Those taxi drivers get us every year!

We arrived in Buenos Aires, got our bags and got through customs pretty quickly. We met up with the rest of our friends who were arriving from New York, and walked outside to catch a taxi. We knew from previous trips to go catch the taxi from the stand outside because it was cheaper. A guy standing right next to the taxi stand asked us if we needed a taxi, so we said yes and he called two taxis that could hold all seven of us. I got into the taxi while Gavin paid the guy for both taxis. After the usual 40 minute drive to get to Palermo district and our rental house, the two taxi drivers informed us that we needed to pay them 400 pesos apiece for the ride. Martin, the managed of our house, came out and basically told us we had been scammed at the airport. Gavin hadn't gotten a receipt for what he paid the guy at the stand, so we had not proof of payment. Also, since we had not agreed on a fare beforehand with the taxi drivers, they were charging us double price. Welcome to Buenos Aires, b%@@$es... (900 pesos is about $200, plus the double price cab rides were another $90 extra that we shouldn't have paid...) We have been scammed by taxi drivers before in Buenos Aires, but with little stuff like the meter was set to the wrong rate, or they don't turn on the meter and then charge whatever they want, but we've never been scammed this badly. We know exactly what we did wrong - we didn't actually talk to the person standing INSIDE the taxi stand; this guy was standing 1 foot away from the stand OUTSIDE it. Grr. Well, we'll chalk it up to lack of sleep, we are normally more vigilant. :)

After getting the scammer taxi drivers out of our hair, we were instantly put into a better mood as Martin showed us the beautiful house we are renting. We are a group of nine people, so we were able to rent an absolutely AMAZING place on VRBO.com, our vacation staple for when we are going to be staying someplace for a week or more. And lodging in Argentina, to stay at someone's vacation home, is relatively cheap. Our house has a huge living room, an outdoor pool, a pool table, a full kitchen, laundry, three bedrooms and a separate guest house that is like a studio apartment. Gavin and I got lucky and are staying in the amazing master bedroom, complete with a huge walk in shower/jacuzzi. All very much welcome after a long night of traveling. :)

Our house and pool, as viewed from the courtyard. I LOVE the ivy covering all the bricks!!

Inside the huge living room, and kitchen area, complete with flatscreen tv, pool table, and my favorite - two huge bouquets of beautiful fresh flowers!

After settling in for a bit, we went to the grocery store to pick up snacks and breakfast food, and most importantly, several $2 bottles of malbec. :)

Malbec, as I mentioned before, is our favorite red wine. But the malbec in the states tastes different than the malbec in Argentina, even though almost all malbec in the states is imported from Argentina. We did a wine tour a couple years ago here, and they mentioned that Argentine malbecs don't have any sulfites, but the bottles in the states still have the normal sulfites warnings on the labels. I think this accounts for the difference in taste. Also, malbecs here don't give any kind of typical dry mouth effects (from one or two glasses) or hangovers (from one or two bottles :) )

In Buenos Aires, buying malbec is cheaper than buying bottled water. So what would you choose to drink? :)

Later in the afternoon Gavin had to go to his conference for a bit, so I decided it was finally time to catch up on a bit of sleep, and I was in good company with pretty much everyone else in the house. :) Plus, in Argentina the locals don't eat dinner until 10pm. Resturants that cater to tourists open at 8pm - there is no food to be had at the usual 6-7 American dinner hour, but walking around at night in Buenos Aires is so nice that the later dinner hour doesn't bother me at all.

Tonight for dinner we went to Don Julio, a steakhouse favorite of ours for the past couple years. Very simple preparation really lets the flavor and texture of amazing Argentine beef shine through. Yummy, but this restaurant is more like a "prequal" to the better restaurants to come in the next nights... :)

I really like Don Julio because it feels very "homey," even though it is full or tourists due to Lonely Planet recommendations. The walls are decorated only with shalves upon shelves of empty bottles of wine, all signed and graffitied up by customers past wielding Sharpie markers. Our waiter, who I recognized from previous years, is an older gentleman with a beautiful smile - his whole face wrinkles up into a topographical map of smile lines. He laughes good naturedly when he tried to pour me a glass of wine and discovered his assistant neglected to remove the cork before handing it to him... :)

With my halting Spanish, I somehow managed to order only a quarter of a steak, which was the perfect size, about 4 ounces. (I meant to order a half size steak...) But the advantage was, I of course had room for dessert. Becky and I ordered dulce de leche "panqueques" (= crepes) and chocolate mousse, knowing that once the others at our table saw our desserts we would be obligated to share, even though they clamied to not want dessert when we ordered. :)

Dulce de leche ANYTHING is my favorite dessert here, and this was no exception. :) The crepes were so soft, and they had a burnt sugar crust on top, reminiscent of creme brulet. They were served almost scalding hot they were so fresh! The chocolate mousse was also amazing; I normally am not a fan of chocolate mousse, preferring my chocolate in cake form, but I loved this! I had about three bites of each dessert because, as we predicted, everyone wanted a taste once it arrived.

After dinner we walked to an ice cream place to buy some ice cream to take back to the apartment for Jen, who had to stay in and watch her daughter. Then we walked through the warm, clear night back to the house, where Gavin promptly passed out on the couch while I wrote and Becky and JD shut down their ATM card, which they left at the airport. It's been a bit of both a rough and lovely day for all of us, but looking forward to exploring tomorrow!