I peaced out of work early on Friday and, with my friend Jessica, headed to the booming metropolis of Santiago for the weekend to museum-hop.

In true Jessica-and-Monique style, we also pretty much ate our way through the weekend as well, downing fruit salad from the fería, completos, lattés, alfajores and white wine during our 3-day stay. Our excuse is that this is our last week and Chile, so we´re going to eat as much Chilean food as possible before we return to the states... where I can bet money we won´t be able to find 3-completo-italianos-plus-two-drinks-for-$2 deals.

But back to museums. The first stop Saturday was Museo de Bellas Artes, situated in the indie-trendy Bellas Artes district of the city. I have to note the building itself was worth the 300peso (60 cents) entry, though the exhibits were less than captivating.

Next was the natural history museum, which was pretty much in the sketchiest part of the city. We got slightly past the point with the preserved 8-year-old (he was a tribal sacrifice or something that was locked up and froze to death... it was pretty gross and morbid)... and then we decided to get out of there. Luckily admission was free.

Then there was Yarur´s new Museo de la Moda, which opened in June, featuring vintage clothing from the 1700s to 1990s owned by this super-loaded Chilean family. I don´t think it was worth the $5 admission, nor walking in freezing cold rain for 20 minutes... but it was neat to see. And the New York Times raved about it in a full-page article.

After being thoroughly soaked to the bone by Mother Nature´s rain spell, we sought refuge in the apartment, where we ended up spooning by a space heater and watching episodes of Papi Ricky until we were warm enough (and our shoes dry enough... I was dumb enough to wear Converse) to buy completos. It was pretty cute.

Sunday required a trip to the artesan/book fería at la Plaza de Armas to buy chocolate, fruit salad and gifts for our friends and family. Then we booked it back to the apartment to watch the World Cup finals, bought completos at half-time, and made it home by 6.

During my freshman year at Annie Wright School in Ms. Hajduk´s second period geography class, our final project was to complete an extensive presentation about three countries in the world. The only country I remember choosing is Argentina (I think another was Indonesia because I liked saying "Jakarta", but don´t quote me on it).

Well almost six years ago now in that ancient secondary school overlooking the waterfront, I never actually expected to end up visitng Buenos Aires. But when there´s a $135 round-trip ticket offer on LAN Chile airlines, how could I possible refuse?

So my first week in Chile I booked a trip, and two weeks later I arrived in what very well be my favorite city in the world.

Landing at Ezeiza and driving into the city, particularly on a day with bad weather, can be really deceptive. Choosing a legitimate taxi, which is then driven by a sketchy (a better Chilean term would be "flaite") cab driver with the rat tail who reeks of cigarettes can really put off tourists. As can driving through what an Argentinian at our hostel told us was the "shantytown" of Buenos Aires before reaching the center of the city (all the while passing graffiti spelling out phrases in deep red paint like "bush=terrorista" and "liberación comunista").

It was not love at first sight.

My two gringa friends looked at me wide-eyed but speechless, all of us refraining to say anything in English lest the cab driver would attempt to rob us (theft is more common for tourists in cabs than on the streets in B.A.) or charge us more than $20.

But after arriving in our cozy hostel near the trendy Palermo district, my infatuation began.

A Brief List of Everything Amazing About Buenos Aires:

1. Gorgeous population:
So, prior to arriving in Argentina thought Sao Paolo was the reigning Most Attractive City in the World. Au contraire. I´m fairly certain Argentina is the hottest country in the world. During our two weeks in Chile prior to the trip my friends and I had been keeping a mental tally of the number of heart-stoppingly attractive Chilean men we had seen, and we were up to 8 (I know this sounds terribly shallow, but bear with me and keep reading). Well, after about five minutes of walking down the street in Palermo, Argentina had kicked Chile´s butt. I can´t even describe it... just an incredibly unfair gene pool I guess. And it helped that they were flawlessly dressed to the nines with their trendy Burberry scarves and skinny jeans and trench coats, trés Londres. I convinced myself that people-watching is an incredibly gratifying cultural experience.

2. Havanna Alfajores
Buenos Aires has Havanna coffee shops like Seattle has Starbucks: they´re everywhere. But what officially makes Havanna superior is the to-die-for chocolate and extensive selection of specialty coffee drinks. Namely alfajores. For those uninformed of this life-changing confection, it´s basically manjar (refer to entry "la comida chilena" for a description) sandwiched by light cookies and covered in meringue or chocolate. After trying them (and falling in love with them, obviously) they are available for purchase in Havanna stores AND duty free at the airport in boxes of 6, 12 and 24.

3. Parrillas:

Grills. I don´t even like steak that much, but unless you are vegan or vegetarian there is really no point in going and not indulging in their signature plata.

4. Cheap food:

I really can´t explain this any better than with a real-life example:

For our last night of our magical weekend in BA, my friends and I went to a really nice restaurant/tango house Café Tortoni. After seeing the show we decided to dine in the charming upstairs section. We had the best table service I think I´ve ever had in my life... our waiter, Alonso, was the nicest older Argentinian man ever and he TOTALLY brought us extra dessert.

Anyway, I was ridiculously hungry that night and figured to "splurge" on my last night in BA so I ordered a glass of hard cider, starter of cheese and olives, steak and the most expensive dessert on the list. My bill was less than US $15 and I was so full I could barely move when I left.

5. MALBA:

MALBA (I forget the name in it´s entirety) is one of many museums the city has to offer and has an impressive collection of works by national artists. Also, in the gift shop you can buy coasters shaped like cheese slices. I thought that was pretty cool. Whatever.

6. $30 cashmere sweaters on Calle Florida:

I really feel like this category is self-explanatory

7. La Boca:

It´s extremely touristy but I can´t help but love this little district in northwest BA. It´s one of the few places you can get a free decent tango show in the street, plus the artesanal feria and vividly-painted buildings are charming and great photo opportunities.

8. The really hot people:

For added emphasis I think this is worth adding twice.

9. The national pride:

White and sky blue everywhere. I don´t think I´ve ever met a group of people so proud of their country, but it´s pretty awesome to see.

10. Streets that are ten or twenty lanes across:

I bet you wish I were kidding. I do not recommend attempting to drive in Buenos Aires.

11. They totally appreciate Oasis and Coldplay more than most countries and it´s kind of cute:

While having lunch in San Telmo after the Sunday feria we heard an entire Coldplay greatest hits album. And every bar we went to played Oasis at some point during the evening.

12. Cheap yerba maté:

I don´t think I can ever move myself to buy a $4 box of yerba maté at Marlene´s after buying a 100-pack for under a dollar. But since it appears I have enough to last me a year now, I won´t have to worry about that for awhile.

There´s a lot more things to say about Buenos Aires, but my hand is aching so I figured I would take a little break. Stay posted for a "the day i became enamored with buenos aires: part deux" entry.