Warming up to Buenos Aires

At the airport our plane is delayed 3 hours. Ugh. Finally we get to the Park Chateau Unique Hotel in Buenos Aires, which a friend had recommended. It was discounted by Expedia from $105 to $74, but the extra person charge is $66! It’s in Recoleta, a beautiful somewhat residential district, kind of like the upper East Side of NYC. It is hot, but not as beastly as we feared after translating a weather article in La Nacion on the plane – yesterday it was a record-breaking 40 degrees centigrade! I don’t even know what that is in Farenheit, and we have Patagonia gear like wool clogs.

Our spacious room is very chic, with a white leather chaise and egg-shaped lights. By 7 we’re out cruising the stores until they close at 9. We end up at a kind of diner/cafe where they bring us so much food with our drinks that we wonder why we’ve bothered to order dinner. We struggle to do justice to our meals, especially Caitlin’s: a giant calzone with mozzarella, ricotta, egg, lemon and walnuts. We stagger out, grateful for the walk to the hotel. On CNN, Larry King is interviewing Dolly Parton – apparently nothing has happened in the 2 weeks we’ve been gone!