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Published: October 6th 2008
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After a very bearable 23 hour bus ride (you get hot food, wine, a fully reclining seat and a blanket...National Express you should be ashamed!) we arrived at our hostel in central Buenos Aires ready for a week of partying. The night life here starts around 11pm and rarely finishes before 6am and apparently has the best steak in Argentina!
We arrived at our hostel which had been recommended to us by a couple of people and checked into our dorm (no more doubles for us....Argentina is way too expensive for such luxury!) before deciding that 2 nights would probably be enough here and deciding to find somewhere else to stay. The dorm room was tiny and although the staff were nice everyone staying there was not your typical backpacker.....they all had laptops and looked pretty smart (either as if they were about to go to work or heading off to a nightclub) and did not seem to be too friendly....the expression ´face like a slapped arse´comes to mind. after finding another hostel to move to in a couple of days we headed out for a bit of sightseeing.
One of the nice things about BA is that
it is an easy city to navigate and there is fairly little in terms of must see sights so you can fill the days just wandering around. It feels very familiar as parts of it are very like London and it has some really nice areas with lots of green space.
The first night we headed to a drum show which was pretty good, however the bus ride was starting to take it´s toll and so we opted for an early night heading back to the hostel around 11pm..
The next morning after a night from hell listening to possibly the loudest snoring in the world (for a change it wasnt me) we headed out to Rocolleta to see Evita´s grave in the Rocolleta cemetary. Seamus was less than impressed at the prospect of a morning looking at dead peoples tombs however when we arrived we can see why people go there. The cemetery is amazing, and although Evita´s tomb is pretty unspectacular the buildings are really beautiful and even Seamus was impressed! The area itself is also really nice and we found it amusing to see the professional dog walkers with no less than 20 large dogs
being dragged around the parks. After a couple of hours wandering around we had some lunch in the park before heading to the san telmo area of the city.
San Telmo again is really nice, but very different to Rocolleta. It has a much more bohemian feel and is full of little antique and vintage clothing shops so again nice to wander about.
We headed back to our hostel for an afternoon nap, only to remember why sleeping in dorms can be a problem. Whilst we had been out a new person had checked into the dorm. Seemingly fairly normal at first it soon became clear this guy was a sandwich sort of a picnic. The other two guys in our room had obviously clocked this way before we realised and made a swift exit leaving us to fend him off. With no idea of personal space whatsoever we spent the next 2 hours trying to escape from our room from this guy who would not let us get away. He babbled total nonsense and told us how he had been in hospital, lost all his bags, been beaten up by a policeman and now was waiting to
get another passport to fly home. Obviously these things do happen but this guy made no sense at all and had a creepy habit of talking really quietly so you had to lean into hear what he was saying. He cornered me on the top bunk and Seamus had to duck under his arms about three times just to stop himself being backed into a corner. We ended up having to hide in the loo for 10mins just to get away from him before running out of the hostel and down the street.
To get over our experience we ended up drinking a number of pints, before again failing miserably at the whole staying out until 6am phenomena, and admitting defeat heading back to our hostel around midnight. Luckily our roomie was out so we snuck into bed quickly before he returned.
Day 3 in BA and we moved to our new hostel grateful to leave! In a bid to feel young again we decided to stay at BA´s self named ´premier party hostel´. Seemed like a good idea at the time however after an hour of being there we soon realised we were probably the oldest people
by far as well as having the added affliction of being a couple. Thankfully however we had a small dorm ( I think the staff took pity on us and knew would never make it) which we shared with a couple of girls who were sound enough.
Seamus was desperate to get his hair cut following a comment from my mum about him looking like chris Evans (nice one mum!) and eventually we managed to find a barber that understood what we meant..again not speaking the language in these situations can be dangerous...you never know what you might come out looking like!
Our last few days in the city were really relaxed and although we never made it to the clubs (Unlike every other female traveller in the hostel...I didnt think to bring my stillettos and mini skirt!) we had some amazing meals and met a another couple (who moved into our room after the girls left) to hang out with before heading out of the city on the saturday to meet my dads long lost cousin.....
Gina Sabino is my Dads cousin and although he has never met her she kindly invited us to their house
for lunch. Gina and Carlos collected us from our hostel and took us to their Son Mariano and his wife Valeria´s house for a fantastic lunch. Their hospitality and genorosity were overwhelming considering we were these two gringos they had never met and they welcomed us like we had known them for years. The following day we were picked up again and taken out to the country for a traditional Argentinian Asado (or BBQ). The meal was fantastic and in the evening they spoilt us again with a pizza and beer. We also got to try the traditional argenitian drink Mate which is kind of really bitter tea that everyone drinks over here out of a cop with a metal straw. It is definately an acquired taste which I reckon I could get used to if I added 10 spoons of sugar to it. They carry these cups with them everywhere along with a thermos of hot water to continually top it up....its almost like a religion!
We stayed with Gina and Carlos on our final night in BA which was really great. They have a lovely house and it was so nice to feel at home and have
home comforts again!
The following morning Gina dropped us to the train station and we said goodbye to them and BA ready to start the next leg of our journey to Puerto Madryn to see some Whales.
Gina, Carlos, Mariano and Valeria thanks again so much for everything!.
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