Most of the evening, I flirted with Pilar, who was very open to my attention, and as the wine flowed, and the excellent food kept coming, I found her more and more enchanting.

"Tell me more about Buenos Aires," she begged, while offering me a taste of the mysterious food on her plate.

"The downtown is incredible. Avenida 9 de Julio is a full block wide, it must have 20 lanes. Of course the oldest buildings there would seem brand new in your beautiful city."

"They say it is very beautiful, very Spanish."

"In some ways it is. It is many cities, rolled in one. La Boca, downtown, is like...