...Or at least my luggage didn't. I flew back from Buenos Aires this morning, but my luggage opted to remain there for an extra day because it just loved the airport so much. Fucking luggage.
Argentina was amazing. It was my first time going to South America, and I really didn't have any expectations of the trip or even know what to expect. One of my friends studied abroad there and returns as often as he can, which is a ringing endorsement, but another woman to whom I spoke basically called it a shithole. I thought it was fabulous, and I completely understand what people mean when they call it "the Paris of South America." My enjoyment of the trip was aided greatly by the fact that my mom and I spent three of our four days with a good friend of hers who had moved back to Argentina the weekend before we arrived and who generously gave of her time and language skills to help us navigate the country. (In return, I bought her a fancy steak dinner at Cabana Las Lilas, which is a fucking awesome restaurant that I highly recommend if you're down South America way.)
I think the greatest part of the trip was the food. I have had empanadas before in New York, but the empanadas I had in Buenos Aires were a whole other level of culinary delight. I ate every emapanada that was foolish enough to get anywhere close to my gaping maw. We spent Thanksgiving Day in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay (as one does), and, on the recommendation of my mom's friend, ate something called "chivitos" that is apparently a popular Uruguayan dish. Chivitos is basically some type of beef with ham on top of it and an egg on top of that and maybe some cheese in there, all served over a bed of French fries and potato salad. I shudder to think how many Weight Watchers points were in that bad boy, but I bet I could crash the Weight Watchers site trying to calculate it. My mom thought it was vile and repugnant, but I liked it.
If anyone is looking for Argentina-related advice for a future trip, I felt like the three full days we spent in Buenos Aires were sufficient to see everything but not get too bored. We ate at a fancy steakhouse (the above-mentioned Cabana Las Lilas), went to a tango show, visited La Boca, saw Evita's grave, visited the Recoleta area and did a ton of shopping. I also thought the day trip to Colonia del Sacramento was fun, as it is a beautiful town and it's just fucking cool to say you've been to Uruguay. I commend both the Argentines and the Uruguayans for their fondness for stamping passports (unlike, say, the Europeans, who never want to stamp my passport so I have only anecdotal evidence to prove I was in most of the European countries I have visited). In the course of a four-day trip, I racked up six passport stamps.
The only blight on the trip, and it is truly minor, was the fiasco with my lost luggage. I was told upon arrival at my final destination that my luggage is being sent tomorrow, so at least they know where it is, so I'm going to wait until then to have a complete meltdown about it. Mom and I arrived at the airport two hours early for our flight, and that was just insufficient time. Three hours early would be much better. We waited in a long line to check in, a long line to pay our airport departure tax of $18, a long line to go through security and then another long line to have our passports stamped again so we could finally get the hell out of their country. Oh, and then there was another line to have our hand luggage checked before we could board the plane, and I thought my mom might get arrested for assaulting airport personnel at that point. It was pretty ridiculous, and it all requires more than two hours to be done without rising feelings of panic over the possibility of missing the flight (especially if you have even a faint hope of having enough time to reclaim the taxes you paid on whatever you bought there, which Mom and I did not).
Anyway, I had a great time. I highly recommend these destinations for anyone thinking of going.
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