Tango, Meat, Futbol and Dog Shit

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As our plane slowly descended into early morning Buenos Aires, we looked out our window over the lit up city and took a deep paused breath. We were arriving in South America for the first time.

El Puerto de Nuetra Señora Santa Maria del Buen Aire (AKA Buenos Aires (BA)) is alive with newfound energy. The recent crash of Argentina’s peso has turned one the world’s richest cities into one of the cheapest (well to those who live outside of Argentina).

Affected by decades of questionable politics (i.e the Dirty War and the Disappeared, the Peron decade, the Falklands war etc.), it can be described as elegant, yet rough edged, perhaps cosmopolitan, but definitely in need of some tender loving care.

BA can definitely be described as bustling (except on Sundays and especially if it is raining!), with around 3 million “porteños” packed into the centre and another 10 million on the outskirts.

Highlights of BA:

- Iberia lost Kai’s luggage and then returned it later that evening. Nice one!
- Posado Palermo B&B: Fantastic place to stay and well located in the seriously trendy barrio of Palermo Viejo. Alejandro and Viviana were great hosts. Huge Breakfast.
- Dulce de leche: caramilsed milk, Argentina’s most popular sweet at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Kai stepping in dog shit! Kerry enjoyed it! There are loads of ferral cats and dogs in BA, and there is dog shit everywhere. Being a dog handler here is a common job in BA, they can handle up to 15 dogs at a time.
- Walking and staying alive: Zebra crossing are just painted for fun on the road. No one ever stops. Avenues are up to 16 lanes wide, so when the green man flashes, run!
- Football is a religion here! We watched three games and they went off!
- Drink: It is all about the delicious Malbec grape from Mendoza. A fantastic drop. The beers are good too.
- Food: All so delicious and inexpensive. Meat here is also a religion and prime steak is cheaper than dog food. We could go listing every cut etc we have eaten in 6 days, but we would be here for a while.
- Mate (pronounced mah-tay): Nothing captures the essence of being an Argentine more so than the preparation and consumption of this tea-like drink. They love it here. An invitation to drink mate is a cultural treat, so we were lucky.
- Visiting BA’s rich and famous dead at Recoleta cemetry. 4,800 vaults and tombs.
- Enjoy a stroll past the numerous antique shops in the old suburb of San Telmo, and its street market on Sunday.
- Crossing Avenue 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, 16 lanes.
- Walking and exploring in the trendy Palermo Soho and Hollywood.
- Visiting a milonga (tango dance hall), rather than a touristy show, listening to Carlos Gardel and watching around a 100 middle aged “porteños” dancing the seductive tango.
- Visiting the colourful Caminito in La Boca. La Boca is not really the nicest nor safest suburb in BA. As we found out accidently straying from the tourist part. Think shanty town.

We are struggling with decent internet cafes (first good one in 2 weeks). It should also be noted that it finally rained on us for the last 2 days in BA. We got wet.

Next blog (whenever that may be) will be about our trip to an Estancia and Puerto Iguazu.

Hasta Luego!

Ciao amigos.

Kai and Kerry.

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Comments

[g]

OMG. So jealous. Nice TAN! ;)