Buenos Aires - Here if you want to or not!

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Two days after we were due to depart Buenos Aires and we are still here (unfortunately not through choice, although I did say when I thought we were leaving that I would like to stay for longer!)

Moving back in time......we were due to fly back to Brasil on Monday, but there were a few "complications". Fairly large ones really, like our visas were no longer valid. Lesson number 162, when you ask "are you sure you know this is how the visa works, you have checked it out properly?" and the answer is "yes" it probably means you had best find out for yourself. Lesson learned....after arriving at the Brasilian consulate at 1:15pm Monday to find that all visa applications close at 1:00pm we resigned ourselves to a few more days in Argentina. Thankfully after collecting all of the relevant paperwork and returning to the embassy yesterday we are set to collect our new visas on Friday afternoon and will be heading back to Brasil (hopefully this time incident free) on Saturday.

Originally a weekend visit, our weekend in Buenos Aires was well worth it (thankfully). A late arrival Friday night (after a lack of sleep Thursday night) left bed as the only real option. It was an interesting trip from the airport to the hotel, particularly the realisation that headlights on cars are only an optional extra and worst case scenario is to use only park lights. We did however arrive without incident (even if somewhat inconspicuously!!)

Saturday morning arrived and we were ready to see the sights. An initial wander and I immediately discovered the close proximity of a large shopping mall to our hotel. This was good in itself, but upon further investigation the quality and affordability of the shopping became evident. Showing great restraint we walked the length of the mall without availing ourselves of the inviting opportunity.

Near the end of the mall is Plaza de Mayo (being the month, not the salad condiment) where the "Pink House" is located. This is the building that the President works from and where Eva Peron gave her famous speech from the balcony. We had a bit of look around, got a vague understanding of what was going on from the plaques in Spanish and decided that taking a tour was probably a good plan.

More events to follow (past and future......) time now to stop being a sloth and partake in some exercise. Some pictures are included, more explanations will be added to the next entry.

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