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Published: February 15th 2006
Unfortunately the best times come to an end and I had to leave Easter Island but hey who cares if your next destination is Buenos Aires.
Many who have been there hyped BA and I have to say there were completely correct. This place rocks! If you ever look for a place in South America that is not too different from back home but is still interesting then this is the place to be.
Lets start from the beginning. I managed to get a shuttle bus to my hostel after arriving at 2am in the night! Unfortunately the hostel I booked was pretty loud and full of Israelis. Please don't get me wrong I like them if they travel alone but if they are in a group they are a pain in the butt. So on the second day I decided to move out and look for something nicer even if that meant to loose four nights accommodation I already paid for.
The day after I arrived I started my Spanish lessons. After realizing how limited my Spanish is I was really looking forward to the lessons. My teacher Martin is a real wiz kid and studies literature, speaks
Now that’s what I call a barbeque
Parrillas are restaurants dedicated to the amazing meat they have here in Argentina. A steak the size of a small cow costs around USD5 and more important tastes better than any steak you ever tried. Never in my life had I a more tasty an tender steak than from this grill (and the sweaty guy who stands in from of it)English, can read German, Latin and Greek (the latter he learned to be able to read Socrates & Co in their original version). We meet every day in a café and he tried to cram as much information as he can into my head and after that he kept me busy with homework. Think I haven't worked this hard in years and oh did I mention I had to get up every day at 9am. Shocking. Anyway it was worth it I know now a little more Spanish than before and it also makes more sense.
The nice thing about working hard is that you are allowed to party on the weekend (and week days for that matter). I was fortunate enough to bump into Susie (it turns out she will also be in Salvador for the Carnival) and Keelan on Friday evening and for the next two nights we made it a habit not to return before 4am. We hit the road on Friday night and went to iconic
Café Tortoni an absolutely amazing place. Entering this place is like stepping back in time to 1920. This place has wooden panels and mirrors on the walls, proper chandeliers and
Cementerio de La Recoleta
The rich and famous are buried here. The tourist trail also includes a visit to Eve Peron’s (Evita) and don’t mention Madonna... snobby waiters in tight suits. Another reason to come to this place is the tango show. Luckily they start late and so we had time to down a bottle of red before the show and dinner at 11.30.
Did I mention that everything starts late in this city. If you got to a restaurant before 8.30 you will be alone in the whole place and everyone just looks at you. It is not uncommon that bars or discos open at 2am. You must admire people who live here.
The show was absolutely great (and I'm not just saying that because we managed to drink another two bottles of wine and were pretty merry at the end). I just expected a couple dancing some tango and that's it instead it was a whole show. The highlight was nevertheless the tango itself. I am convinced that I do not have enough time in my life to learn to dance like they did, as legs were everywhere….
Afterwards we went to a bar and had a couple of cocktails. One thing to remember is that they don't skimp on the alcohol here. If you order a Bacardi and coke you get at least
The lobby of our shabby hostel
We backpacker really have to put up with 3rd class accommodation :) Saying that our room sleeps 9 people on triple bunk beds.
Just to put faces to names on the left is Kiki (or Keelan) and on the right Susie
half a glass (and I mean the big ones) of Bacardi with a little bit of coke. The cocktail contain about the same lethal amount of alcohol. At least the you get a bit of alcohol for your USD4 you pay 😉 We were the only foreigners in the bar and completely trashed but the people really didn't mind and instead gave us a piece of birthday cake! Don't think that would happen at home to drunken tourists.
On Saturday it was more of the same just with a little bit less alcohol. The really noteworthy thing was the Parilla (Steak/BBQ) restaurant we went to. You might have heard the claim that Argentinean beef is the best in the world and I'm now a believer. Apart from the size of the steak, which was about half a cow, it was also the most tender beef I've ever tasted. The great thing is also that feasting on this doesn't cost you an arm and leg. We paid USD30 for three meals, entrees, wine and beer!!
Sunday was a dedicated to sightseeing and sports. We went to the famous Recoleta cemetery again as Kiki hasn't had seen Evitas (and please
The pink palace
The balcony in the middle was were Madonna was singing don't mention Madonna) grave. After that we spend a lazy Sunday afternoon in a park. But the main highlight of the day was by far the La Boca junior's football match (Hope I will have some pics later as I'm waiting for them) I went to in the evening. As most of you know I am not the biggest football fan in the world but I thought when in Rome… It was a great experience, as I have never seen more passionate fans. Actually I could get used to football if the games at home were like this. There was lots of signing, flag waving, drumming and swearing going on. The fans on the opposite side of us must have been the real “hardcore” fans, as they never stopped signing and drumming. The opponent's fans were unfortunately not as happy and peaceful. They were all seated on a balcony above us and used this as an opportunity to spit and when they realized that their side is loosing to throw stuff down. To be fair the Argentineans were also quite disgusted about this behavior. A big thanks to the Argentinean police as they, once they realized that stuff was coming
La Boca
La Boca does not only host Maradonnas soccer club it also contains a few uniquely painted houses which were originally build by the Italians. down, just took off. Anyway I'm still alive and it was a great experience.
In the next couple of days I did more sightseeing but nothing too exciting and on the weekend (surprise, surprise) I went out drinking which was great and messy again. Went out with an Australian girl and she found out that the Argentinean men are very very very friendly (Unfortunately the Argentinean girls are not) and would have easily won the snogging championship that nigh. Did I mention that she also got five invitations to go home with some guy and that she didn't speak Spanish and they didn't speak English...
That's it next stop is Colonia in Uruguay.
To be continued....
Because I know some of you will ask some words on the Argentinean women.
There is the rumor out there that they all are gorgeous which is not true. Only half of them are and the rest could be super models. No seriously they are on average quite pretty if you like southern European looks and small boobs (yes you were right Patrik)
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Miss Wendy O
non-member comment
SOLD
Argentina here I come - sold on the eagerness of the local boyz! Buenos Aires here I come! Sounds amazing and fun fun fun.