We’ve had a wonderful week here in Buenos Aires.

If there were ever a city designed to meet every whim and fancy of this eccentric little Hobbit, I do believe that BA might just be that place.

We sleep late or wake up early, as our bodies please.  We drink delicious (but STRONG) coffee and leisurely start the day.  

Walking in any direction yields beauty and adventure.

Then it is time for a siesta!

My FAVOURITE thing!

A nice long afternoon nap and then gently yawn and stretch our way back to life and venture out to see more of the city as it wakes up for to do what it is so fantastic at doing – giving us lots of beautiful and interesting people to watch and things to do!

My self esteem is at an all time high today, after countless Argentines have raised eyebrows, shared winks and other harmless flirtatious gestures in my direction.

I’ve been given some terrible advice, such as: “You must not even try to quit smoking, as life does not get any more interesting when you are old, so live fast, and die young because you are so beautiful!”  Not going to follow that rather politically incorrect advice, and you’ll be pleased to know the not smoking is going 100% effectively, provided it is tied in with the ongoing not drinking battle I fight… I digress…

Grumpy is fairly content himself, as the number of buxom and beautiful ladies in this town is staggering.  His favourite kind!  Although, he has said it is a bit like visiting the Louvre, and the first few pieces of amazing and perfect art are breath-taking, but after the hundredth one, you feel a bit “meh” about the beauty that surrounds you.  Seen one gorgeous, stacked South American lass, you’ve seen them all! (apparently)

We’ve done most of the top 10 list of must do’s in Beunos Aires.

The Evita trail sticks out for me of course. 

Aside from being arguably a corrupt Nazi sympathizer, I feel nothing but empathy and relatedness towards Eva Duarte.  She was driven, had something to prove, and married a man who had a great deal of power and influence, and boy did she RIDE that TRAIN!  

We differ in many ways of course.  I didn’t mean to marry a man with “influence”, I simply married the Geek of my dreams and then his software ship came in shortly after our wedding.  And I am not riding any train of power or influence.  Quite the opposite.  I am carving out a very separate life – and attempting to whole heartedly prove to myself and the WHOLE WORLD that I am capable of greatness, not because of his wealth or influence, but despite it.

Eva and I both share a desire to address and battle poverty and violence.  And these causes (along with the environment) are what I intend to spend the rest of my life working toward changing.  There is no need for anyone to be hungry on this planet, and there is no excuse for any human being to bully, abuse, neglect, or in any other way violate another person or creature. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but it is true.

And in an absurd juxtaposition to that we had High Tea at the Alvean Palace.

We had a beer in Recoleta.

We ate Parilla (well, I did)

And we did a long list of other must do’s here in BA.

Yesterday was a very quiet day for us.

We slept and ate and ate and slept.

And due to the laziness of the day, I was plagued with a sleepless night.  I was well awake listening to the noises in the streets below until after 4:00am.

Our room phone rang, our television turned itself on and off… Basically a surreal and spooky night all around.  My beloved of course slept like a stone and the sweet sound of his rumbling snore added to the symphony on our last night.

Eventually I was rewarded for getting to sleep with a strange and bizzarre dream:

Picture this:

A Transilvania-esque castle on a cliff overlooking an ocean where pilot whales and dolphins regularly beach themselves.  This castle is populated by hysterical and formulaic characters that could have walked directly off the screen of an episode of “The Love Boat” or “Three’s Company.”  It was our (mine and Steve’s) job to fix what was broken between the lovers attending a vacation at the castle, and I was FOREVER running around and asking for people to help me put the whales and dolphins back in the water, but always ended up doing it by myself, and feeling really bad about the big ones I could not move.  The dream came complete with a Vaudeville style number (complete with Jazz Hands and expressive smiles) which proclaimed to any or all people complaining about their looks: “You’ve lost A LOT of weight, there’s no reason to self hate – cause you’ve looooossst aaaaallllllloooooot ooooo-ooo-ooooof WEIGHT!  AIN’T IT GREAT!”

So now I write my final Blog from magical Argentina.

I sincerely feel like this place was designed for me.  To teach me to slow down, Love myself, kiss my husband in public more (if that is even possible) and dance and smile – even if I am a terrible dancer.  

Thank You BEUNOS AIRES!

You’ve made me feel like I am Young and Beautiful.