Gabi On The Go: Mi Buenos Aires Querida: here we come!

Although I have been away for four weeks, I feel like NOW I am starting my real vacation. Brazil is always lots of fun, but that's where I grew up and it's my safe harbour, therefore it doesn't count as a new exciting destination.

Here I am with Julia, in my already big belly, leaving the island where I grew up, Ilha de Santa Catarina, city of Florianopolis.

I love taking pictures from the plane! The day was perfect for some aerial shots and you can see the south of the island: the beaches of Campeche, Morro das Pedras and Armacao. Also, the Lagoa do Peri on the right.

After I took off I realized that this was the first time that I have flown to the south from my island. It was cool to see Lagoinha do Leste, a very well preserved beach that I used to go to, which you can only access by boat or by hiking. We used to hike 3 hours along the mountain coast and go back the other way, a one hour trek up the steep hill to Pantano do Sul Beach. It's a full day hiking trip, but I really recommend it!

Another view of the island: the south.

It was a 45 minutes flight to Porto Alegre, the next capital, going south. It's in the last state of Brazil, bording Uruguay. From here it will be a 1 hour and half flight to Buenos Aires.

Mike killing flight time with his new toy, the iPad.

Arriving at Buenos Aires!

From Wikipedia: Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent. Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the third-largest conurbation in Latin America, with a population of around 13 million.

Arriving at the airport, getting a cab and driving to the hotel was pretty easy. But once we got to the boutique hotel in Palermo-Soho neighbourhood, we found out that this hotel was overbooked. Oh well, it didn't bother us, because the hotel people sent us to an another hotel nearby called Palermo Suites. And what a surprise!!!!

This is one of the nicest rooms that I have stayed in. Mike are I are super happy with what we ended up with. We are paying about CAN$100 a night (one of the cheapest we could find) and it is totally worth every penny. It is in an old building, with tall exposed brick walls, with tiles on the floor and massive thick doors. Amazingly cozy and beautiful!

The furniture also helps. It's very well decorated and full of antiques. The washroom is in a higher level in the room, with few steps to get in. Very cool idea.

Check out the doors! Humongous!

This photo shows another room, before our room. It' s a great lounge area, where I am blogging from. Internet and breakfast are included BTW.

The building is a Spanish style building, with very simple facade and a long corridor heading to a garden inside. We saw a lot of those at the French Quarter in New Orleans and in Madrid as well. We love it because it totally surprises you when you walk in. And a swimming pool also helps, doesn't it?

Especially when it is 33 degrees celsius.

After settling in and having a rest - after all I am a pregnant woman now - we headed out for dinner in this lovely neighbourhood called Palermo. We decided to stay here, as opposed to downtown, after many people suggested the place because of its restaurants and shopping area.

We choose a nice and cozy restaurant that served Argentinean food. Mike had steak and I had fish. For drinks? He enjoyed a typical Argentinean wine and I had a delicious cold water!