Six months in Rome

Six months in Rome was enough time to say conclusively that I won't eat pasta for the next six. I am now super content to be back in Capital Federal dieting on empanadas, milanesas and asado. Though I do miss my 80 euro cent morning shot of coffee now that the equivalent café in Buenos Aires is going for almost double that price. A more detailed moan about current Argentine inflation will follow....

My first three weeks back in Argentina were bitterly cold ones spent in the countryside two hours outside of the city. 'But you're English, you must be used to it,' my Argentine hosts joked as I shivered beneath five layers of clothing and four blankets. During an English winter it is generally warmer indoors I told them as the damp bare-brick walls let out soaking cold air, penetrating my centrally heated bones.

But now I am comfortably installed in a cosy little eighth floor flat in the very centre of town, back blogging and newly twittered up. Six months away from Buenos Aires was tough going and it feels great to be back on the city's streets......Though I must say that the time spent in Italy was incredibly valuable. After all, if you really want to understand Argentine culture, the food, the way people speak, the hand gestures; you have to get to Italy to see where it all came from.