Feb. 13

Flew all through the night and 10½ hours later I arrived in Buenos Aires. It was a god thing I researched the destination beforehand and found out that it would be 27 C, or else I might have forgotten to pack some shorts. Walking off the plane, the humid hot air was a bit of a shock to the system, having been acclimatised to the Canadian winter.

Checked into our group’s hotel which was located in the heart of the city and on a lovely treed parkcade. Went for a walk in the sun, and enjoyed the Jacaranda trees lining the streets. Another tree I am not familiar with was in full bloom with large, very pretty pink flowers.

Once the main group arrived we went on a walking tour of the city and learned about the history of Buenos Aires from a city guide who was very passionate and gave great interpretation. We road on the subway which has very old cars which were donated to the city by Russia. The interiors are all wooden as are th seats. It was quite nostalgic.

We viewed the government buildings and listened to the stories of Eva Perron. We also heard about the 2001 collaspe of the economy and how the presidency turned over 5 times that year.

In Buenos Aires, the locals do not eat the evening meal until late. We went to a restaurant at 7PM which is really early by their standards. It may have something to do with the heat and humidity, but the locals came out to eat closer to 9PM. Dinner was the most amazing grilled steak I have ever eaten. It was 1 inch thick. The Argentinian´s love their meat.

Headed back to the hotel and straight to bed as I had to be up by 2:30AM to catch my next flight to Ushuaia. This was the second night where I would only get 2 hours sleep.