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Published: October 11th 2006
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Aaaaah, Beautiful Buenos Aires. Throughout our trip we have been led to believe that BA is the holy grail, a place where you can flush your paper down the loo, drink the tap water and eat the best steak in the world. It did not disappoint (we didn't try the tap water though). After a 9 hour overnight bus journey (only semi cama this time - booo!) with the most obnoxious Israeli people ever - they seemed to think they owned the bus and kept shouting down the length of it at 2 am. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! - we arrived in BA. After paying for our taxi in the bus station in order to avoid being ripped off we discovered how short a distance it was to our hotel - we bought the most expensive taxi journey in South America I think! The hostel was very nice when we first arrived. Very quiet which we assumed was because it was 7am. A couple of days later when we had met only one other person there we realised that we had chosen badly. We were in the centre which meant we could walk most places but the total lack of atmosphere in the hostel
was a bit of a let down - there was no-one to go out with, no new people to meet, it sucked basically. So we tried to move about 3 times and each time we found out that every other hostel in town was full. Eventually we did meet a couple of people there. First there was George, a Greek fellow who had lived in London for 10 years. Then we met crazy Andreas, a Brazilian who seemed to be pissed almost all the time (except Sunday morning when he shuffled off to mass) then there was Lucas and friend, another 2 Brazilians who spoke English very well but didn't understand Spanish (unusual we thought) and finally there was Oscar, a Peruvian who lived in the US translating for various
people including Arnold Shwarzenegger (!) - he was also a complete perv. We spent a couple of nights after our Argentinian time dinners and drinks in the hostel bar with some of them.
We met with Sinead - our Saltan pal aswell and had a very nice Thai meal. On the way to the restaurant Mike was offered sex or stripper by some bloke who promptly apologised when I arrived
behind Mike and then offered both of us some drugs.
Buenos Aires is an incredible place. In the middle of town is a 12 lane highway with a massive obelisc plonked in the middle. It is very impressive! The city itself is divided up into various barrios - Palermo, San Telmo, La Boca and Centro seem to be the main ones. We visited every region at some point (mostly in our last week!) and each had a different charm. San Telmo has a lovely market on a Sunday with lots of Tango dancers in the street and beautiful jewellery and antiques for sale. Palermo has some amazing parks. We visited the Japanese Gardens and the Botanical ones. The Japanese Gardens have the biggest coy I have ever seen. They are very tame too - primarily because they are so greedy and people usually means food - Mike was able to put his hand in and tickle one. Palermo also has lots of boutiquey type shops and restaurants. La Boca was actually quite scary. We caught a cab there and drove through some very derelict looking areas. Near the docks is a small section where all the houses are brightly
painted and have big papier mache models of famous figures stationed on the balconies. It seems very strange to see this bright little corner amongst all the poverty nearby. The final barrio is La Recoleta. It is a huge cemetery and church in which all of Argentinas lumineries are buried in some of the most grandiose crypts I have ever seen. Some people had a whole pantheon built on their plot, others just humble lifesize statues! Whilst I knew we were going to a graveyard when we visited I hadn't actually expected to see any coffins but they were visible everywhere. It was very disconcerting. We got to see the crypt of Eva Peron though. It is obviously a very popular sight as there are flowers all over it.
After a few days Becky and Tim arrived. We had moved hostels by this point and were now staying right near the Obelisco and near the main bar, restaurant and shopping area in the centre. We went out for a couple fo drinks the first night they arrived and on the second night met up with some people they had been at the Pantanal with. Steve, Steve and Katy were
good fun and up for a great laugh. After an amazing mexican meal with some of the biggest Margaritas and Gin and Tonics I have ever seen Steve 1 was a little worse for wear and spent the rest of the night nodding off and then trying to join conversations mid way through with no idea what they were about. It was very amusing. The next day I woke up with a bit of a sore throat but we had a lovely day mulling around and then having dinner with T&B in a place called DaDa. We had been here once already and the crazy red headed waitress remembered us. She was very lovely and the steak and Maracuya (passionfruit cocktails) were excellent. The waitress did go a bit strange in the end and when Bek and Tim went back with Steve and Steve (Katy had left at that point) she started asking after me and swearing at everyone!
The next day my throat was even worse. I ended up in the Hospital Britanico (based purely on the advice of our hostel who thought they were more likely to speak English there) in the emergency room. As I hadn't
Birthday Bek and me 2
She was very worried about me! had a temperature I felt a bit like I was overreacting and it was a virus noone could do anything about. When the doctor looked at my throat though his first words were "Oh my God". Not a good sign. The next were "Do you want to see?" to Mike. Mike shook his head grimly "I've already seen it". Horribly the Doc then took a swab from the back of my throat which hurt like hell and then said I had to have an injection to take the swelling down immediately. A nurse came in shortly after and I started to roll up my sleeve. He shook his head and indicated that my arse was the area he was after. "Seriously" said Mike, the guy laughed "phew" I thought. We all had a chuckle and then he indicated again. Oh we laughed again until we realised he was serious! After some analysis of the swab it turns out I had strep throat and had to take antibiotics for 10 days. Unfortunately 2 days later was Bek's birthday and the celebrations had already begun! So every night I was out on Argentinian late night hours and forcing down a bit of
food when I could. By Bek's birthday I was alot better though and even managed a sip of wine for the toast! We were due to leave on 25th originally but had pushed it back so we could celebrate the birthday girl´s day in style. Good job too as it would have been miserable flying at 6am when I was feeling rough.
We had an amazing time in Buenos Aires and completely fell in love with the place. We were very sad to leave. It was so European compared to the other big cities we had visited. It made me feel a little like I was back in London - a sensation I have been missing slightly. The people are so friendly (if slightly eccentric - see the dog walker pics - mullets are very fashionable too apparently!) and the food and culture amazing. I have read other people´s blogs saying that they found it difficult to find restaurants that served anything other than the traditional Parilla (meat is the main dish on these menus). I have to say this was not our experience at all. We had Parilla on one occasion (Becky's birthday) and whilst I didn't have
any meat the 3 different steak that our table ordered were excellent and amazingly different in flavour and texture. Its no woner the Argentinians are renowned for their red meat.
On the 27th we headed to the airport at 4am, saddened but very sleepy, for our flight to patagonia. The difference was always going to be remarkable!
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