Buenos Aires....

Hola a todas!!
Well, we arrived on Fri 02 to 30 degrees… apart from my ruck-sack coming apart at Victoria station (Gatwick express) before we left, the rest of the journey was fine. Jurgen´s premonition of having to carry my ruck-sack actually did come true but I was surprised at such an early stage….. it´s hopefully being fixed - soon find out on thurs!! I told Jurgen that I didn´t need to take all of my creams but he did insist J

Before we go on, we just have to say how fabulous Buenos Aires is. It´s our 12th day now and although it´s pouring with rain, BA just seems to draw you in more and more!! The food is excellent and wine and beer (Quilmes - local beer) is dirt cheap. Every street hosts a bar so you can´t help having a very late night and a fuzzy head in the morning!!!

So what have we been up to? BA is split into different barrios, San Telmo, La Boca, Palermo, Recoleta, Costena Sur (the Docks) are the most recognised. We´re staying in San Telmo - the birthplace of Tango with cobbled streets and colonial buildings (apparently, during ther British invasion in 1806, the women of San Telmo would pour buckets of boling water ovwer the soldiers´ heads from their apartment balconies helping defeat British invadors). This place is electric and by far, my favourite barrio. It´s full of cafes, antique shops and quaint art galleries. Plaza Dorrego (up the road from us) is buzzing on a sunny day with live tango performances and street artists surrounded by jewellery and antique stalls. For me, the market on a sunday is the most impressive. It seems as though anyone who owns an instrument and plays it well get together to perform on the streets either in groups or solo - it´s totally atmospheric and addictive. You stroll along for about 1km being enertained along the way. People just get carried away, losing their inhibitions and dancing in the street (even Jurgen couldn´t help shaking his hips!!!). You can pick up anything from antiques to quirky tango portraits and handicrafts. Also, the locals come out trying to sell whatever they can find in their atic (bit like a car boot sale…).
You can eat the best parillas (meat cooked over a wood fire) around here too ranging from the local rowdy joint where a perfect parilla is priced at around 25 pesos (4 GBP)!!! to a tango plus show which is a bit more expensive but still all very relative….. Adam and Solange have been fab hosts and took us to one of the best Tango shows at Bar Sur - a very intimate little place probably seating around 20 people max. You´re so close to the dancers that you can´t help but feel the passion (and sweat) … sounds a bit cheesy but it´s true!

Anyway, enough about San Telmo. The neat plazas and parks are also very much worth a visit especially San Martin, Plaza Holanda and Plaza Francia. They´re all so very well kept and clean full of tourists of course but also locals taking a breather from work and people. I must say, the locals are quite explicit in showing their affection for one another in public so you´re never far from a snogging couple in the park!!
Plaza San Martin is named after Jose de San Martin who liberated Buenos Aires in 1816. At the North end of the park there´s a memorial to those who died in the Falklands/Malvinas war (1982) - still guarded by 2 guards and whilst we were chiling one afternoon, we witnessed people grieving their loved ones….

Plaza de Mayo is the heart of the city where the Government house stands in which Evita used to make her famous speeches to thousands of people from the balcony. It´s surrounded by a stunning park which is full of tourists, pidgeons and small stands selling the national drink of Argenina - mate. Yerba mate is dried leaves (hot water added) to a hollow gourd made from wood. The mate water is sucked out by a bombilla (metal filter straw). Edited by Jurgen: Water should be 80 degrees, for those of you who want to give it a go at home.

A short walk from here is the famous Avenido 9 de Julio - one of the widest avenues in the worled (apparently). Well, from where I was standing, it looked like it. My goodness, if you want to stay alive use the pedestrian crossing because once the green light is on, they´re off!!! The famous Obelisk (the one you see on all pictures of Buenos Aires) also stands here. When you´re looking down this avenue, it does have quite a presence (espaecially when it´s surrounded by about 24 lanes of traffice). The Obelisk was built in the spot that the Argentine flag was raised for the first time…..

Recoleta Cemetery (Recoleta) - it sounds morbid to visit a cemetery but it´s quite impressive. It looks more like communal churches than tombs, because each one has it´s own architect, some reaching 2 metres tall. Along with inportant figureheads of Aregentina such as politicians, priests, military men, leaders, poets and writers, Evita´s tomb lies there. Obviously surrounded by tourists and very well kept, inscribed on there are quotes from some of her famous speeches and “don´t cry for me Argentina” is not one of them! (that´s for the film…!). I must admit, we didn´t stay there for long because it did become a bit claustrophobic after a while and with the big fat cats roaming around (I´m not a great lover lover of cats), I wanted out…

Puerto Madero (Docks and Costanero Sur) is a strip of 19th century warehouses renovated to restaurants and bars. Come here if you want to get away from the smog and pollution from the main streets. It´s a mini - mini Canary Wharf surrounded by big companies and banks so at lunch time and after work, it´s heaving with business people. As our apartment isn´t too far from the port, we often take a stroll along the promenade.

The Subte (underground) is efficient and easy to use costing just over 10p (70 centavos) for a single trip!!
BA has definitely raised our expectations and we´ll be sad to leave on fri 16th. We´ve walked for miles and only been in a couple of museums because we´d rather sit in the plazas eating and drinking and doing a bit of people watching - it´s great! We´ve still got 3 more days left so I´m dragging Jurgen to a tango class - I´ve seen him watching the moves with great intense and I know that he can´t wait to try it. He owes me after going to La Boca game……

We´re going to Uraguay (Colonia and Montevideo) for a few days, then back to BA before going up to the Iguazu Falls so we´ll check in again in a couple of weeks….

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