Lost in Buenos Aires

Oh god, what a loooong day.

I finally touch down at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires at 13:30 this afternoon and get the taxi straight to Palermo Hollywood - the name of my über-cool new neighbourhood, don't you know. I had very jammily managed to find myself an amazing-looking flat here when I was back in England, through a friend of a friend. Jammy, I say, because it turns out the flat is even better than it looks in the pictures - two huge double bedrooms, two living rooms, a lovely bathroom with bathtub, a gorgeous kitchen full of all the amenities I could possibly ever require and, best of all, original wood flooring and super-high ceilings throughout. 

I love it.

The British landlord, who just happens to live in Spain, has arranged for his American neighbour to let me in and hand over the keys, which she does with utmost efficiency. (I had been slightly concerned that I would arrive here at 3pm and it would all be one terrible hoax and I'd be left homeless on the mean streets of Buenos Aires...) 

Anyway, no time for messing about. I spend a little time unpacking, have a Skype chat with The Irishman and send a couple of emails, and then of course it is time to go for a run. Lest we forget, I have a marathon to run on Sunday and I haven't been able to train for about five days with all the mayhem of packing and moving. My neighbour tells me there's a huge park called the Bosques de Palermo about 15 minutes' walk from the flat, so I set off walking that way at 6pm to try and go for my run before the sun sets.

Sadly, the ability to look at a map and memorise a few directions successfully has never been my forté. Arriving at the big main road that she told me to cross, I realise there are several options I can take. 

Cross and go right? 

Cross and go left? 

Cross and go straight on, as she has directed me, is not an option, as there is a big gated park in front, and I don't think that's the park she was talking about, for some reason...

Cross and go left it is then.

Wrong.

I end up getting completely lost around some back streets of Buenos Aires and, after asking several people where I can find the Bosques de Palermo, I'm met with responses ranging from "Oh, it can't be far, just walk five minutes that way" to "Oh, you're waaaaay far away from that, you'll have to get a taxi" to completely blank looks indicating "I really have no idea, and you appear to be foreign..."

About an hour later, I make it to the park, just as the sun is setting. There's a beautiful running track around a lake - this has to be where she meant. I run about 5 kilometres using my Garmin tracker and I'm pretty impressed I can even run in 30-degree-C heat with jetlag. Funnily enough, I manage to run quite well in the heat and I eventually find my way back to the flat, sweating and having really earned my first shower.

After all that adventure, it's time for bed. My first day at work tomorrow looms...