Our first full travel day just wrapped with a long flight from DIA (Denver) to DFW (Dallas) and then an overnight flight to Buenos Aires.

The overnight flight was pretty routine but as I usually like a window seat- there was not much to see until we were close to our destination. Approaching Buenos Aires it was light out and the city it looked sprawling- and as I would learn- is one of the largest metro cities in the western hemisphere. Landing around 10:15, we were greeted by Knowmad Tourguide, Diego and soon after, we were on our on way from the airport- 45 minute or so van ride to the Palermo district- where our boutique hotel the Magnolia Boutique. Diego offered a quick intro to city, how money works (blue market) and what to expect on our tour for the next days. It was fun to feel the sun high in the sky and realize with our flip to the southern hemisphere we gained almost 4 hours of daylight! The air was humid and temps in the low 80s. What a change from our dry and chilly Colorado days just hours ago.

After we checked in, our group explored the area…very European, bohemian, trendy and young! Were we the oldest people in this part of the city? Seemingly devoid of tourists- we saw mostly locals or at least regional visitors from the area. Who really knows? One interesting cultural fact was the dialect Argentinians use e.g. pollo is pounced “poszho”. I’m sure there are more linguistic differences but we had fun practicing as we starting to explore the city in search of food.

We settled for lunch at a ‘deli’ with delicious tartas pie like meats with baked cheese topping and various fillings. Then a walk around including for some of us, a visit to the Botanical Gardens. I took interest in flora only found in the southern hemisphere and the gardens have a wide variety of plants- some tropical some cacti and some from more tropical areas in Paraguay and Brazil.

After settling in to our rooms, and resting a bit, we explored the barrio for a dinner spot. We found a great place- a great wine bar very close to our hotel, Amores Tintos – Soler and amazingly cheap offerings. Drinks, tapas plates and desert for 7- $44 US dollars or 39,000 Argentine pesos. I especially enjoyed their homemade vermouth and Malbec wine flights- all from the Mendoza wine country in western Argentina. Wow!