Back in BA!!!

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Thursday 2 May to Tuesday 7 May

Checked back in at The Chill House in Buenos Aries (BA) straight from the ferry.

All the previous gang had moved on - heading for pastures new with their travels or back home. So it was time to meet a new gang. On reflection it does feel strange how you develop these friendships with people so quickly, start to get a sense of community with them and then you or they leave. It's quite sad in some ways and you always wonder if you'll get on as well with the next set of people. Weirdly though, it always seems to work out and you find new friends and repeat the process all over.

On the night of my return I knew Roberto, who woked at the hostel, was supposed to be playing a gig. I'd found out he was a rock musician during a chat with him a week earlier. Managing to recruit an Aussie called Tristan into coming along, we took a cab over to the bar - only to be told there was no live music. Attempt one at a night out scuppered!

We formulated a new plan to go salsa dancing via a cocktail bar. The cocktails we managed, but after a taxi across to the salsa bar we found that shut. Attempt two also failed!

We decided to take the hint and headed hostel-ward. I did get to hear about Tristan's work, researching immigration in Latin America and how immigrants are dealt with by the authorities in these countries. He and his boss from the university where he worked, were in South America conducting interviews - though he was now flying solo. It was all really interesting.

Having failed dismally with our plans to salsa dance the previous night, Wednesday Tristan and I went for a lunchtime tango class at Cafeteria Ideal (one of BA's most famous milongas). It was a good sized class in the most wonderful setting, above a restaurant near Carlos Pellegrini. We climbed the curved grand staircase and entered a big hall of dark wood and light marble. The floor was surrounded by circular tables covered in red cloth and above the dance floor was a beautiful and intricate ironwork skylight. Very different from La Catedral.

The class was pretty good and I picked up a few new moves to add to those from the earlier classes I'd done. Tristan kept getting a ticking off from the teacher for not keeping at a consistent height, putting rise and fall in where there shouldn't be any. He started to get a wee bit paranoid the teacher had taken a disliking to him, which was quite amusing.

We befriended a couple of girls there too - Nadia from France who gave us a very comprehensive report on where to go when for dance all around the city (even I, a dance fan, was overwhelmed by the home-made, very detailed timetable she whipped out of her bag); and a South Korean girl whose name I didn't get.

Later back at the hostel I met my new rommie called Yervon (Von) - a bartender from Hawaii, who had been abandoned by his travel buddy. His friend had apparently not been at all impressed by The Chill House and headed off somewhere else. Von, having travelled to BA for hours and been made to wait 4 hours at his friend's previous hostel until he woke up decided not to join in the hunt for a new place.

Von turned out to be great fun - really easy going, very easy to talk to and super smiley. He kindly took to being my "Gok Wan" - advising on my outfit choice for the night ahead, when I realised my original choice did not match the only regular shoes I could wear in the rain. The challenges of travelling with a limited wardrobe!!! After a short fashion show we got there.

We headed out to meet Alan, who had been at the hostel the previous night, and Tristan came along too. That night was to be my supreme steak moment!!!

Arriving at La Cabras in Palermo we put our names down on the waiting list and headed across the road. We shared a plate of cheese, cooked meat and olives to stave off the hunger and I enjoyed a gin-based cocktail - the Cucumber Cooler...yum!!! It was a really cool bar playing blues music with a great vibe.

Then it was back to the restaurant for dinner. I had a medium cooked Bife de Chorizo (basically sirloin steak) with a Caesar Salad and Papas Fritas. I can honestly say, it was the closest thing to food heaven I think I've experienced. Every mouthful was divine. And who knew that Caesar Salad is a great accompliment to steak?! That's one to remember.

Tristan and Alan decided to go for something you might see on Man vs Food. A giant wooden board arrived for each, plating a large sirloin steak, papas fritas, mashed Swede salad, rice, all topped off with a fried egg. Alan managed to finish his, but much to Von's pleasure Tristan couldn't quite do it...

