4 Countries in 40 Hours, And Other Vacation Highlights

¡Hola, chicos! Greetings from Buenos Aires, where it's a sunny, er, brisk 55 degrees. Surprised to find me here? Well, I was surprised, too. For about three days, ever time I woke up, I was somewhere completely new! But such is the life of a stand-by jet-setter like me.

As of Monday night, we had planned to fly to Houston and from there to Quito or Panama City and then on to Quito. But at the airport Tuesday morning, the Houston flight had filled up, so we had breakfast and had some races up and down the concourse before flying to Newark. Then we spent all day in the Newark airport (which does not have a play area that I could find, like Cleveland does) before getting seats to Panama. I had successfully avoided taking a nap all day long, so when we got on that plane, I was not inclined to follow flight rules. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't get Daddy all the way out of his seat so I could stretch out, despite my best efforts, so when we arrived in Panama at 10 pm, I was wired. My parents favorite hotel didn't have any rooms, so we had to go to another hotel...in the end, it was all the way into the next day before I got to bed. I've never stayed up so late in my whole life since I started sleeping through the night!

The next day, we still couldn't get to Quito, or anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere, except for Montevideo, so that's where we went. Before we left Panama, we went to Plaza Bolivar, in Casco Viejo, for lunch outside, and I chased a bunch of pigeons and a cat and played with some big kids who had just gotten out of school. We had just enough time for ice cream at Graniclement (I had white chocolate!) before heading back to the airport.

In Plaza Bolivar

Mommy's paella, with a giant langosta on top!

I love me some french fries!

The flight to Montevideo was overnight, and this time, I slept a little better, if not all the way through. I had never been to Uruguay (or Panama, for that matter) before, so I was up for anything, but over breakfast at 4:30 am in the airport, my parents decided to go on to Buenos Aires and stay put for the rest of our vacation rather than splitting our time between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. So we got on one more plane, a commuter flight across the Río Plata, went to an office where we arranged for an apartment, and here we are!

I love Buenos Aires. Everyone here, big and small, stops on the street to talk to me. I am really good at saying "hola" and "ciao" which makes me extra popular. There are playgrounds everywhere, which makes me so happy. We go to a different one every day - and in the park we went to yesterday, Parque Lezama, there was even a merry-go-round, which I had never ridden before, because I was too little, but this time I got to ride it, twice! The first time, I drove a red car, and the second time I rode a white horse that went up and down.

The merry-go-round

We also take several snack breaks each day ("snack" is one of my favorite words!) at one of the many cafés here. I love snack time, because I usually get a warm milk (or sometimes a chocolate milk) and a medialuna, which is a small, sweet croissant. I am in heaven!

One of our café stops: a medialuna and a decorating magazine...

...coffee...

...and caprese bruschetta!

Of course, it's winter here, so I don't have much use for my sandals (or as I like to call them, "scandals") or my shorts, but I had some long pants and a jacket and a sweater packed for Quito nights, so I'm doing okay. My parents bought me a green scarf, in which I am even cuter, if such a thing is possible. I demonstrate this fact by shrugging my shoulders and tucking my chin against my chest and saying "too cute!" which is cheesy but also cute. My mommy, however, didn't have any long pants, so we went to Recoleta for some shopping and got her outfitted for the weather, and I got two books - one with the ABCs and the other with various forms of transport - which I read while we wait for our meals.

Looking for the playground in Plaza San Martín...

...there it is!

Apparently, my parents have been here twice before, but they had never really gotten out of their favorite neighborhood of Palermo and Palermo Viejo, so I've been dragging them out of their comfort zone to explore new places (and new playgrounds!). In addition to Recoleta, I've taken them to Centro, La Boca, and San Telmo. Yesterday was the big street market in San Telmo, and we walked past all the booths and street performers, which were so interesting. I especially liked a 10-piece orchestra which included four accordion players and a man who made a marionette dance out of a suitcase.

The marionette show

Today, we're going back to Recoleta to see the famous cemetery there, and later we're going to the zoo! I'll tell you about it next time I get online. ¡Ciao!