Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Buenos Aires, people, makes you forget you are in South America completely. Well, until you realize everyone is speaking Spanish. Before arriving, I only associated the metropolis with several things: steak, tango, and an aura of Europe. And it was all true. The architecture reminded me of my time spent in Spain and even the way Argentinians speak Spanish seems to have an Italian lull. After arriving in our hostel, Tasha and I shot ourselves over to a nearby steak joint where we were overwhelmed by a huge steak for a price tag that doesn't quite seem to measure up. The first two days were relatively mellow due to the Christmas holiday, when everything seemed to shut down. Tasha and I kicked off our very merry Christmas by walking over to a cemetery where we initially thought was where Evita Perón (the former Argentinian first lady immortalized by Madonna) was buried, but it turned out we were in the wrong one. The day was concluded with a screening of "2012," which ironically was about the end of the world. Cemetery and "2012" on Christmas day? Uh, happy birthday, Jesus!

A huge steak and fries for around $10 - what a steal

Avenida 9 de Julio, one of the widest streets in the world - this is just one way!

Some of the tombs in the cemetery we accidentally thought we'd find Evita Perón

The next day started the rest of our major Buenos Aires sight seeing as my friend Michael, who had studied abroad in Buenos Aires before, flew into town en route to a community service project in Bolivia. We were able to see a lot of the big tourist haunts without completely looking like tourists, since Michael led us around more discreetly. In Recoleta, we spent an afternoon in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, passed by a large artisan fair, and saw la Floralis Generica, a huge steel sculpture of a flower.

Taking the metro (or "subte," as it's called in Buenos Aires) around

La Floralis Generica, a giant metal sunflower that opens and closes in the morning and at night

After staying out much too late that night, we somehow found it in us to get up and explore the city a little more, starting with la Casa Rosada, or the presidential offices. Closeby in walking distance was the San Telmo artisan market (in case you haven't quite caught on, handmade crafts are a big thing in South America), where we made our way through a sea of people ogling at woven bracelets and flattened glassware, streetside tango performances, and a local market. Our last daytime stop was the neighborhood La Boca - not recommended after the sun sets! That neighborhood was a reminder of the huge Italian influence in Argentina, with lots of tango, pasta, and pizza with buildings in color schemes that would never be approved by any homeowners' association back in Irvine.

La Casa Rosada - literally, the pink house! What's not to like about that?

Probably the one empty street we saw in San Telmo, truly a rare sight

The first time we took this, our photographer didn't realize we wanted the building - the epitome of La Boca - in the back =/

Tasha and I ended our Buenos Aires trip with a rowdy drum concert held every Monday - although we couldn't quite find it at first, we eventually found our way to the dinky little venue where we were openly offered happy brownies and space cakes while in line. Hahaha! The night concluded with a midnight steak dinner (should I then call it starting the morning then?), with Tasha and I getting ready to make our next Argentinian stop in Rosario and Michael and two of his friends staying in Buenos Aires a little longer before embarking on a 60-hour bus ride to Bolivia. Seriously though, after 24 hours, it just seems to all be the same: LONG.