Don't Cry For Me Argentina

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Wow, wow, wow. What a fab place BA is! It is busy and bustling, constantly noisy, full of life and intrugue. It is a really big city comparable with London or Paris, but with a Latin twist.

After getting off the catamaran from Colonia we managed to get a taxi from the port to the Hotel even though we didn't have any pesos and had to pay in dollars, which probably cost more than it should. The Hotel Bolivar was situated in San Telmo, which is a suburb about 20mins walk from the centre. It is full of narrow cobbled streets and tall old buildings, beautiful and fascinating, but mostly in need of repair, the roads are busy with cars, buses, and road works. The pavements are cracked and broken glass and dog poo are daily hazards, but somehow it is still a lovely area. It is known as the 'artist district', is certainly 'trendy' and is home to the major tango schools and antique shops. The main area is the 'Plaza Dorrego', where bars and restaurants spill out onto the streets and impromptu tango shows and musicians perform. BA has an air of snobbery about it, fashion is important, but sadly it also has the otherside of the spectrum and at night the street corners fill with families of homeless people who raid the garbage bins looking for cans and bottles. It's an acquired taste I guess.

After a quick look at the first room we were offered in the Hotel we asked to see another, as it resembled a prison cell and was out on its own at the top of the building. Eventually, Hotel Bolivar grew on us. At first, although it was a beautiful building, we thought it looked shabby and unkempt, but it was undergoing rennovation. At the rate of one, or maybe two elderly workmen a day, between 'mate' drinking, cigarette smoking, and the slowest painting ever, it might be finished in 2015. The second room was much better, although it didn't have a window, (a bonus in a city as noisy as BA) it had more character and opened out into the courtyard. The host, Romero, was also a great help in acquiring us some Boca Junior tickets.

We spent our first afternoon sight seeing, heading straight for the Plaza de Mayor, which was surrounded by huge boulevards and stunning buildings, and the famous Casa Rosada....think Eva Peron and the famous balcony from which she did speeches..... or maybe think Madonna in Evita....Then onto the widest avenue in the world, the '9 de Julio', the centre piece being a huge obelisk, surrounded by 10 lanes of traffic on either side of the road, and there was A LOT of traffic. We had to slow down and have a coffee and take in the enormity of it all, a great place for people watching.

Argentina is famous for its beef, it rivals Uruguay, and is perhaps not the best culinary place for vegetarians. Although the second most favourite food after giant steaks seemed to be pizza! So that night armed with the recommendations of the LP for the best 'parrilladas' in San Telmo we went exploring. It was 8.30 after all, we were hungry, but the restaurants were empty.....the BBQs were just getting fired up, no one was eating yet. So being a friday night we went to explore further. The Plaza Dorrego was heaving, kind of like Mill Lane in the summer only with some class and charm. So we joined them for a 'jarra' of 'choppe', which is a jug of beer to you and me. The restuarants start to fill up at about 11pm. So we managed to get a table in the one of our choice which was lucky because 10mins later people were queueing.

Now ordering steak is not as simple as you would think. You can pretty much eat any bit of the cow. Most people are seduced by the offeres of a 'parrilla para dos', which is a mixed grill, but it does not consist of chicken, pork, sausages, no... It consists of all the bits we feed our dogs at home.....morcilla (black pudding), rinon (kidney), corazon (heart), chincharrion (chitlings.....yes small intestine!!!) as well as asado de tira, which is beef rib and is actually pretty delicious. Anyway that aside, being probably the most popular choice by the locals, we went for the more familiar lomo (fillet) and bife de chorizo (sirloin). When you order, they ask you how you would like your lomo cooked, but the choice is only rare or medium, rare recommended, and no choice is given for sirloin, it is cooked pink, how they tell you to eat it. Well done is sacriligious, how it should be (sorry jack). Steak eating even has an air of snobbery to it. It never comes with side orders, unless you order them, and most people don't, they just eat meat and bread, with chumchurri salsa (olives, tomato, chilli, garlic, yum). I'm not sure they know about 5 a day or bowel cancer risk! Besides the steaks are huge and it takes ages to get through them, but they are really very delicious and far better than anything we ever get in the UK. And obviously much cheaper. It was the only sensible thing to eat while we were there, and I think we did most nights. Once or twice we went for the smaller option of 'choripan' (chorizo sausage sandwich) and salad, 'para llegar' (to go), and you could actually take away steaks!!!

After dinner we decided to embrace the BA all night culture, as when we would ever get the chance to visit again? We went to a few bars and ended up in a place with live music, jazz, which was nice, but a bit weird hearing traditional songs sung in spanish. After that we went to the club next door which also had live music, which turned out to be a tribute band to a famous Argentinian rock band. After tango, rock is apparently one of the most popular types of music. Let me tell you now, Spanish rock is awful, truly awful. But we stayed for a short while. Disturbungly, there were children in the nightclub, probably about 5 or 6 years old, while the parents were drinking and watching the band, it was gone 3am, nobody seemed concerned in the slightest!

