I'd be lying if I said we didn't have a pretty rough start to our Argentina trip. And I'm not just talking about the Houston setback, I'm talking about our first few days in Buenos Aires.

Seriously, the weather in Argentina in December sucks

For one thing, and I know I've harped on this quite a bit, I was not prepared for the heat.

For someone who grew up lifeguarding in 100+ degree temperatures, I am extremely heat sensitive. (I think it's something that started happening after I moved to the coast.) I get dehydrated pretty quickly, and have to be really careful about heatstroke, so a few hours in the heat makes me pretty nauseous. The fact that you can't escape the heat here is demoralizing.

Real-life obligations got in the way of planning

For another thing, I was so busy with my new job and preparing for the holidays, I really didn't have a lot of time to plan. When it came to Buenos Aires, I sort of thought I'd "wing it" when I got here. It was not the best idea.

Grain of salt - - I am one of those people that likes to dive right into a place with a million fun things to do before I leave. If you like to wander, and aren't worried about "missing something," winging it is just fine. But I am too Type A for that (unfortunately.) Plus, I always think in the back of my head, "When am I ever going to be back here?"

That aside, I have had a great time "winging it" in Florence, Italy, Logrono, Spain, or Nice, France, and in Buenos Aires, it may have been fun to just stroll around some parts of the year, but the week between Christmas and New Years, when everything is dead, and it's WAY too hot to stroll, it's not so smart.

Even the best laid plans can fall apart

Obviously the first big snafu was Houston. But the resulting outcome of this delay was that we missed the ranch tour we booked (the one thing I couldn't stop talking about before we left). Especially with this weather, it would have been awesome to get out of the city, and get into a pool. I was also (and still am) firmly committed to the idea I would learn to ride a horse while in Argentina.

So, that was a disappointment, especially since there were no other dates to reserve. But what really broke my heart was when we tried to book a show at Teatro Colon, one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world, only to find out that the show was SWAN LAKE (a ballet I have ALWAYS wanted to see, and that I actually know one of the dances for) that there was no possible way we could buy tickets, and that Saturday was the last show at Teatro Colon until March.

Teatro Colon . . . . which we will not be seeing this time around.

What made this even worse was the realization that if I had only spent a little time researching this months ago, I would be fulfilling a childhood dream in the most beautiful theater in the world tonight. But I'm not.

(I realize that for people back at home, this probably all sounds whiny, but I am all too aware that these trips are rare opportunities. Who knows when/if I'll ever be back. So not making the most of the time is BRUTAL.)

Where the heck are we!

Another challenge we had in the first day was our lack of orientation/knowledge about Buenos Aires. When I travelled in Europe (and I had forgotten this since it's been so long since I went) I usually took some kind of hostel-run, walking tour the first day in any big city to help me get oriented. I started thinking that it would be a good idea to do this in Buenos Aires, so I booked La Parilla Tour. Which sounds amazing. The only problem was that I didn't realize we had to pay with paypal in order to get the location. So, an hour before the tour, we paid, and we never heard back from anyone about the location. We went down to San Telmo to see if we could find them, but it was a fruitless exercise in 90 degree heat (60% humidity.)

BA Free Tours saves my life

So, at this point in the day, I was pretty damn sad. Not to mention, Dan's gastritis has been acting up, so we can't even cope by going out drinking. As we walked down the streets, sweating (I was about 30 seconds from tears) we saw a young looking tour group with a perky, friendly-looking Porteña. We snuck over (as it's usually a major no-no to join a random tour) and saw her shirt said, "BA Free Tours."

Oh thank God.

We were catching the last 40 minutes of the tour, but in those 40 minutes I got some much-needed orientation, plus, learned Buenos Aires slang/hand gestures, got a run down on the safety/economics/politics of the area, and finally saw some beautiful parts of the city. We liked it so much we took the evening tour, which went through the old mansions of Buenos Aires. Plus, we got a recommendation for Milions--an AWESOME bar.

I just have to say, I really appreciate the friendliness and openness of Victoria--she was awesome. And for a free tour, it is extremely informative. (Of course we tipped!) They do a great job, so if you're in town, look them up!

Feeling much better now, especially after a fun night out. I still got no sleep, given that it is a million degrees, but we have solid plans for today, and have decided to return to Buenos Aires at the end of our trip, to catch up on some of the things we missed, so hopefully it's all working out for the best.

And here we are, looking a little bit happier. (Except for my hair is just . . . . not happening.)