Deja vu ... Buenos Aires and Delhi ... plus enjoying summer in England and France

Well, here we are again ... time has gotten away on me and I haven't got this blog out for quite a while! However, it might be getting a little repetitive as the first thing I have to report is yet another trip to Buenos Aires and also to Delhi, so it's a slight case of deja vu!

Back to Buenos Aires
Well it was with great pleasure that I appeased work by traveling back out to Buenos Aires for another project ... yes my life is tough I know! This time I was there for a full week and I even wrangled a weekend which was even better!

As there was a very large conference going on in Buenos Aires that week, the only hotel that had spare rooms was the most amazing 5 star hotel that I've ever stayed in, called the Alvear Palace, and it lived up to its name! Check out some of the pictures I've included of my room, however I have to mention my favourite touches, which included a butler that would be at my door within 2 minutes of dialing '8', a set of personalized business cards awaiting me with my name and hotel contact details, a spa bath with flat screen tv, waterproof remote and inflatable neck cushion and of course the biggest bed I've ever seen that could have fitted 5 people easily! It was truly heaven and I've never felt so indulged in all my life!

Whilst I was in BsAs, i loved catching up with my adorable friends Milagros and Jose. This time we went to a great restaurant in Puerto Viejo called La Cabrera, where we indeed enjoyed a great feast of argentinean steak. Jose and I also spent a day at the markets in San Telmo where he persevered whilst I found the perfect tango oil painting I'd been seeking out for a while.

On the Saturday I decided to head to the one area of Buenos Aires that I'd not managed to visit during my brief stay last year, La Boca. I wanted to hire a bike, although after I told the bicycle hire guy where I intended going, he refused to lend me a bike as he told me it was too dangerous to go solo and I might get robbed, including the bike! So I decided instead to opt for a bike tour, and I was incredibly glad I did as our guide was so knowledgeable about the city and she shared so many anecdotes with us that it made the day really enjoyable. The most interesting thing I discovered though would have to be that the stadium of 'La Boca' (one of the most famous Argentinean football teams) is the only place in the world where you'll find the Coca Cola insignia in black and white, instead of the usual red and white. Why is that you may ask? Well red and white happen to be the colours of La Boca's arch rival, River Plate, and so it would be treachery to promote the River Plate team colours on the Boca stadium!

It was also in La Boca that I got interviewed by a local tv channel for a new show on tourism in the area. After not having spoken spanish for quite a while, I was quite happy that I got through the interview without issue and even a smile or two!

I was also ever so well looked after by my argentinean colleagues during my week of work, including a fabulous night at the tango in the Carlos Gardel theatre. We had amazing seats right overlooking the stage and it was a truly incredible night out of entertainment.

Delhi and Delhi belly!
After flying back from Argentina to London, I had the grand total of 23 hours in London before I flew out again to Delhi for work. This time there was not time for the Taj or Old Delhi, it was nearly all work and no play, with a touch of delhi belly thrown in too!

Whilst the culture in Argentina the week before, was to have about three hours after work doing your own thing before meeting up for dinner around 10pm, the indian culture is rather different, and usually upon finishing work at 6.30pm, we'd meet for dinner at 6.45pm! So needless to say, it was a pretty full-on week away.

We did have one great night of entertainment organised by our Indian colleagues with lots of traditional dancing, although it wasn't so much fun when I got dragged in to dance in front of everyone though!

Meeting Max Power
One of my best friends had a gorgeous little baby quite recently and so I also was lucky enough to get down to visit Sal and George and their new addition, Max, down at their home near Southampton. He was very adorable, although apparently he was on his best behavior for me that day! Sal and I took Max to the park and spent a lovely day in the sun catching up.

My cousin Tanya's visit and a girl's weekend to Winchester
It is not often that I get to see my cousins in London, so it was lovely that Tanya was able to stay a few days in London during her big trip to various parts of the globe. Tanya also brought the sunshine from oz with her and so we were bathed in sunshine for practically all of her stay.

We also headed down to the historic city (or village) of Winchester for a weekend and I would thoroughly recommend it for a weekend getaway. The cathedral is really beautiful, we also saw King Arthur's round table and did a lovely walk by the river and up to Saint Catherine's Hill, as well as a good balance of sitting in cafes and pubs and idling around the shops!

New Forest and Stone Henge
I've been getting into the weekend aways of late and another really great weekend was heading down south to the New Forest. Pete organised a gorgeous little cottage just to the north of New Forest, which is a big national park for those of you aren't familiar with it, in a village called West Dean. We enjoyed some lovely drives, walks and great pub meals in various little villages throughout the New Forest. We even made it down to coast and did a big walk out to an old fortress, although the highlight of the walk was definitely watching the kite surfers as it was a really blustering day and they were getting a lot of height out of the water with their turns! It's making me want to get back into the surfing I'm missing so much being in London!

On the way back to London we decided to visit Stone Henge. I'd only ever seen it from the road, and as it was only 2 days after the summer solstice, it seemed the perfect time to go inside and walk around the massive rock formations. Definitely worth the visit!

Watching Wimbledon - Seeing Federer play!
I was lucky enough to get a last minute ticket to Wimbledon with work and even luckier that Federer was playing on center court that day too! Unfortunately it wasn't anywhere near as exciting as the final with Nadal that I'm currently biting my nails in front of, however it was great to see him (and his cardigan!) in the flesh and he was of course in his usual great form!

Visiting the city of love again!
Luke and I had planned a weekend away in Paris for quite a while, so it was last just weekend that we we were finally boarding the Eurostar and heading off across the channel. It also worked out that Jo Mitchell was in Paris as well that weekend and Megan, one of Luke's friends from Wagga, so we were quite a crew hanging out in the sunshine, sipping cafe au laits and walking around admiring the wonderful architecture.

I had a fabulous day on saturday catching up with an old friend from high school, Ingrid, who has been living in Paris with her husband for a year now. I went around the local markets helping her do the weekly shopping, admiring her great french and enjoying catching up on over a year of stories! Ben joined us for a fabulous lunch at what would have appeared to be just an ordinary wine shop from outside, however they served an amazing lunch, fabulous wine and we ended the meal with the chef bringing the whole cheese board over to our table for us to select what we wished. It was so authentic and the perfect way to while away the day!

On Sunday Luke and I made a bee-line for a famous patisserie on Champs-Elysées where we each bought something rather indulgent that we later devoured in the park, it was true decadence! We then walked all over the city, enjoying the sunshine and stopping for a coffee or lunch whenever we tired, it was a simply lovely way to spend a weekend!

So ... that about sums up my life for the last month or so... I have a few trips coming up over the next month to Portugal and Switzerland, and I'm counting down the days until Catherine (my sister) gets here in August too!

Of course i love hearing everybody's news so please keep me posted on what you're up to!

Ciao, Tamara xx

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