Of course I was nervous: a new continent; new experiences awaiting me. From the plane, John and I observed the expansiveness of Buenos Aires stretching out below us.  Honestly, I was not quite sure what to expect. From the few friends who had been there I had heard great things, but not many people I knew had ever ventured over to Buenos Aires. Those who did warned that it was bound to be the first of many trips. Despite my trepidation, Buenos Aires quickly felt familiar. The architecture, the people, the café culture...all was reminiscent of the great cities of Europe. And, yet. Something was different. A slight grittiness, an undercurrent of living art, which seems to have disappeared from most of Europe.

The first day we spent walking through Palermo, a neighborhood typified by parks. The lovely Rosedal, an enormous rose garden, was not in bloom, but gardeners scurried about readying it for the onset of spring. Our apartment was located across from the zoo next to our on site staff person, Graciela's apartment. Mornings, we'd walk out the front door, down our tree-lined street, and drink coffee and eat a breakfast of the sweet Argentinean croissants, medialunas, at Voulezbar. As we ventured further from the apartment we discovered the diversity of the Palermo neighborhood-every section being so distinct as to warrant its own name: Palermo Hollywood, Palermo Viejo, Palermo Soho...

We spent each day was spent furiously walking through the city trying to soak in its culture and ambiance while also locating apartments for our new Untour. On Sunday, we explored San Telmo, the neighborhood famous for being the birthplace of the Tango. The streets were alive with artisans from every corner of Argentina selling their wares. Beautiful tapestries from the north, jewelry from the south, ceramics, any kind of gourd you could want to drink mate in-everything was available! On one corner, a piano had even been pulled into the street and a couple began to dance as the pianist struck up a sensuous, slightly sad tune.

Honestly, I could have stayed in Buenos Aires many more weeks and still not have explored all of the neighborhoods or sights, including some fantastic museums.  But despite not having gotten our fill of the city itself, we spent our last Saturday in Colonia del Sacramento, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uruguay, and only an hour's boat ride away. After walking from the boat to the center of old Colonia, we were greeted with small, winding cobblestone streets, restaurants, stores and a view out over the river.

The widest river in the world, Río de la Plata looks like an ocean, with no shoreline on the other side visible. There was something about that expansiveness that opened up in me, like a tunnel from my eyes to my throat to my stomach, a feeling of well-being, of adventure, of awakening. Here I was, standing in Uruguay, across from Argentina, seeing nothing but the calm of the water and the blue of the sky. A small tree, with a bicycle propped against it at the edge of the water could have been anywhere...Italy, Denmark, France.  But it wasn't. I was on a new continent; I had explored two new countries over the past week and a half. The bounty of travel; the magic and the miracle. What can I say? Buenos Aires picked me up, lured me in, danced with me, and her vistas still beckon me back.

Wishing you vistas,