the top 5 in BA

Well, here I am at the end of my stay in another wonderful place, and feeling both sad to be moving on and excited for new adventures. It's a little harder being here for these last two days, though, as Annie left last night and I miss her already... However, before she headed back to the USA we made our list of the top 5 best things in Buenos Aires. So here, in no particular order, they are:

1. Steak at La Cabrera
2. The San Telmo Sunday market (streets upon streets jam packed with handicrafts, independant design, and leather goods. We spent way too much money and I walked away with a FANTASTIC new pair of funky leather shoes...)
3. Train ride to Tigre, a little town on the river delta that was quiet and full of big old trees and mansions.
4. Pastries at La Mariposa, the phenomenal panaderia and dulceria down the block from our hostel. I drooled and looked in the window every time we went by-- layers of handmade chocolates, cream filled flaky dough, fruit tarts of every variety and color, and gorgeous fluffy cakes. Not to mention, the empanadas... which we ate at least once a day.
5. And of course, the graffiti! The virtues of which I have already extolled (and taken hundreds of photos of...)

Other things of note: riding the subway (or Subte!), our favorite cafe La Poesia, where we ate 3 times and I'm going back to tonight with two friends from Vancouver BC who I met in Cusco, the dogs (and PUPPIES!) everywhere, live tango shows in the main squares, and the creepy, creepy Recoleta cemetary. Oh, and the daily dose of ice cream, of course.

So, onward I go, for what is (basically, excepting a few days at the end back in Lima) THE LAST STOP. Saturday I fly to Iquitos, in the heart of the Amazon basin, to spend a few days with the monkeys and parrots. And pirhanas. And then... home. In two weeks. Exactly. Woah.