There are some things I will never forget about my trip to South America. I will never forget the garage where we made 'asados' (barbecue). I will never forget how we sat beside the pool and hogged the barbecued succulent marinated meat and chicken with salads during that winter evening in May. I will never forget the apricot tree in the garden and the narrow streets leading to the sea. I will never forget the handyman who looked like Robert de Nero and talked to my niece in fluent Spanish about his love affair with a rich old lady. He later married her and drove by to show off his new Mercedes. But wait, I think this is getting a little confusing. Let me start from the beginning. When I heard about a trip to South America I thought of drug lords, gang wars, kidnappings and banana republics. But when I heard about Argentina I thought of Tango, I thought of Eva Peron… the glamorous wife of President Juan Domingo Perón, immortalised in Evita by Madonna and our own Sharon Prabhakar. I also thought of Victoria Ocampo, the muse of Rabindranath Tagore. When we reached Paris from Bombay it was 8 PM in the evening. The evening sun was bright and there was no sign of night fall. Such are the summers in Europe! We were to catch our flight to Argentina next evening. So we had one whole day to ourselves. We decided to take a quick tour of the ever romantic city of Paris, atop the red tourist buses. I had missed ‘Mona Lisa’ the last time. So this time my singular aim was to catch a glimpse of her. We finally landed in Louvre, the world famous museum which was home to the three great ladies —Venus de Milo, Victory of Samothrace, and Mona Lisa. But I was interested only in Mona Lisa and rushed through the corridors not paying much attention to the other works of art. When I finally arrived in front of the famous painting I was filled with a sense of anticlimax. It was such a nondescript, small painting with a huge crowd in front of it that I could only glance at it for just a moment. I was quickly pushed away by the crowd. I promised myself that next time I will not be swayed by publicity. I will try to act like a true connoisseur of art. We did our rounds of the usual tourist spots. We took the stairs to climb the Eiffel Tower and panted our way to the top. But it was worth the effort. The city below looked beautiful and I was reminded of the movie ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks meet for the first time atop the Eiffel Tower. On our way down we met some Punjabi hawkers selling cheap imitation shades. Soon the police arrived and they scurried away. Our bus crossed the Seine River and took us through the Royal Palace, the Paris opera, Arc de Triomphe on Champs Elysées, Galeries Lafayette, Notre Dame, Palais De Justice including Ste. Chapelle and the Conciergerie. When we finished the tour, it was time for us to move towards our final destination, Argentina. It took us thirteen hours by a non stop flight, to reach Buenos Aires from Paris. I had     heard about the recession in Argentina and was expecting an impoverished, beat up city. But I was surprised to see that this place could give Paris a run for its money. We passed by the cafés, the purple jacaranda flowers draped over the sidewalks, stylish and beautiful porteños (residents of Buenos Aires are also known as children of the port) walking purposefully past the newspaper stands and candy kiosks and handsome early-20th-century stone facades. On the way we stopped for a bite. We ordered delicious 'empanadas,’ which are made of a thin circular shaped dough patty over stuffing. Just about any food or combination can be made as a filling like meat, fish, vegetables, cheese, fruits and even the left-overs. For dessert we had ‘dulce de leche.’ This milky caramel syrup is the flavour of the city. We drank ‘Mate’ which is the typical Argentine infusion drink. It's made with yerba mate (a local herb) and boiling water, with or without sugar. Initially we had a bit of a problem because we did not know the local language ‘Castellano’, a dialect of Spanish. But finally we did get what we wanted. Early next day we set out, walking on the Plaza de Mayo where the very famous "Casa Rosada" president´s house (The pink house) is located - the scene of Evita´s famous balcony address to the crowds below. The Plaza de Mayo is the city center. Surrounding it is the Government House, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Cabildo (town hall). We also saw the giant obelisk on 9th of July Avenue (apparently the widest street in the world). Our next destination was the Sunday Flea Market in San Telmo and the Sunday antiques fair at the Plaza Dorego. We picked up some knick knacks and watched the street artists paint portraits. Next in our itinerary was the zoo. This 18 hectare zoo has more than 300 species of birds, mammals and reptiles. It provided us a very good opportunity to see native animals like: alpacas, guanacos and llamas. Perhaps the most colorful area in Buenos Aires is La Boca (the Mouth), which sits along the port. Here an assortment of brightly painted low houses made of wood and metal burst upon the eyes. The story is that, a lot of immigrants lived in the area in the late 1800s and worked in the meatpacking plants and warehouses. Apparently after they worked to   spruce up the shipping barges at the port, they took home the leftover paint and splashed it on the corrugated-metal siding of their own houses.The main street here is Caminito, where many artists set up stalls selling paintings or crafts and typical Italian cantinas. The other specialty of this area is its football team ‘Boca Juniors’ where the famous football star Diego Maradona started his career. As we walked down the road we saw a small crowd. A group of street musicians were playing soulful music and selling their CDs. Soon after, two women in purple dress and an older   man started to tango on the street. The atmosphere was electrifying. The music was foot tapping and the crowd stood mesmerised. The Tango was originally a dance of lonely sailors, craftsmen and working class people. It cannot be danced individually; the woman seduces and the man leads. He protects and supports her, while she elaborates and outlines the dance breaking balance and resting on his