Five days in Buenos Aires

We´d been looking forward to Buenos Aires since we first arrived in Argentina. We got the fast boat over from Uruguay and despite Lil still feeling a little fragile we were ready for some big city adventure. Buenos Aires is of course the capital city and is home to a third of Argentinas population of 39 million which shows how sparsely populated the rest of the country is.

Our hostel was right in the heart of Downtown amongst the theatres and the opera house, their version of London´s West End. The streets were alive 24/7 which was exactly what we wanted.

After checking in we went out to explore the sights of Downtown; Evita´s balcony, Plaza del Mayo and yet another Cathedral. The archetecture was much more impressive than that of Uruguays capital. We'd read many times that Buenos Aires feels very European in terms of architecture and lifestyle and we could see why with a popular cafe culture, wide roads and the Baroque style buildings. Walking the streets that night was an experience, packed with street vendors, musicians and artists selling everything from rasta´s dreadlocks - a lovely addition to anyones mantlepiece, to art work painted by an armless man with a brush between his toes. This went on until the early hours every night.

We were very excited the next morning as we´d planned on being in Buenos Aires over a Sunday so we could visit the weekly antique and vintage fair in a historical part of the city called San Telmo. Its pedestrianised cobbled streets and main square were rammed with hundreds of stalls selling gorgeous vintage trinkets and treasures; pocket watches, clothes, books, jewellery, coins, original vinyl records (we even stumbled across the Labyrinth soundtrack) and much more. As well as the stalls the streets were lined with entertainers of every kind, puppeteers, amazing guitarists, human statues, even a crazy tap dancing old lady hitting bits of junk with sticks and of course there was the tango dancers. Tango was born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and they are very passionate about it, around every corner you can find someone either dancing or playing the Tango.

The followoing day we decided to head to a neighbourhood called Palermo for two reasons. Firstly to check out the zoo and secondly to scope out the area for bars and clubs as it is famous for its nightlife and we were planning to fit in a big night out. The bars and clubs in Buenos Aires dont get going until about 2am and people stay out until 9/10am in the morning, most are open 24 hours to cater for this hedonistic lifestyle and this is every single day without exception. This proved to be a pointless exercise as we were now both suffering from dodgy stomachs so never ventured to this area for a party. It was doubly pointless as the zoo was closed. However we (Luke) were overcome with joy to see a lovely/mental lady with shopping bags full of cat biscuits feeding several stray cats through the zoo fence. She looked slightly sheepish as we walked past, as though she was aware how bizarre her actions were but little did she know that Luke had already heralded her a national hero and potential future wife. Lil was equally pleased to have spotted a professional dog walker, walking thirteen large dogs, dispite all being bundled together they appeared to be having a great day out. Not a wasted journey after all.

On our third day in Buenos Aires we went to La Recoleta, the affluent neighbourhood, to visit the famous cemetary where Argentinas elite are laid to rest. A very morbid tourist attraction but at the same time an interesting place to wander around. The tombs are huge and some are very glamorous, many have the coffins clearly on show and in the family tombs there are spaces for the next member to kick the bucket which is creepy and wrong. Its most famous interree is Eva Peron, Evita whose tomb is always surrounded by tourists and garnished with fresh flowers. The graveyard is also home to countless cats who live amongst the graves, perhaps reincarnations of the deceased... or maybe they just like the peace.

We treated ourselves to a shower that evening and got glammed up ready for La Ventana, the most famous tango show in the world. The venue was amazing, decked out with beautiful vintage furniture, stain glass ceiling and its underground location created the perfect atmosphere. We were starting to feel a bit better so were able to enjoy the delicious three course steak dinner and wine. The show itself was brilliant with not only tango dancers but indigenous musicians and a man doing some insane stick spinning act. All the music that accompanied the tango dancing was played live and we really felt like we'd gone back in time to an original tango club.

It was the perfect end to our stay in Buenos Aires, an addictive and electric city.

Next stop Cordoba.

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