After dinner we eventually ended up at the salsa bar we'd attempted to go to the previous night. We arrived to a strange pole dancing competition that was pretty amusing to watch - the girls slightly embarrassed by the whole charade. Then the music started up and the dance floor was returned to the masses. We danced away until 7am and I have to admit to feeling much more comfortable back doing salsa, compared to my tango moments.

The following few days were spent visiting a few more sites. Von and I went off to see La Casa Rosada (or pink palace) and La Boca, whilst I went solo to visit Teatro Colon and Puerto Madera.

La Boca was great fun. After a pretty long walk on another lovely BA day, with me as navigator (Von is a bit challenged in this area apparently), we reached the La Boca area. This district houses the football stadium for Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's biggest football teams and where Maradona played for much of his career. There was a real buzz, as later that day was the local derby against River Plate. Parked cars filled the streets and supporters in their team's kit were warming up in roadside bars and cafes.

We meandered our way through the residential areas to reach Caminato, an area in La Boca where streets are lined with houses and shops painted in a multitude of colours. This small neighbourhood has a real charm. The colour lends it a vibrancy and character that makes it easy to understand why local artists and tourists flock there.

Enjoying our explorations of the different alleyways we tagged on to the back of a tour - a good move, as on turning a corner we hit the main street. This was lined with cafes and restaurants with tango dancers performing for the clientele. Von and I couldn't resist sitting down to take a load off, have a nice cold cerveza (beer) and watch the dancing.

On our way to find a subway station back to the hostel we exited Caminato, which now had a big police presence. The game was due to kick off in the next couple of hours and the stadium was clearly already full. We could hear the chanting and singing from way outside and looking up to the roof you could see the fans in the "cheap seats" - their heads jumping above the top wall, their arms raised and waving flags. Then the confetti cannon went off and the sky was filled with fluttering paper. It almost made me want to go and see a football match, which is testament to the atmosphere that was being created.

Teatro Colon, on my last day in BA, was so beautiful it's hard to put into words. It's in a very European feeling area of the city. The theatre itself took twenty years to complete and used marble from Italy in its construction. At that time BA was developing itself to be the Paris of Latin America - its residents keen to be viewed as European.

The guide we had was fantastic. Sadly I didn't take all that she said in because I got a bit carried away with the photography!

I do recall that the original architect of the theatre did not see it's completion. He was shot by his butler after returning home early one night and catching his wife with the soon to be murderous butler. We all like a bit of scandal, hey?!

The Theatre was also the last opera venue to be built in the traditional style - apparently no other opera houses were built between its completion and Sydney Opera House being constructed.

Pavarotti, on being asked about the acoustics there said it was a big problem as "the acoustics are perfect!" so there's nowhere for performers to hide.

The Theatre staff were doing a lighting rehearsal for the upcoming production whilst we were there, but luckily we got to see the auditorium in the light from both the Presidential Box and from the main box in the Dress Circle. It was truly breathtaking.

Interesting architectural features included five black boxes, at the base of the other private boxes. These are called widow boxes. Back at the time of being built female widows had to mourn for two years and could not be seen in public, so these boxes enabled them to attend the opera in private. Also, above the chandelier hanging over the main stalls (28 metres up) they had built a walkway around the fitting where singers can stand. This is used where the opera calls for voices coming from the heavens or sky. The thought actually made my legs turn to jelly.

After the Theatre was a trip to Puerto Madero. Similar to much of London's dockyard areas, it is being redeveloped with high grade offices, apartments and restaurants. It had a very tranquil feel, compared to much of BA, despite the odd banger going off at a protest happening across the river. I took a stroll along the river bank and then headed back to pick up my bags for the trip to Sierra de la Ventana.

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Photos

Dockside at Puerto Madero
Old meets new at the waterfront

View down Rio de la Plata
Santiago Calatrava's "Woman's Bridge" crossing the Rio de la Plata towards Congreso

Row Row Row Your Boat
A rower enjoying a sunny day out on the river

Taxi Anyone?
Monument celebrating taxi divers in Puerto Madero

High Rise
High rise towers in Puerto Madero