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Published: November 30th 2007
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The second installment of our Argentina tales...
A little birdy told us that Argentina holds an annual 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in a small German town not too far from Buenos Aires. And as it was on our way(ish) and strangely fitted in perfectly timewise we thought we should oblige and join the other one hundred thousand or so people who descend on Villa General Belgrano for some cerveza festivities.
We kitted oursleves out with traditional sash and beer chop and a few beers later our initial plan of staying just one night progressed to two and then to five thanks to some lovely Argentine friends that we made along the way who put us up in their house. The Argentines don't seem to drink like the Germans and indeed the Brits- I think Paul would have liked a male drinking buddy from home to keep the side up but it was enough to losen our tongues and try out some newly learnt Spanish... The Argentines are such friendly people who all wanted to speak to us but we did seem to spend a lot of time being asked our opinions on the Falklands War and Maradonna, so much so
that Paul ended up telling people he was Scottish- so no awkward conversations there! I think Paul found his second home in VGB (I personally would like to return for its annual chocolate festival, fairs fair!) and I practically had to drag him away to the bright lights of Buenos Aires where we spend the next ten days or so.
BA is a fantastic city, it's certainly where Argentina's money is, I reckon one in every thee women there must have had some form of plastic surgery and the place has a real European feel, with alfresco cafés lining the streets. The city itself is pretty vast but has five more personal barrios (areas); San Telmo, La Boca, Palermo, Recoleta and Costena Sur (the Docks), each with unique traits that contribute to the vibrance of the city.
San Telmo is the birthplace of Tango, which comes alive on Sunday with an antiques market and local entertainers of all ages that come out to play - one guy was giving away free hugs! The area used to be the heart of the city, inhabited by the rich, but after a huge Yellow Fever infection swept the area people fled
for less polluted parts away from the river, leaving it a ghost town until becoming repopulated by the thousanads of immigrants who saturated BA in the coming years!
Recoleta's main attraction, strange as it sounds, is its Cemetery- where narrow cobbled streets house hundreds of fancy tombs (each with their own architect) of important Argentine figure heads, including Eva 'Evita' Peron. It's a very peaceful place with not too many tourists but lots of stray cats- a worthy see.
We were told that no visit to BA would be complete without joining the thousands of BA fans to see a Boca Juniors football game at their home stadium. Unfortunately we missed their derby against rivals River Plate but made it to see them play and draw with Estudiantes. Against the advice of our hostel, who wanted to charge us 200 pesos (about 30 pounds) to be escorted to the game with 'necessry' security we ventured there on our own backs for just 14 pesos (about 2 pounds). The area itself is poor and quite dangerous but luckily I was flanked by Paul, a huge South African and a medium American (sorry Will) so felt pretty safe, however when
we got inside the stdium we realised there is more likely to be trouble at a Darlo game. The place it full of families and die hard fans but no violence, just lots of singing and arm waving for 90 minutes.
Because of the constant warnings of how dangerous the area is we didn´t take our cameras so unfortunately don´t have many picures of the famous brightly coloured tin sheet houses that flank the mouth of La Boca's river (Boca literally means 'mouth' in Spanish). It has always been inhabited by the poor who traditionally painted their houses with cheap left over paint from the boats that dock there to keep them waterproof and is now a tourist must see.
We had a few great days during the end of the Rugby World Cup, we had hoped that it would be a England V Argentina final as the Argies are so passionate about their sport but we did watch them take third place (I proudly doned my Argentina top given to me by Laura). We even managed to find a couple of South Africans to watch the final with, enjoy some beers and traditional bbqs (asados) the cooking
method looks like some sort of torture but tastes mmm mm. We also had a random end to the night by jumping on a passing stag party bus (with disco lights, music and maracas) I guess being a girl I shouldn't have been there but in usual Argie style they made us so welcome and had such a fun, if bizarre night.
After a week in Rio de Janeiro (pics to come) we retuned to the must see Iguaçu Falls, a 20 hour bus ride north of BA. I don't think the falls win any awards for being, the biggest, deepest, widdest etc but with over 200 falls, at up to 240 ft tall they were something else. You have the opportunity to see them from both the Argentine side where you can get up close and personal with them (and wet) and the Brazilian side where the panoramic view is spectacular. We decided to do both and it was well worth the border crossing, the sheer magnitude of them is breathtaking but I'm not going to try to explain anymore, the photos don't really do them justice and luckily it's one of those things that you have to
be there to fully appreciate it- so if you get the chance don't miss it!
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Mum Di
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You both look super! what amazing things you are doing good luck see you soon - missing you lots Love you both Mum xxxxxxxxxxxx