Advertisement
Published: March 18th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Oh South America at last. The final leg of the journey. The last test of will. It has been pretty comfortable getting through Oz and NZ. Now back to the push. Back to being out of place, not speaking the language, being lost, being tired and testing ourselves when we are reaching travel burn out. The fun begins.
we arrived in BA after a 2 hour flight from the future. The flight made the day longer than normal and it took its toll on my sleep schedule. I was up when i needed to be down and down when i needed to be up. The thing that makes this more difficult is i am trying to kick energy drinks again and this is when they come in handy. Never the less, new place and new energy. i will survive cuz that's what i do.
our first few days in BA consisted of all the tourist must do´s. We strolled the town in search of the cemetery where Evita was put to rest. We we immediately overwhelmed by the sheer size and beauty of the cemetery. I know it sounds odd to say that it was beautiful but each burial site was
a huge monument the the person resting inside. i have never seen such amazing and extravagant graves. They were decorated with marble and stain glass. They were massive. They were impressive. We made our way around all the pockets of the city. From the city center to Palermo. We also took a tour of La Boca which was an amazing little niche. The poorest part of the city but the most colorful without a doubt. We also got to see the Boca Juniors stadium before it was consumed by the crowd. Boca is the local pro soccer team. I holds a special place for some of us soccer fans for many reasons. One it is where the great Diego Maradona played. He is held in great regard in Argentina. He is the reason Argentina won a world cup. It was an infamous goal that probably shouldn't have counted. Maradona received a cross in front of the goal that was just out of reach for his head so is hand came up in an effort to direct the day into the goal. And it did. ¨The Hand of God¨ is what the play was called. No hand ball was called and
the goal counted...and he solidified himself in Argentina history.
We made our way back to the hostel to get our free tango lessons. It was actually pretty fun. Yeah you might have to tango with a stranger but that never hurt anybody. I was lucky enough to pair up with a fun girl that had some skills so we had a blast as we portrayed the passionate dance steps. Ok really it was a good laugh but i must say we were damn good. After that we made out way out to a club/bar. It wasn't our scene but we did our best to part take in the Argentinian way of going out at about midnight and getting home when the sun comes up. It is a different schedule here...they don't even have dinner until about 10 and usually head out to party after 12 or even as late/early as 2am.
The next day we took a 20 hour plush high roller bus to Iguazu. It was by far the best bus i have ever been on and is a far cry from the buses we took in Cambodia. This was like a first class ride with full service. Wine,
champagne, dinner, breakfast, movies, coffee, tea and full reclining seats...you name it we had it. I honestly didn't want to get off the bus when we arrived. In Iguazu we stayed 2 nights. The big event was the Falls. They were massive. They were incredible. The amount of water that moves over these bad boys is frightening. We took a tour of the Argentinian side where we saw several beautiful falls. The lush green surrounding areas made for a stunning view. It was a good day.
After that we basically chilled out by the pool of the hostel and soaked in the sun. After the 2 nights there it was back to BA for us. Another sick bus for 20 hours. Other than the frequent stops for the cops to search for drugs and check passports it was another smooth ride.
Back in BA we had a few more tourist things to hammer out. We made our way to a street market that had all sorts of vendors and performers. It was in an older part of town called an Telmo. Cobblestone streets and historic buildings lined with people selling antiques and jewelry. it was pretty cool....too bad both cameras
were dead. After that was an actual Boca game. It was an incredible experience. We pack into the stadium that is bench seats only and you are jammed in worse then the left field pavilion at dodger stadium. We were shoulder to shoulder packed. you have to arrive a few hours before the game just to get in. So you wait for the main match while watching the younger Club teams play. That game was fun to watch. It ended with a few red cards and a game winning Penalty Kick for Boca. It was a good warm up to the real game. They Real game was Boca vs. Argentinos. It was the type of atmosphere where you don't sit the entire game. The crowd sings the whole way through and a band plays the beats to get the new chant started. It was incredible! The place was packed! you cant even go to the bathroom if need be. But oddly enough the don't sell booze. At least we didn't see any. We did however purchase some jerseys. They are fake but the were i our price range. Boca ended up winning 3-0 and it is a good thing because
that many angry people with that little of regulation could have been messy.
The following day we didn't do much. I have been starting to catch the bug that is going around so i tried to knock it out with some drugs and a good nap. At night we went out with some friends to get a steak dinner but all the place we went were fully booked so we had to settle for Delicious pizza. We booked reservations for the following night at the steak house. I spent the next day resting and trying to get rid of the cold that i had as well as awaiting the mouth watering dinner we had planned. We made our way over to dinner and were greeted by the friendly server and were the first party seated. We were served hoards of food. All of which i absolutely loved! This was a meal that i will never forget. We had dinner with a few Aussie girls that we had made friends with at the hostel. With the Oz trio and Team America, we were a party of six, so we decided to pair up and split a meal because we were told
the portions were outrageous. It was a good thing we did because even after splitting a meal with Mel we were absolutely stuffed. This was one of the best steaks i have ever tasted and everything else that came with it was amazing! All the sides were incredible down to the very last bite. This is what it is all about...good food, good wine, and good company. An excellent St. Patrick´s Day! Off to Uruguay!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.133s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0267s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Pam
non-member comment
Heading Home
ok now I feel like there might be an end in sight - a while off I know but back on this side of the world is good!!! Someday I will take you to Niagara Falls in the good old USA - pretty incredible too!! It sounds like the 3 of you are still friends after all this time -that's good after this much time together - good for all of you!! Enjoy South America honey!! Miss you, love you more!!