Life in Buenos Aires...

Well, I have left the camera for a few days to get deep into the cities lifestyle. As of late I get up in the morning and take a short walk to the train station and catch the train heading to Retiro, (about 30 min away) and then from there I take the subte (subway) to the very center of Buenos Aires, and I pop up right by the obolisko. This has become quite the commute, the trains are hot, sweaty and packed with people. They are cheaper than dirt, about 28 cents for a ride on the train! Not a bad deal. Anyway, from the obolisko I walk about a block to the Confiteria Ideal for Tango lessons where I find an assortment of travelers waiting for the classes to begin, some are there for just the day, and some are regulars that have been coming for a while. The classes are long and packed with instruction, they are everyday from noon to three.
I started lessons monday where I met a sweet German girl, who was also starting Tango lessons that day. However she is already a dancer and it shows, I just hope I can keep up! She will be here until next Wednesday, so I think we are going to try and learn this crazy dance together until she takes off back to Germany. So far so good, we are three days into it and we are making some good progress, at three hours a day we are finally getting the basic steps down and its finally starting to feel like fun! Good times!
We have been doing some exploring after class and have found some really fun stuff to do, Tuesday we went to to the top of the Panamericano hotel (23 floor) right above the street Nueve de Julio (the really wide one with the obolisko) and watched the city below. This was unreal really, to be on top of this hotel... it was amazing. There is this beautiful spa, with a pool and and open deck that looks out to the city. Its absolutely a treat! And we were the only outsiders, I should say, the only non hotel guests on top of the building, it was so fun! Sitting there sipping our drinks on this white lounge chair built right out on the edge of the building, it was just a good time. We just sat and listened to the hum of the city below and felt the difference of being up and out of the madness below. Anyway good times! I mean you could see Uruguay from the top of this thing! How cool is that! Buenos Aires is a different place from up top. Almost peaceful if it were not for the blaring heat. Its so amazing to be in such a huge city. The skyline of never ending buildings, and I mean big buildings!

As for today's extra curricular activity we went to the Museo de Bellas Artes which was quite a bit of fun. My new friend proved herself to be quite an expert on art history, naming off who painted what and when it was painted and why. I was impressed, however I did feel a bit dumb and uncultured due to my lack of knowledge on the topic of art history. Its was fun though, and to say the least enlightening.

After the museum it was back to the subway and sweaty train rides to make my way back to home where I could finally cool down with a nice cool dip in the pool, and two or, maybe five bowls of unbelivable Argentine icecream! I love that stuff! I am loving Buenos Aires to say the least. Its good to be here!
Well that is it for now! Whew! That was a bit of writing. Photos really are worth a thousand words. I am hoping that Nadine will send me some of the photos off her camera. Its been hard not taking my camera around, I don't take it with me to the tango lessons because I cant dance and watch my pack at the same time. Its kind of frustrating. Anyway... time to sleep!
Laters'!
Reggie