Buenos Aires (and Uruguay) ... Part II

Well ... my time in Buenos Aires has sadly come to an end and although my first two weeks were amazing, my time here has only got better and in the last few weeks I've been having such an great time that's it's tough to leave!! So ... a few things that I've been up to of late ...

A day trip to Uruguay
Dymutsja and I embarked on a day trip across the giant mouth of the river separating Argentina and Uruguay, to the city of Colonia. We went on the slow boat that took 3 hours, but it was sooooo comfortable and more like being in a hotel than on a boat and meant that we were able to catch up on a few hours of sleep before we arrived!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day as well. Not only was the weather absolutely divine but also it was a festival in Colonia that day and so we were treated to free museums and a festival in the city. We climbed the lighthouse for spectacular views over the coast, had a great lunch in the cute little colonial village, listened to the military band both playing instruments and firing their guns and were even treated to a drum parade where there was a little girl about 3 years old that had her own custom made tiny bongo and was banging along with the group!

Also in Uruguay, it is not uncommon to see the people walking around with a 1L flask or thermos of hot water and their little mate mug. ´Mate´is a kind of tea that EVERYONE drinks here and it seems to be just so addictive that it's impossible to leave the house without your mate leaves and a flask of hot water at the ready! All in all, this was a very chilled out day and it was nice to visit the neighbours across the river seeing they're so close.

Watching the football ... Argentina 2 v Chile 0
Well, I would have to say this would be one of the highlights of my time in Buenos Aires. Sitting in the crowd at the Riverplate football stadium with thousands and thousands of crazy Argentinian football fans watching their national team beat Chile two to nil, was pretty incredible. I went to the football with Mike and Dan, two guys I have been hanging out with a lot in Buenos Aires, and who have definitely made my time in the city so much fun.

We decided to head to the football stadium about 4 hours before the game started to ensure that we were actually able to buy (well really ´scalp´) tickets. Luck was on our side and we successfully purchased ´populares´tickets, these are to sit on cement benches in the very top part of the stadium where all the true fans sit ... they are not only the cheapest seats and but also those where usually the most trouble is with the fans. For this reason, they have put massive metal barricades at the front of the section to prevent people climbing down or throwing things over ... so it did sort of feel like we were in prison, but other than that, the feeling could only described as electric. The Chilean supporters were sitting right below us, so everyone was constantly screaming out insults to them, including a little 5 year old boy that was screaming "Hijo de puta" or ´son of a bitch´to the Chilean fans at every possible opportunity ...

If you're familiar with Argentina´s national colours, you can imagine that I was right at home ... I was definitely supporting the Argentinians as I was proudly wearing every blue item in my wardrobe, blue t-shirt, blue jumper, blue scarf, blue bag ... I was certainly supporting the right country! Every time Argentina scored the people went truly crazy, running down and jumping against the metal mesh barricade and screaming out ... I really can't descibe in words what the atmosphere was like and this is definitely something I would recommend to everyone visiting Argentina!

Hanging Out in Buenos Aires
I have been having so much fun enjoying the city that NEVER sleeps ... infact i think actually this city might just have beaten me as I'm not sure I had any more energy left for partying when the time came to leave! There are so many great things to do in Buenos Aires, and you can see the pics of what i've been up to ... here's just a few of the highlights:

• Cycling around the ecological reserve - One sunny afternoon Dan, Dymutsja and I hired bikes for a few hours and headed off around the ecological reserve close
  
  Lazing in the Japanese Gardens
  Relaxing in the Japanese Gardens on an amazingly sunny sunday in Buenos Aires!
  to Buenos Aires. It was so nice to cycle by the coast line and in a relatively unmanicured park, was the closest thing to getting out of the fast pace of a big city.
  
• Visiting the beautiful parks - Buenos Aires is definitely not short on ´green spaces´and it's been so nice since the weather warmed up to go and hang out in the parks on the weekends. Dymutsja and I also visited the quaint little japanese gardens one weekend which I would also recommend.
  
• Dancing samba in the streets in San Telmo - One afternoon we found a fantastic samba group playing drums and dancing along the streets in San Telmo, so Dymustja, Dan and I joined the crowd and danced for over an hour with the band until I was too tired to continue. It was definitely one of the most random things I've done here and certainly one of the most fun!
  
• Visting the Museum of Modern Art - Definitely a treat in Buenos Aires was going to the museum that has been hailed as being the best art museum in latin america, and not only that, but also have our personal guide (thanks
  
  Dancing in the streets of San Telmo
  Dymutsja and I dancing in the streets, of course we had to join in when we stumbled across this samba street parade of drummers and dancers making its way through San Telmo.
  Dan!) who is a modern art critic and was able to give us the background and jist of the pieces of art we viewed. My favourite you can see in the photos, below was a sculpture painting of a guy clinging to the edge of the metro.

Birthday Celebration (#2) in Buenos Aires
Well, I know I already had a grand 30th Birthday celebration in Australia when I was visiting, but I of course, had to have another (slightly early) birthday celebration and combined farewell on my last night in Buenos Aires. I had such a fun night and was truly sad to say good bye to all the great friends I've made here, especially Dymutsja, Milagros, Mike and Dan. What also made my night so great was that Pete flew into Buenos Aires that evening from Peru so he was also able to come to my party. I decided to have the party in a really local tango place, although I think I may have heard enough tango to last me a lifetime after spending 4 hours in that place!

Anyway, that sadly concludes my time in Buenos Aires, the city that I loved but that also thoroughly exhausted me!! Now Pete and I are heading off on two months of travel around Argentina and Chile, so my next blog will be coming to you from a new destination!

Hasta Luego, Tamara

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