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First morning in Buenos Aires. The hostel was actually fairly quiet and I think the staff a little surprised to see people up for breakfast!! Dried bread and croissants later headed on the metro to San Telmo area of Buenos Aires where we had been reliably informed by Mia and Kate in Brasil there was a great Sunday market.
San Telmo is not one of the safer places in Buenos Aires however we stuck to the market area and there were no issues. Bargain Hunt and Flog It fans may have been in their element however alot of the stalls were simply selling junk and no amount of South American charm would see us part with our cash! In the middle of the market however there was a small band and a couple of Tango dancers. They had laid out a small stage area (flat piece of wood) on the cobblestones and in traditional dress strutted their tango stuff! I am far from an expert on these things but what they lacked in technique they made up for in their efforts to bring a bit of traditional Buenos Aires to the tourists and maket stall holders. After about an hour wandering
The music man in San Telmo
This guy was really good and created a wonderful atmosphere at the market around the stalls we had to head back to the hostel for our 12 o¨clock pick up for La Boca 😊
At the hostel we met Alan, the infamous Irish guy who transpired to be a Liverpool fan, gutted that United had just clinched the title but convinced Liverpool were by far still the superior team!! Good humour intact though we waited and waited to be picked up for the match. 1.15pm the hostel informs us the bus is here...we clamber into the bus for a whistle stop tour of BA as they pick up various other would be BOCA fans ready for the game. Still no sign of ticlets we get let off the bus and told to follow our guide....who calls on his mobile and meets another guy from the petrol station. To say this was like a Ralph special (Barton¨s will know what I mean) ticket adventure is an understatement. We arrived at the ground at least 1.5 hours before kick off but spend until 5 minutes before kick off hanging around at various parts of the ground whilst, in Spanish, our guide handshakes, nods and chats to different people. When we finally get to the turnstiles,
still no tickets, the guide tells us, two at a time, and the steward uses his card to let 2 of us through with each scan!!!! Dodgy or what however, once we were in the stadium we couldn¨t quibble. The seats were close to the middle of the pitch just 25 ish rows from the front. The die hard Boca fans to our left with drums, trumpets, scarves, flas etc., sang and sang and sang. No word of a lie when I tell you they sang the entire game, only stopping at half-time to re-fuel and rest their voices. The atmosphere was brilliant and contagious. Brim and I found ourselves clapping and chanting Boca and of course jumping up wildly on both of Boca¨s goals! It was also hard not to just stare and watch the fans. A number of them spent most of the game not seeing the pitch as they stood up on the barriers looking back into the crowds singing away! The game round-up was Arsenal went ahead in the first half. The Boca fans, if possible, sung harder and Boca got an equaliser and then a second. The second half saw a few close chances and it should have been 3 or 4 however, final whistle 2-1 and happy fans leaving the ground. I did not take my camera to the game but Alan took a number of a pictures so when he is back in New York (running a bar in Manhattan!) I will email him and he will send me the piccies 😊 On final whistle I asked Brim what she thought and she liked it...I am not sure she is still wild about my insistence that I need to be in front of a TV on the 27th for the European Cup Final but I think she genuinely enjoyed the spectacle 😊
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