Don't Cry For Me...

That's right! We made it back from our trip to Argentina and all is well. We even managed to escape the H1N1 virus- which apparently they had an epidemic of while we were there- which of course meant that I took the fashion-forward precaution of sporting one of those super cute medical masks in the airports and planes. It also induced me to give the look of death to anyone who deigned to sneeze or blow their nose around me- despite the fact that I myself had a nasty head cold the majority of the time and was sneezing and blowing more than the rest of them combined. I became a good friend of my hand sanitizer. I also managed to escape swollen ankles, which if you had talked to me before we left, was my #1 concern with the 14 hour flight- maybe more than the swine flu. Call me vain, but I'm just not ready to give up the curves in my ankles.

I won't get all baby focused on you- but while we were away - the little one started kicking up a storm. So much so that Ben can even feel it now. So that's fun!

Ben and I agree. Argentina is a very cool city. It's very European in nature, has great food, is very walkable, and has great food. Did I mention that? Ben focused primarily on the beef. I focused on the cheese empanadas and pretty much anything that included dulce de leche. Andrew was an awesome host- and was patient enough to walk around with us most days and nights touring the sights. Ben and I managed to sleep in every day until about noon. My theory is that we never bothered to change time zones since it's 4 hours later there than west coast time. It certainly wouldn't be because we were lazy.

On our first day- we got off the plane and hit the ground running. We spent the majority of the day walking around Recoleta- which is one of the 47 barrios or neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It is also home to the Cementerio de la Recoleta- well known as the burial grounds for the rich and famous- and almost a little city in and of itself with the massive mausoleums erected there. It's most famous inhabitant is Evita Peron herself- buried 30 feet below ground to keep people from stealing her body- which apparently happened once before in 1955. Creepy. Also creepy were the abundance of cats guarding the graves. They were everywhere!

We also spent an entire day walking around La Boca and San Telmo. La Boca is the barrio famous for its colorful homes- painted with leftover paint from the nearby ships- as it's right on the port. It's the Italian barrio- and the street Caminito is the most colorful and the most touristy of them all! Very cute despite the really aggressive doormen at the local eateries. We also went to the Benito Quinquela Martin museum- the artist who made his home in La Boca and painted the ship life surrounding him. La Boca is also known for having a great soccer team, though apparently they aren't the top team "right now."

We went from La Boca to San Telmo for their Sunday flea market. It was PACKED. San Telmo is considered the Greenwich Village of Buenos Aires- once a crusty and run-down area, and now chic and full of studios, restaurants and antique shops. Ben and I lunched at a local cafe, and got very dirty looks when Ben tried to pay with a counterfeit 100 peso bill. We blame Pete since he gave us the bill in the first place- and he swears he got it from an ATM so there you go. We also decided to take part in the flea market and bought a really cute old time orange rotary dial phone. I think it would look cute in my office, but Ben thinks the kitchen is more appropriate... we'll see. We also went back to San Telmo a few days later- and it was actually really nice to be there WITHOUT the crowds and street vendors. We found an awesome kitschy home shop, where Ben picked out a really cute purple butterfly lamp for our nursery.

Here is a typical scene during our first days in Buenos Aires... Men with compass' in their heads...

After another massive meal- and Andrew hard at work in his office. A very memorable meal was at the old time Argentine steak house La Cabrera. Massive slabs of meat- no joke. I was nervous to eat bloody meat in my "condition"- so asked for medium and the server shot me the look of death. Needless to say, my meat came out bloody. But tasty! Later in the week Ben went back to La Cabrera and bought himself one steak knife. Just one. I tried to explain that a set might be more appropriate for table setting purposes- but he feels, as man of the house, he should have the only proper steak knife. So there you go.

Next on your written tour of Buenos Aires... I present to you Avenida 9 de Julio- the world's WIDEST avenue at 460 feet from sidewalk to sidewalk. Pete tried to determine which iron he would use to cross it... Ben feels that the Obelisco is clearly ripped off from the Washington monument- which is quite possible as this one was erected in 1936, 52 years after our own- though the Egyptians really beat everyone to the punch on that one with their first obelisk being sometime in the 1900 BCs... so rather than copying us- those crazy Argentines might have just been copying the Egyptians.

This is Ben and me at Cafe Tortoni- a tourist trap for sure- but also known as one of the oldest and most beautiful cafes in all of Buenos Aires. All I can say is I had a very decadent breakfast comprised of a croissant and scone smothered in dulce de leche. Yum. And a pot of literal hot chocolate. It was a pot of melted chocolate. It came with warm cream to mix it with- but I drank it straight. It was the closest I've come to my beloved hot chocolate at Rivoire in Florence. The baby was clearly craving chocolate. For sure.

One night we went to the Hipodromo Argentino. AKA the racetrack. My horse was chosen based on it's name (Stop the Madness) and the orange color of the jockey's jersey. As you might be able to make out below- my horse almost placed third- but fell to fourth at the last moment. Who knows why Andrew chose the horse he did- but it came in second to last and trotted around with its head off to the side the whole time.

Here you have the Pink House or the Casa Rosada. It's the President's house, and also where Miss Evita addressed her adoring followers. Reasons why this building is pink are either because they wanted to differentiate themselves from our White House, because it was the only option other than white in those days, or because it was a compromise between two feuding parties at the time whose colors were red and white. None of that is quite as fascinating as the fact that the color was made by mixing beef fat, blood and lime. Gross right? I have to assume that with the recent renovation they used traditional paint rather than that crusty concoction...

And Antiquo Congreso Nacional- the former house of Congress and now a conference center with a history library. But a pretty little building all the same.

We also had a night out on the town in Puerto Madero- a renovated riverfront area- with most of the large tech buildings and loads of tasty restaurants. We ate at Cabana Las Lilas- which was an excellent steak house- but really for me, it was their popovers that stood out. I must have had 20 of them. We went from the fine meal to the casino in the old riverboat. The boys were all amped up to play blackjack and craps- when I announced the establishment too smoky for my pregnant person and we left. I'm really fun to travel with right? I think I saved us all money though.

Next up- our travels outside of Bs.As....