Day One

My first day in Buenos Aires was perfect from start to finish. As we landed, the whole plane burst into applause. I found that strangely touching. We arrived on time; it took a couple of minutes to get through Immigration; my suitcases were on the conveyor belt within ten, intact; Aldo Escobar, taxi driver extraordinaire, was there to greet me and to my amazement kissed me on both cheeks. They don't do that in England, taxi drivers, do they? He kept calling me Nathnaynay and I let him. He'd heard I was here for tango, so he talked about La Boca and San Telmo, advised me to go to the Feria de Mataderos on Sundays, reckoned I should go to the area surrounding Abasto to buy tango things. He showed me the road separating Greater Buenos Aires from the capital, he pointed out a cable factory and I found out that San Casetano is the patron saint of work. I might just download a picture of him for the wall paper on my desktop.

Lili was waiting for me in her bijou flat in Palermo Hollywood. I'd never met her before - she is the friend of a friend of a friend – and yet, it was just like meeting an old school friend. Her spare room is an elegant shoe box, so I said to her that it would make more sense to find somewhere to live on day one itself. She made me lunch and spent most of the day poring over the websites of letting agents with me and making calls on my behalf. We found something pretty soon and went to see it later on, but not before seeing her Podiatrist, a lovely guy, who also kissed me on both cheeks. You don't get that on Camden's Podiatry service – they asked me to fill out a questionnaire, just before I left, and I didn't think to mention that their Podiatrists were failing to kiss me.

My new home is a penthouse flat with a large sun terrace, on the 9th floor in salubrious Recoleta, the Kensington of Buenos Aires. When we went to check it out, I was very impressed with the posh entrance and the rather attractive concierge, but when I entered the crimson living room, with it's elegant drapes, the kind you see in stately homes, I knew I had landed on my feet. I chose the room with the better shower, rather than the one with the jacuzzi. I can always be friends with my flatmates and what's to stop us sharing? The landlady lives in and is a total sweetheart. I emerged from my shower the following day to find a note slipped under my door, saying “Breakfast is free – please join me.” She has expressed an interest in showing me round and she and I are going to go out together and see the sights. She, my Brazilian flatmate and I speak to each other in Spanish, as it is the language we have in common. If anyone knows anyone who is coming out to Buenos Aires and needs somewhere to live, there are about to be two spare rooms here.

Lili and I went out to dinner and I had my first succulent Argentinian steak. Pure blissikins! We then went on to a dance class and milonga at Canning, Palermo. Canning is very reserved, very bourgeois and only traditional tangos are played and the milonguero style is the order of the day. Lili thought my top was a bit risqué, but I wore it anyway. She introduced me to all her friends and she had many. Some fifteen men asked me to dance. I was in tango heaven.