip that included not one but two overnight flights I have arrived in Buenos Aires (sorry, I love E.M. Forester so much I had to borrow, and bastardize, one of his great lines from a Room With a View). The first thing I notice is that its hot, even at 5 am when I exit the airport. It is not until I get downtown and off the freeway that I realize why people say its like Paris, passing a church that looks like a replica of one near where I stayed in Paris, I am taken back in time...and place.

It has taken me a few days to get my sleeping and eating to resemble anything normal, but I have managed to get out and about, find good things to eat and drink and familiarize myself with the surroundings. I am in the land of the macchiato – except here it is called cafe cortado – and it is excellent!

I am now settled into cheap, but delightful digs in the Recoleta neighborhood. I am staying in an old converted mansion, with exquisite marble spiral staircase, old fireplaces and high vaulted ceilings, now divided into much smaller rooms, but friendly staff, firm bed and very clean. And there is a very nice – and air conditioned – cafe, cafe Pacheco, on the corner with wi-fi. They haven't quite figured me out yet, but I give them another day or so before they bring me coffee in the morning and midday, and ask me if I want an orange fanta or cerveza in the afternoon.

Its summer here and that, as much as the time change (6 hours ahead of SF) is as much a shock to the system...I keep thinking its like 5pm dusk like winter back home, when I look at my watch and realize its 9pm! Its only mildly sticky - not like the undauntingly sluggish humidity of Boston or New York in the summertime, and every evening around dinner time the wind seems to blow as if its about to rain, but until this evening it hadn't.

It is like Paris - only dingier and everyone is walking around speaking Spanish. The city is filled with many fashionistas, and they seem to have a collective shoe fetish to rival Imelda's...or my sister's. Even the older ladies at tea are wearing their little strappy silver high heels, the variety of flashy bright footwear is simply astounding!

And yes they have tea in the afternoon. I haven't figured out if its formally a leftover from the British or not, but business people and old ladies alike, can be seen at any manner of cafe in the late afternoon sipping, tea, coffee, mimosas, or soft drink alongside crustless toasted sandwiches (these are simply FANTASTIC, and no I don't think they use the George Foreman grill, but they are wafer thin), petit fours, alfajours (for those who haven't had them these are a delightful little sandwich cookie of two thin biscuits with caramel like dulce de leche inside all sticky and sweet) and all manner of other cakes and pastries.

I know most of my blog so far has been punctuated by food. Mostly I've been figuring out logistics and getting the lay of the land, figuring out how to get around the neighborhoods Retiro, Recoleta and Barrio Norte, all near where I am staying, so the one notable thing I've done so far is eat some interesting food. It is a strange mix of meat - great steaks from the ranches of Argentina - Italian - there are more people of Italian descent in B.A. than Spanish, despite it being a former Spanish colony - and strange re-formulations of french items (ala the croissant!). I am told its quite a foodie city, so expect more gastronomical adventures!

I'm off to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes tomorrow, let the site-seeing begin!