The next day brought another scorcher. The city was very hot, with all the tall buildings reflecting the heat and keeping any breezes away. With our windowless room and late night, it was afternoon when we finally got up. So we took it a bit easier on saturday and wandered through the hight street and down to the city park at the other side of the city centre. Amazingly the busy streets from the day before were now deserted. It was almost eerie, there was some shoppers around the main pedestrian street but that was it, most people must stay at home with the family on a saturday....maybe, I don't know.

It was here that we spotted the unfortunate lady in photo 118, with either the most boring job in the world or the worst sex shop ever.....

In the evening we headed across town and passed through crowds that were gathering around the Plaza de Mayor, we thought we would fulfil our curiosty and take a peek at what was going on. It was a very civilised affair, almost sombre, there was a military band on a stage playing songs and people were dressed smartly. Then we saw some banners and posters and the penny dropped. It was a tribute to the soilders from the Faulklands War. It was at this point that we felt it was inappropriate for us to be gawping and taking photos, so we paid our respects and left and headed for a tango show. The steak restaurants put on a free show to entice you in to eat there. We heard that they were generally very good and this was no exception. We had the best seats in the house, they danced right in front of us, and it was amazing, never mind that 'Strictly Come Dancing ' rubbish!

Sunday was a big day, it was even hotter than the day before, which felt a little strange just a week before Christmas, we had tickets for Boca Juniors. Now I am not much of a football fan, but this is big apparently. One of Stu's 'must dos' on the RTW trip, was to go to a football match while in S. America, as they are known to be the most passionest fans in the world. It was the end of the season and the decider match in the league, and Boca were tipped to win, tickets were difficult to get hold of, but we had managed thanks to Romero. We were picked up in a bus and taken to the stadium which was situated in La Boca, one of the poorer neighbourhoods of BA. They have an alcohol ban within 5 blocks, creating a remarkably civilised atmosphere. It was hot and crowded, and the singing and clapping was loud. After standing in the queue and passing through 2 check points and vague searches we were in the stands, which were packed with local fans. The atmosphere was electric, with singing constantly, fireworks, flags, displays and all the passion and craziness you imagine from the Argentinians. We were kept hydrated by a supply of ice lollies and warm flat cokes. Maradonna was in his box and made a momentary appearance at half time. With Boca dominating the first half with 3 goals, but conceding 2 in the second half, it was still an easy win, and the celebrations went on. The fans were crazy, impailing themselves on the barbed wire fencing in an effort to get the best views. The only thing I will mention is that we were very, very hot, and it was difficult to move, especially with a large sweaty hairy Argentinian belly being pressed again my head and back throughout the match, oh and it stank of urine, and we were wading through pee on the steps on the way out, that was when the opposition had stopped throwing piss over the balconies landing on us. Oh the joy of football!!!!

That evening we went out again for a celebratory bevvie and hooked up with a random group of travellers we met in the Plaza, 1 Brazilian, 2 Brits, 1 Aussie and 2 French guys, it made for a real fun and crazy night, and was another late one. As a result we took monday very easy, just strolling the streets and visiting the parks of Palermo. We saw the famous Argentinian Polo grounds and the horses being groomed.

By tuesday we felt we better get back on the sight seeing buzz, and headed to Recoleta which is an upmarket suburb known for its professional dog walkers (check out the photos, I counted 15 dogs to one walker, if they have a digestive system anything like wendy's then theywill need a lot of carrier bags for that lot!) and its cemetry. Now this cemetry is more of a tourist attraction than you could imagine. Only the very rich and elite of BA are buried here. It is a walled enclosure containing the most exclusive and dramatic sarcophagi you could imagine, and they are laid out in streets and avenues, it has to be seen to be believed, death is an expensive and serious business. Whole generations of coffins are placed in each tomb. The most famous of which of course belongs to the Peron family, Evita's grave is not the most spectacular in the place but the one most easily spotted by all the crowds of tourists outside taking photos. So we joined tham.

The next day we had to make some arrangements for our trip back to Uruguay and had some thoughts on where we would spend Crimbo. So we said farewell to B.A. and had our last steak and cheap 'vino de casa', packed up ourstuff and gave our ears and lungs a break from the noise and pollution and took the catamaran back to Colonia in Uruguay the following day. Two more uneventful bus journeys and we arrived in óur destination for the next few days, Punto del Este, the Uruguayian Costa del Sol.

Happy 30th Lisa for the 16th...........

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