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Published: April 30th 2009
And so we found our way to El Sol, a very friendly hostel on the edge of the Recoleta district and our home for the week. Once settled we followed the advice of the hostel owner, Paul, and headed out to La Cholita for the Bife de Lomo and Bife de Chorizo with a wee drink. Ahhhh BA. We loved it already.
Our first day in BA dawned bright and sunny, if a little crisp, and we set off exploring the city, waylaid only by pastries and coffee while admiring the National Congress Building. We then walked the famous streets of the city, and braved crossing the Avenida 9 de Julio (ok there are pedestrian crossing with lights but there are still lots of cars). We pretty much walked all day, checking out shopping centres along the way and having our first Freddo experience. Mmmmmmm. Heaven. Dulce de Leche con Brownie 😊
We got an email from Juan & Irv, our American friends from our Uyuni trip. They mentioned a percussion event that evening and so we set off to find out more about it. Luckily Danny at our hostel (he´s a famous rapper in Canadia doncha know) knew all about it and soon we were on our way to La Bomba del tiempo. It was choice! A whole bunch of guys drum like mad for several hours, awesome atmosphere, very cool.
From there we headed to a bar near our hostel only to find that girls get free beer until midnight. A rather messy night followed. Danny, along with Rob (fellow Canadian) performed in the bar upstairs and we sang along with Jack (from the hostel) and three guys who all claimed to be named Martin. Something was funny, we couldn´t quite put our finger on it.
Tuesday we lay low. It was a quiet day. In the evening we hit the movies with Irv some Irish girls, then had a few beers at The Clan hostel, where the guys were staying. We didn´t really need to be drinking as everyone there had had more than enough and were great entertainment for all, all night. It was a late one.
Wednesday we felt compelled to get out and do some sightseeing so we checked out the Recoleta Cemetery where Evita and many of Argentina´s other important personalities are enterred. It is amazing. It is really well maintained and the tombs are works of art in themselves. Next up we checked out some of the city´s great sculptures en route to the MALBA, Latin American Art museum where we checked out lots of modern pieces including some Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo. Most cool. That evening we were so exhausted we headed along the road to Cumaná, where we had some delicious stew before an early night.
Thursday we headed back to the centre of town to check out the Casa Rosada (where Evita flailed from the balcony) and the amazing architecture of downtown. We also visited the famous Cafe Tortoni which is one of the oldest in the city. The atmosphere was great, the waiter a surly old coot himself. Next. We spent the afternoon in La Boca where we admired all the colourful buildings and markets and watched street tango with a bottle of quilmes in the shade. We started the shopping here.....
Friday we headed up to Tigre, a town about 60km north of the city on a river delta with Puja, another girl from the hostel. We caught the bus, then the train and then a boat along the delta, jumping off at Tres Bocas where we walked among the waterways and lazed about in the sun. We had one of the most amazing icecreams there and wandered through the markets before returning to the big smoke. That evening we met up with Darren (from our Salkantay trek in Peru) and his friend Nick and headed to the famous La Cabrera in Palermo. We were not disappointed. It was AMAZING. We had some of the best steak I have ever had in my life, with bottles of wine and side dishes for Africa. I´m drooling now just writing about it. We then headed out for more drinks, and more drinks, and finally to some local club where everyone knew all the moves and danced them in unison. We did not. We looked like dorks. The drinks helped and we didn´t mind so much. Another late night.
Saturday was another quiet day but we did check out Abasto which is a mall so massive it has its own ferri wheel! Our stomachs were a little tender so we didn´t test that out. In the evening we took Noah´s (from the hostel) advice and headed to Nocturna, and outdoor acrobatic tango show. It was amazing. They danced tango, hung from trapezes, swung in hoops and flew about kinda like Cirque de Soleil meets tango. One of our highlights.
Sunday was all a little sad as we checked out. We headed down to San Telmo for breakfast but were waylaid by the markets on the way there. Our stomachs ruled and we ducked in Bar Plaza Dorrego right on the square for coffee. Then we spent hours trawling the antique market which was awesome. There were so many beautiful and funky things to buy but our wallets wouldn´t budge. We saved that for the more conventional market where I picked up a top, a bag, and the most gorgeous shawl. A successful day. Lunch was at La Vieja Rostisseria where we were outdone by the parillada. Normally when you order this you get a tray of more meat than you can handle. Well we did receive this but instead of the ´light´version of varying cuts of steak and sausage we got the hardcore version with all the innardy bits. Not so nice. We had to have our last alfajor (choc covered cookie filled with layers of biscuit and dulce de leche) in the park before heading back to pack.
And then we left. Well, not quiet. *Just* as we were driving out of the Retiro terminal we heard a crash and a bang. Again. And someone else had come from the shadows, opened the luggage hold and stolen some bags. It was half an hour of driving round trying to find them before we were able to check whose had been taken. Not ours. Phew. Again. Unfortunately a young Japanese girl´s bag had been taken but she spoke no Spanish and so had no idea. Caitlin had to break the news to her. Then I accompanied her to the police station and spent two hours translating while her police report was drawn up. I can now add ´translator´to my CV.
And so, only 2 hours or so late, we finally left BA and headed north....
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Kirsty
non-member comment
jealous
want to go to BA!!! but does sound like you had a drink or 20 for me as promised xx