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Published: July 18th 2014
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Another hazy bus ride sped us on to Buenos Aires and after a short taxi ride with an extremely racist taxi driver, we were unloaded on the doorsteps of Milhouse (Avenue) Hostel; the hostel every backpacker labelled as ´The Party Hostel´. Yet did some lucky hostel residents realise... the party had just arrived.
One thing immediately apparent: this was more hotel than hostel! Marble floors and more than bread-toast for breakfast.. where were we!? The first day followed routine: Eat pre-check-in breakfast (#loveafreebie); sprawl across sofas attempting to look friendly and not absolutely shattered (#thefriendlyzombie); engage residents and attempt to make plans (#nottherighttime!); post check-in nap (#thisroomisfreezing); brief city exploration (#undecidedonBA); enter BA pm (#drinksensibly).
Morning. Afternoon. Palermo was fun! And this next day was to mark the addition of a new temporary member to the group: Scotty! (The Scot). And even better... another engineer! The plague of engineers seemed to be magnetised to us as we encountered the 10th(!??) during our travels... but all lovely blokes so I will gloss over the occasional outbreak of ´pipe-talk´. The Thursday evening saw us wander to the affiliated hostel for a free tango lesson! I´m glad to report that we did
not embarrass ourselves and even Tommy ´twinkle-toes´ Patrick put in a stunning performance. Dancing, drinks and some more whacky backpackers accompanied us late on into the night (and I think we went to Palermo again!?)
Friday was football day. After joining the hostel in watching some games.. it was time for the UK gringos to step onto the pitch and play some 5-a-side. We stretched, we team-talked, we donned our Chile tops and strode out proudly onto the pitch confident of destroying any opposition unfortunate enough to cross our path... this was going to be fantastic. And then we played like England. Two games passed before we scored (I blame the girl who joined our team; A+ for enthusiasm, C- for execution, D- for being an Auzzie). BUT! After this third game we were on fire! Our Chile tops would have been proud of us in our final game as we scored for fun.. and this was in no way due to the other team´s exhaustion from scoring so many goals against us previously. Nonetheless we felt a great deal better after some exercise, and on our return witnessed why South Americans are so good at football... there were
football pitches on every street corner with children aged 3-18 playing, and despite them rolling around on the floor after every tackle some of them were pretty good! We returned in good spirits to the hostel and were elevated more so when greeted by several backpackers we had met in other cities (#tagalongs), and a few newbies! One deserves special mention, as he elevated our coolness level infinitely. This humble US gangster provided us with some of the best sayings that we as Brits could never pull off, and injected so many laughs that we had to include him for our final few nights in BA. Big shout to Mark! Of course, some US vs. UK beer pong ensued, but we were pretty good by now and showed the Yanks how it was done. No biggy.
We awoke the next day, pulled on our smelly Chile tops and rushed downstairs to the bar to watch the big game: Chile vs. Brazil. Chile, our new-found love, playing the country we were about to visit and wanted desperately to be in the final. We had so much to win and so much to lose; our hearts were torn. One of us
yellow, and three of us red, we cheered on the game. As Chile fluffed their lines we experienced more heartbreak that tasted so similar to the British experience it was almost pleasurable. On the flipside though.. Brazil were through! Hola Rio de Janeiro! This Saturday then moved on to be the best night in BA: an experience known as Fuerza Bruta. A show that originated in Buenos Aires and has recently gone global and can now be seen in London (for 3x the price, naturally). Even with my literary prowess this show is quite indescribable and my words here will not do it justice, nor the videos on Youtube! We entered the interactive showcase, and witnessed some of the most barbaric & awe-inspiring spectacles we have ever seen. It was beautiful and mad, stunning and weird, and will never be forgotten! The artists danced on a wall of waves, ran through a crowded treadmill, swam in a swimming pool suspended just meters above the crowd. They smashed polystyrene on our heads, hoisted audience members into the air, all to a cacophony of electro music and explosion of lights. Again, I cannot do it justice, but if you can, go see
it!
The night then grew bigger as we headed into Palermo again, the hotspot in BA for Bars, restaurants & nightlife. We wandered the streets in search of some delicious food. Nothing else would serve after our eyes had feasted so well. We succeeded, and we feasted on steak & wine (what else!?). The Argies may be stuffed, but they will also be stuffed on glorious food... every cloud eh. After this we proceeded on to Pacha, an enormous semi-open-air nightclub where we danced the night away with a host of beautiful Argentinians... seriously, their personalities were top-notch.
Sunday was our last day and we trekked into the city determined to explore more, as we realised we had not seen enough! And on this Sunday, BA won us over. The city was really quite beautiful and despite some awkward moments strolling past banners calling for Ihlas Malvinas to be returned, we saw some beautiful sites. We said our goodbyes, and along with Scotty-too-hotty made our way to the bus station, destined for Iguazu Falls. We took with us some great memories and new friends, but BA struggled to dislodge some of the other places we had visited, especially
with all of us keeping one eye on Brazil. Time for another bus.. Joy!
LC
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