Bunos Aires, Argentina

Hola buenos aires

immigrationin buenos aires had a bit of a sticker shock to it, it appears as though our politial relations are such that the argentians feel it necessary to charge americans an additional 140, where as everyone else gets a free pass. lets not discount the australians and canadians that have to pay a fee as well.

once the fee was paid it was lickety split to the immigration queue, which i was now the last one in line for...and the stamps went quickly, no problems now that i had given them my moola. and the visa is good for 5 or 10 years so i'm even happier about that now.

Once out of the immigration queue it was time to find someplace to stay and of course a way to get there, not sure if i got hosed on the taxi, but it was simple and no dealing with the driver so i paid hte airport taxi 128ARS (argentinian peso's about 4:1) or roughly 32 US. Before i arrived i decided to research hostels in the area of downtown, and found one called casa de papa, it said it was right downtown, private rooms, and a shared bath, so i gave the driver the address, he plugged it into the GPS, and off we were 30 minutes later he dropped me off on the wrong side of the street and i was in downtown buenos aires, looking at the capital building thinking damn, am i in new york...it really has that feel to it.

i crossed the street and found the address, went inside to find that i had to either take an elevator made before steam engines or climb 5 flights of stairs, stairs it is, and i still haven't taken the elevator.

once to the fourth floor i had my choice of two doors, neither of which were marked, i choose the door on the right, fail...the gentleman kindly looked at the sheet of paper i handed him with the address and pointed across the hall. Once inside I felt like i was in a museum, 15 foot ceilings, french doors to every room and to the balconies that overlook the main street with views of the capital and hardwod floor throughout. a pretty swanky place if you ask me. all for 30 a night.

once i got settled in it was food or a nap, as i had been going since cayenne the day before i decided on sleep, made the bed, opened the french doors to the balcony and reveled in the fresh air and awesome view, and of course stayed two steps back from the railing as my vertigo was beginning to hit when i looked over for more than a minute. I laid down and thought, damn, this place is nice i could get to liking buenos aires.

I must have been lying down for about an hour when i heard this awful racket, it was big bass drums, and a drumline that couldn't keep in sync for nothing. It was either that or road construction. I got up to find out what the racket was and when i looked out the window i saw a protest of about 200 people marching towards the capital, Big banners, all somewhat wearing the same color shirts and walking down the main street, about four lanes worth, all the traffic had been cordoned off so no to disturb them, and away they marched with their awful music.

After the excitement of the protest and the two to follow concluded, it was back to my nap. I slept for a couple hours, and got up with the determination to enjoy the rest of the sunny day and also to go find food. I took off for a walk around my general vicinity and once it started to get dark, i headed back to the hostel for a good nights sleep.

All in all a very nice first day, i'm looking forward to seeing more of buenos aires tomorrow.