Just back from 18 hours of travel EZE-ATL-DEN and the 90-minute drive up the mountain to home, after 10 days in B.A. with a couple of side-trips.

What a wonderful trip! My wife and I both fell in love with the city and country. So many helpful people, and so much to see.

Muchas gracias a Gaucho100K, who helped us pick out some wines as gifts and for our own enjoyment at his lovely shop. Well packed, survived traveling in checked luggage, and I'm looking forward to enjoying them - but not tonight given how tired I am after the trip!

We stayed at the Art Hotel on Azcuenga, just off Santa Fe and about a 15 minute walk from Cemetario Recoleta. Lovely small boutique hotel and a fabulous deal at $65 USD/night. Also enjoyed two award nights at the Sheraton Iguazu where we got upgraded to a falls-view suite. A one-day trip via the Buquebus fast ferry to Colonia, Uruguay was well worth it both for the change of pace & weather, and for the very interesting and lovely historic sites. Not to mention some great shopping bargains.

Rice is right in the post a few posts earlier about walking being a great way to see the city. As former New Yorkers and Bostonians MrsXS and I were used to walking through great cities. So despite the many differences of B.A. from our former home cities, we also felt right at home. I have to say that in terms of perceived safety, we felt every bit as safe, if not more so, than in any large city in the US or Canada. My guess is that anyone who has typical city-dweller "street sense" will love B.A. and feel just as safe there (except perhaps the Bush girls!) People who aren't use to large cities will find the scale of Buenos Aires and the difference from their small town just as strange as if they went to New York City.

We even ended up walking all the way back from La Boca to Recoleta on Sunday. Not what we originally planned but after we walked up to San Telmo and spent a few hours there browsing, shopping, eating & drinking and enjoying a show, we just felt like walking more. What a great sense of the many different sections of the city and its scale!

Great trip, and this is now our FIRST trip to Argentina and South America in general. It will certainly not be our last!