Day One

Greetings from South of the Equator albeit a day late. Things got off to an inauspicious start at Kennedy as as the airline oversold the flight by twenty some odd passengers. In a fit of panic the folks at the gate started offering up 800 dollar vouchers to any passengers who were willing to take the big bump. While this offer sounded tempting it struck me as equally tempting to try to negotiate asking for a first class upgrade on the next flight out in lieu of their crappy voucher. After some deliberation amongst the desk employess they agreed to the terms of my seat surrendering. So it was wheels up at last night at 10:50 instead - hot towels all the way around!

Today was spent within the tether of the Ricoleta neighborhood. Impressions this far would be it's Paris with Palm trees, a bit of Havana(some broken infrastructure) and some good old New York City(plenty of cabs and food options every five feet.) The weather is fantastic. Although it's Winter I can't help but mistake it for Fall. The air is crisp but not cold. Sweater weather at its' finest. I enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch of a handful of some of the best empanadas and a cold beer (which set me back all of $4.00 US.) After lunch I headed to the Ricoletta Cemetary where amongst many other national heroes Evita lies. In addition to dead people the quasi-labyrinth is filled with mostly friendly cats of all colors, makes and models. Additionaly these felines seem to understand the importance of a photo op. It's known to be the largest swath of real estate in BA where nobody actually lives. After that it was the mundane - looking for a cell phone, a good jacket and the obligatory getting lost because it's now dark and your Spanish is crap.

Anyway after a glass of Malbec and some Silversun Pickups on the iPod its out in search of a decent Argentine steak dinner.