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Published: September 18th 2009
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Hostel
Here I am again in Buenos Aries. This time around I decide to stay at
America del Sur Hostel. It's a great place. It looks and feels like a hotel, but has all the warmth and fun of a hostel. The staff are amazing. They go out of their way to get to know all the guests. The hostel also offers Asado (Argentinian BBQ) every night. It just cost $50 Argentinian Pesos. The Asado includes all the meat and salad you can eat plus one large bottle of beer, wine, or soft drink. That's a lot of food, but well worth it. I will definitely stay here again if I'm ever in BA.
The City
Ray said that he would come stay at
America del Sur in two days. During that time, I explore the Art museum, the conservation park, and the city. The conservation park was a bit of a disappointment as there are no animals to be seen, but there are lots of people cycling and running through the park. Hmmmmmm, exercise. I really miss exercising.
After Ray checks in, we go walking around the city and end up at the Cemetery. This is my third visit to the
cemetery and this time I find Evita PerĂ³n's grave. It's not as impressive as I thought it would be, but I finally get to see it. Ray and I spend some time at the Cemetery before we move on.
Boca
I finally make it down to Boca with Ray. Don't get me wrong. I have been in the neighborhood to see a Boca Juniors match, but I didn't get a chance to explore the neighborhood.
We took a bus to Boca because all the locals tell us the neighborhood is too dangerous to walk into. After we arrive, the neighborhood doesn't seem dangerous at all, but that could be because of the police and tourist. I guess we could have taken a bike tour to get into the neighborhood, but the bike tour covers parts of the city we have already seen.
The tourist part of Boca is definitely geared towards tourist. Lots of Flamenco shows, bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops. It's not what I expected of the most dangerous neighborhood in BA.
In a few days, there will be a futball game in the Boca stadium between Boca Juniors and River Plate. For those
of you who don't know futball, there is a huge rivalry between the two clubs as both are from BA. Boca is in the poor neighborhood and River is from uptown. This match should be very exciting, but I'm not going as I've already seen one of Boca's games and it was quite boring for me. Also, the price of the tickets are double the normal price. Ray, on the other hand, is definitely going. How could he miss out on a game like this?
Clubbing
Clubbing...oh how I miss clubbing! Chris happens to be in town and we arrange to meet up for a night at
Pacha. I bring Ray and Gillian with me to Chris's hostel.
Chris's hostel is a little strange. It has five floors and each floor has it's own reception. We head to the third floor thinking that was the main reception only to discover that the floor is reserved for only Israels. After going to the first floor reception, we are sent to the fifth floor reception where we finally find Chris. He is already drinking Fernet with Coke. Looks like he wanted to start partying without us. Actually, the drinks at
Pacha are very expensive. It's probably better to get a few drinks into us before we go.
After a few drinks, we pile into a cab and head to
Pacha. The entrance fee is not cheap, even by North American standards. The drinks are also, very, very expensive. Entering the club there is a huge dance floor on the main floor and another one upstairs. There is a DJ's in each room of the building and a DJ outside the building. Holly Crap! Three DJ's playing three different types of music. That's nuts! The club is packed and it's only 2am. Hmmmmm....this is going to be a good night.
After a few drinks and some dancing, Chris and I head outside. Chris decides to relieve himself outside the building (still on the premises). I'm not sure why he just doesn't go to the toilet in the building, but oh well. I start talking to Ray and Gillian for a bit and when I turn around, Chris is gone. WTF? Where did he go? I search the club but can't find him anywhere. I'm wondering if he got thrown out. Nah, he must have hooked up with some other
people he met at the club. I continue partying with Gillian and Ray and eventually lose them in the club. Hmmmm....this is not good. I came with three people but now I've lost them all. I meet up with three Aussies I know from Floripa and head back to the hostel with them. It takes us about 30 minutes to flag down a taxi and I don't get home till 6:45am. So, I start the night with three friends and end up going home with three different friends. What a night!
I decide to stay up for breakfast as it's served at 8am and I know I will miss it if I go to bed. Gillian and Ray show up at the hostel 30 minutes after I arrive and head straight to bed. Another guest of the hostel is staying up for breakfast as well. After talking to the staff, we both help setup for breakfast so we can eat sooner and go to bed. Mmmmmm, cornflakes before bedtime. You got to love it!
I receive an email from Chris the next day saying that he was thrown out of the club for relieving himself on the premises.
He tried to plead his case but they wouldn't let him back in. He even tried to climb the fence, but security started calling the police, so, he had to leave. That really sucks! Oh well, what can you do?
Futball
It's the day of the big match and Ray is still asleep. Did I mention that the game was the morning after our big night at Pacha? Ray needs to be in the lobby of our hostel by 10:30am or he will miss the bus to the game. I try to wake him up, but he's dead to the world. I finally say the magic word: futball and he jumps out of bed. I've never seen a man possessed like that before. All that is coming out of his mouth is, "Futball, futball, futball, futball, etc." He's finally out the door and I can go back to sleep.
When I finally wake up, I realize that it's Sunday and a lot of the stores are closed. Hardly anyone is on the streets as everyone is either watching the match or listening to it. I decide to watch the match on TV and it's the strangest thing ever.
All you see is the crowd. You can hear the commentary and even the screams of GOAL, but you can't see the pitch at all. WTF? I guess none of the TV stations have the rights to air the match. It's the weirdest thing ever. Well, at least I got a chance to watch futball on TV.
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