South America

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We arrived at the Hotel Panamericano last night about 7pm. The hotel is right in the centre of the city. Our guide told us that the area to the South is all business offices which empties out at night and that we should keep away from there after dark. There were plenty of people about so we felt quite safe, although the guide, Erica, locked the door of the van as we travelled through a dodgy area.
Our room is right next to Debbie and Alan's, which is very jolly. We set off to find a restaurant for dinner and ended up just around the corner in a huge barbeque place. The meals were huge! They also ply you with heaps of bread, bread sticks and other little accroutements. We had an early night as we were totally pooped from our flights.

This morning we walked about looking at the shops, bought a Los Pumas rugby shirt for Jack (most likely a fake) and a few other shops. Barry and I did some people watching. There were girls stealing sugar from the tables outside the cafe where we were sitting, they poured them into McDonalds cups and drank whatever they had in there. We heard some massive explosions, had no idea what they were. Later on we heard the noise getting closer. It turned out to be a political rally, hundreds of peole waving flags, banging drums and setting off deafening fireworks! The doorman said when I asked him what they were doing "Everyday there's something, some politician".
For dinner we found another restaurant close by the ended up in the bar at the hotel, there were a few other conference attendees there. It sounds like they had the journey from hell! Their flight was held up for eight hours and the airline was pretty average. Hoping for a good sleep tonight!

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Photos

The Obelisk
The Obelisk of Buenos Aires is a national historic monument and the icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República), in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio, it was built to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city.