Entry tax for the travel gods

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Hello all,
After arriving in Buenos Aires to be greeted by the smiling face of my long-lost friend Gerborg ( ok, so two years is not so long but still, I missed her a lot) we took a taxi to the stylish Palermo Soho district and got settled into our little apartment. It's the perfect size, like an IKEA showroom design but all our dishes and the artwork are antique. The first couple of days we just wandered around the streets for hours, photographing the old-world architecture and enjoying long chats at the street cafes. Every day is sunny and its always necessary to walk on the shaded side of the street...that has become a survival instict now after a week.
Sometimes a simple thing like finding an internet cafe turns into a giant fiasco, like on Friday our regular nieghboorhood location greeted us with a sign "closed until february", like much of Argentina the owner had gone to the coast for holidays apparently. Twenty blocks and ten false tries later Gerborg and I finally found a "locutorio" that actually HAD internet as advertized, and I happily set my bag on the arm of my chair and started reading e-mail updates from home. Sadly, one of the two other people checking their email that day was a thief and it was the last time I will ever see that purse. Farewell sunglasses, journal, camera and ..yes, passport which I had taken out of hiding to change money that morning (all of which was also taken as an offering to the gods of travel). So, after two hours the police finally showed up, directed us to the tourist police statin (where the handsome officer graciously took us to yet another commisariat downtown) and by that evening and fifty odd blocks of walking I had the police report required to get a new passport.
Luckily, Gerborg and I have made friends with a few local Argentinians who had warned us sharply about keeping our bags closely guarded, and after a few scolding "I told you so's" we all went out for dinner and to a famous dancing club on the river where I tried to forget my shock. The champaign helped, but I can honestly say that I will never let down my guard in public ever again while traveling anywhere! Its difficult when you move somewhere for a month, not wanting to feel like a tourist the whole time while discovering the city I had stashed away my travel belt too early it seems. Gerborg is the ideal travel partner, strong minded and with the same love of photograhy as me so its also a consolation to have her along.
Anyways, today we took the metro to the Canadian embassy where I comiserated with a German Canadian family who had their house robbed with all five sets of German and Canadian passports....it made my situation look quite simple in comparison. After calling my grandma (the only Canadian phone number I seemed to remember) we strolled around the famous Ricoletta park and found Eva Perons grave.
Good times all in all! Tonight the young waitress at our corner cafe where we sometimes take breakfast has invited us to go dancing, so I am quite excited to see her view of Buenos Aires.
Ciao todos!!! Besos

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Photos

view into tomb
a close up into the inner sanctuary of a family tomb in the cemetary Ricolleta, Buenos Aires

light onto coffin
I was enthralled by the lighting that entered from a crack in the roof of this two hundred year old family tomb, and although you cant see it, the light was shining onto four old coffins. I could have reached out and touched them.

artistic sunburn
After a day my the pool in the gorgeous (very exclusive community) of Nordelta half an hour from downtown Buenos Aires, this is what I had to show for it

dog walkers
Gerborg and I love seeing dog walkers guiding their furry friends throughout the cobblestone streets of Buenos Aires, and so far the most in one group was 11 dogs. now thats skill!

settling in
there´s nothing like a toast of gin and tonic to feel at home in our new apartment and bring in an amazing era of new adventures together :)

cafe con leche y medialunas
learning spanish vocab gets easier and easier when the lessons involve delicious pastries at random cafes around the city. there must be a sidwalk cafe for every day of the year

red door at evening
can you tell I have become completely addicted to photographing doors? this one especially caught my eye as we walked home on evening last week. Thankfully most locals are on vacatin at the uruguayan coast so they dont mind us creeping on their homes

club sunset
chilling and dancing till dawn at Sunset :)

Plaza heaven
I am convinced that Buenos Aires is one of the cities in the world with the most green space, its impossible not to find a park or plaza with a fountain every couple of blocks. If it weren´t so hot right now, I would spend more time hanging out in them too...

the peanut vacuum
spending the day at the 150 year old zoo in downtown was really lovely and took an entire afternoon just to visit most of the animals. our favourites were the three magestic elephants and sea lions with their big beautiful eyes and fish-snatching abilities