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Published: September 12th 2007
We loved our 10 days in the Mendoza Province, and so were very excited to be heading back to Argentina, this time to Buenos Aires, one of the places we were always looking forward to most on this whole trip. So between that, and a desire to settle down for a little while and properly unpack our bags, we´d arranged an apartment here for a couple of weeks. And although we love big cities in general, and had done our research to pick a nice barrio to stay in, it was all a bit daunting at first; I don´t think I´ve ever experienced noise like it in my life. Our guidebook claims that Buenos Aires is the 4th noisiest city in the world, out of a list of 144, and I can believe it. There´s a scene in the film "Big" when Tom Hanks has just arrived in New York and lies cowering on his bed while there´s utter chaos outside: music blaring, dogs barking, car horns, gunshots, the lot, and Neil tells me that´s how he felt on our first night here!
Two weeks has given us a chance to get to know the city a little, and see
and do everything we wanted at a more relaxed pace. Top of Neil´s agenda was a Boca Juniors match (probably the most successful South American club, and more famously, where Maradona started his career) and luckily they had a home game on the Sunday, our first full day in the city. We´d read a lot about how rough the games are and how dangerous the neighbourhood is in general, and so had taken the recommendation to book our tickets through an agency who would also provide transport and an escort. Unfortunately they never turned up to collect us on the day, and we were left with the choice of either not getting to a match at all or risking a trip to La Boca on our own. So, ticketless and just a little bit scared, we hopped in a taxi and hoped for the best. We´d heard the match was sold out, but when we couldn´t spot any touts outside the ground, thought we may as well ask an official about the possibility of tickets. And while he wasn´t able to sort us out with any, for a small backhander he *was* able to smuggle us in through a side
door! Which was quite an experience, to say the least. Not sure if it would work at a sold out Premiereship game! The match was great, with Boca winning 1-0 with a second half penalty, but it was the atmosphere that really made it for us - the crowd were already singing when we arrived almost an hour before kick off and didn´t stop the whole game, celebrating Boca getting a corner with about the same level of enthusiasm as most of us would celebrate our country winning the World Cup.
So, we´ve been here over a week now, and have settled in well to the Buenos Aires way of life: get up late, hang around coffee shops all day and go out *very* late. The nightlife is fantastic, and I think it might be the most truly 24 hour city we´ve ever been in, with restaurants open (and, more importantly, busy) till 2 in the morning, bars till 5 or 6, and clubs till goodness knows when, but people have still been arriving when we´ve been leaving around 5 or so. And I still can´t stop singing songs from Evita. Not very original, I know, but it´s one
of my favourite musicals and she really is everywhere, so I can´t get the songs out of my head at all. Neil´s getting a little bit sick of it, and was particularly embarrassed at me bursting into "Don´t Cry For Me Argentina" at La Casa Rosada ... like, how touristy is that?! But how can you stop yourself? Although, I did manage to keep a lid on the show tunes at the cemetry...just about.
With just a few days left here now, there´ll be a lot we´ll miss about the city when we leave, but at the same time, we´re also looking forward to getting back on the road, and eventually hitting a few beaches!
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