BEDS 'R BURNING IN BUENOS AIRES

Thought you were going to Tasmania
Did you change your mind? Great blog. Great pics. Wherever you are, have a wonderful Christmas.

Exploring B.A.
Once again enjoyed your dialogue and observations. Sorry to read about that accident. That certainly put a twist in things but the fireworks sound perfect. Love the wall art.

Know football know the Boca.
Painted houses and street Tango for the tourists, football for the residents. One of the greatest cultural experiences to be had in Buenos Aires is visiting a football match. Shoulder to shoulder with the Popular at the Boca will fill you with fear and awe in fluctuating measure. Esto es Boca. I also travelled to the north of the city one afternoon to check out their arch rivals River Plate. They were relegated that season. Unthinkable. Though as you witnessed, football playing everywhere in all the bars; the fascist government of the late seventies oftentimes used football broadcasts to manage the masses. A salient example of football’s importance here. Anyways, to the crime; I spotted some shifty looking guys stalking an elderly tourist couple in the Recoleta. Just as they were about to pull off the mayonnaise on the shoulder trick, I stepped in and told them to sling their hook. The elderly couple was completely oblivious. Thought I’d made the whole thing up.

What a twist....
...there at the end... wasn't expecting that one. Sounds rough, I hope you still got to enjoy Pattagonia after that!

Fireworks and cheese pizza
Quite a collection of adventures here, and it sounds like more to come with the Dancing Duo on the road with no Spanish interpreter (but hey, you travel in China, so this should be a cinch!). How fab that you got fireworks for a gift--hopefully some big ones when we meet, too, eh? Regarding cheese pizza, the birthplace of the pie is a little restaurant in Naples where they only serve fabulous Margarita (cheese) pizza, so maybe this was a knock-off from one of the many Italians in BA. Great photos of the incredible contrasts in one of my fave cities!

FRISSON
One of your best blogs Dancing One - you have captured the sense of turmoil that lurks below the surface of Buenos Aires that waits for the opportunity to erupt, that sense of frisson also exists in the pysch of the Argentinian people I have met -I found BA fascinating, edgy, exciting & the former glory a little sad... PS The radio is playing Midnight Oil's - Beds are Burning as I write this - yikes!...

BA...in our hearts...forever...
You cannot not like BA...but you cannot believe it's all going well...even Portenos don't believe in it. BA...you love it, you hate you...we never had the time to hate it...we stay a year...a year to enjoy everything that was amazing...forgetting to think of the bad...visit an electronic shop, or a home appliance shop in BA...and you know that Moscow in 1990 was...better... But still, BA is in your heart...under your skin...only if you can stay safe...we did. When we arrive in BA...we knew that is was simply the other side of the coin from what Bangkok is. What you miss in Bangkok, they have in BA...what you miss in BA...they have in Bangkok...if only the two cities where an hour flight away...with Palau, Sipadan and Socorro to dive in between, that would be a better world... The grass is always greener the other side of the fan...guess it will never be green in BA...the bife needs it to be that good...if only they knew how to do it...as ordered...

Incident packed time in Buenos Aires!
Having never been to South America I read such blogs with interest - and there tends to be a pattern of large cities seething with some form of tension. This comes through strongly in your blog too.