Moving in

We moved into our apartment 2 weeks after we arrived which was pretty quick by all accounts. You can rent a furnished apartment but tend to pay 'tourist' prices. There is a common practice here of 2 tier pricing with a minimum of double for tourists for various things e.g. airfares within Argentina, apartment rentals and pricey restaurants in the tourist areas. There is a constant theme of 'beware' for everybody (incl locals) from everything to counting your change in a shop to taxi rides doing circles (b.t.w. always use a 'Radio Taxi' as some of the non descript taxis take you for everything you've got incl wallet, camera, watch etc!) .
Our apartment was thru an agent where it was necessary to have someone who owns property to sign as guarantee in case you default on the rent so that lucky honour went to Claudia's sister Gabriela. Monthly rental for a 2 bedroom flat is 15% of what we paid for a one bedroom flat in London. The area is Caballito which is smack in the middle of the city (Capital Federal is the name given to the central area of the province of Buenos Aires). Caballito reminds me a little of Manhattan, NY for convenience factor with almost everything you need within a few blocks e.g. laundry, hardware, cinema, supermarket, 24 hour kiosk, excellent patisserie/fresh pasta / deli / restaurants. Notice I don't mention bars as I'll have to cover the nightlife in a separate post.