Log> Buenos Aires and Uruguay

I've wanted to visit Buenos Aires for a long time, and it really is an experience. BA was declared a "City of Design" by UNESCO and where as I'm yet to make up my mind as to the merits of the design the city features (the Authority of Everything I so obviously am), it's does display a beautiful variety of styles and and even graces. In the number of local clothing brands alone it may well rival Hong Kong, with the Palermo market bustling with cafes-cum-retail spaces every weekend. I bought a couple of beautiful, quality shirts off a young designer whose label didn't even yet have a name. That's the right order of doing things.

I haven't taken that many photos here at all - somehow, after the picturesque Pacific Islands and the majesty of New Zealand's scenery, I feel a city is best experienced and appreciated by absorbing the vibe and consuming the energy all around. And I sure am getting by with less sleep I would've guessed I'd need. As these things seem to flip, now that I haven't been releasing the shutter, it's been set off on me a couple of times - some innocent nightclub photos and a street photo shoot I was pulled into as I walked past. Here's a log shot.



Other than this, BA is superbly accessible and very affordable, better value than any other place I've been this far when it comes to just staying and travelling. Outside of the hipper areas it is difficult to find veggie fare, as one would imagine, but I've had great food despite the common complaint that outside of steak and chips, Argentine cuisine doesn't have much to offer. And there's open Wifi everywhere. Yippee.

I did escape the city over the rivermouth to the east. Uruguay must be the best-kept of South America - at least sub-Equator. A beautiful small country with great infrastructure (best roads I've been on since Japan), a clean and efficient capital and gorgeous beaches. It's a step towards Brazil from Argentina, and you can tell that in the people. Ok, in the girls, no beating around the bush.

Finally, I had one tango lesson and was hooked. Too bad I can't stay here longer, but I'm surely coming back.