Buenos Aires: The Best City Yet!

It's hard to know where to start with Buenos Aires (BA), which is just a fantastic city! It's by far the most European city we have been to thus far in South America with architecture that wouldn't look out of place in London or Paris. The majority of people here are of Spanish or Italian descent and so for once we didn't stand out too much walking around, and were even mistaken for Argentines a couple of times! Of course, the second Ben put his shorts on that ended as no-one here seems to wear them, even when it's hot!

The other thing that takes some getting used to are the dining habits - restaurants are deserted until around 10 or 11pm, and are then packed until after 1am! Clubs, as well, don't even get going until the early hours and finish around 7am! We met lots of people in our hostel who had fallen into the routine of sleeping all day and partying all night. We did our fair share of partying, but managed to drag ourselves out of bed in the late morning to do some sightseeing.

We did quite alot in BA and so here are some of the highlights:

One of the main reasons we had come to BA now, rather than later, was that the 2 biggest teams in the city, and 2 of the biggest teams in South America, were playing - River Plate and Boca Juniors - in a match known as the El Superclassico. In the past we have been to games on our own, but the potential lack of tickets and hostel warnings of it being dangerous, meant that we decided to go with the hostel tour, along with 180 other backpackers! Unsurprisingly we probably ended up paying more than anyone else in the stadium for the worst seats - our view was obscured by the huge red River banners hanging down from above. We broke away from the main group, and after a short search managed to find some slightly better seats. Thankfully nothing could detract from the incredible atmosphere and the teams were greeted by an almighty noise and tonnes of ticker tape/ripped up newspaper when they finally arrived on the pitch. The Boca fans were massively outnumbered but more than held their own in the singing stakes. The game itself wasn't the best quality but we did see 2 sendings off, a saved penalty, and 2 goals. The game finished 1-1 and we then had to wait in the stadium for a while, as some of the Boca fans decided to rip up their seats and urinate on the River supporters below them - nice!

Staying with sport, but moving to the other side of the spectrum, we also went to see a polo match. The match was held in the suburbs of the city in a polo club called Hurlingham that could easily have been transported across the sea from England - there was even a cricket pitch on the grounds. The weather was splendid - perfect for polo darling - and we were provided with free rose wine to drink whilst wathcing the game and learning the rules. Thankfully, we did have a guide who told us what was happening, as well as providing information on some of the players - a number of whom were in the world top 10. It was a cracking afternoon and made a great contrast to the football, as we got to see how the wealthy Argentines spend their time!

Whilst in BA, we also had a wander around La Boca - rather touristy experience - 2 or 3 streets have been created by the Argentine tourist board that present a slightly idealistic view of BA life a few years back. The streets are full of restaurants, tango artistes, and even a Maradona look-a-like who you can pose with for a small fee. We also took a tour around the Boca Juniors stadium and museum - a little more interesting for Ben than Clare! Another place we visited was a charming area called Recoleta, where there is a large cemetary containing the bodies of many important Argentines including Evita - we accidentally queue jumped a group of French tourists to get a photo of her family grave to chorus of 'Zut alor!' We also went to a number of parks, the huge opening flower statue, and loads more - including the famous Obelisco that sits in the middle of 22 lanes of traffic that run through the centre of Buenos Aires - the road with the most lanes in the World that takes a while to cross! The shopping in BA is also quite special with endless malls, streets packed with shops, and a million sports stores selling Boca and River kits.

After 8 days, the longest we had spent anywhere, and with heavy hearts we left! Of course, our sadness to leave was tempered by the knowledge that we would be back for a few days at the end of November. Clare is already planning what she is going to dump to clear more room in her backpack for shopping purchases. We were also a little tired of the hostel - Millhouse - a massive hostel that is good for arranging tours but awful for sleeping in, as it is party, party, party! Their bar is a bit rubbish, the TV room is just a mezzanine in the bar and so is unusuable after a certain time and very smokey! Their sister hostel - Millhouse Avenue - seems a better choice!

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