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Published: December 10th 2008
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Avenida 9 de Julio
The obelisk on Avenue 9th of July marking the Independence of Argentina in 1816 Buenos días señores y señoras!
Have been travelling for a week and a half now in and around buenos
aires and it has been absolutely awesome!
Buenos aires is a huge city, at least 5 times Sydney but funnily
enough getting around is about 5 times as easy with the 40c subway
system. First thing off the plane I was promptly asked by a very non-
official aaxi driver if I needed a ride, but wary after my $160US taxi
ride into new York last year I politely told him (in my mind) to go
and prey on a cashed up American hahaha
Hostel I was staying at was awesome I met some funny Irish girls and
hung out with them for a few days, including getting a little bit
drunk and accidentely going to a transvestite party, which is an
experience everyone should have in their lifetime but probably towards
the end so the mental scarring doesn't stick around fir quite so long!
Was a v.funny night though :p the hostel lost it's power for 36 hours
which was a living disaster as the humidity levels were skyrocketing
and it reached the point where I woke up in a
pool of a sweaty bed
sheets and promptly ran to the showers- but wait- the electricity
pumps the water to the showers so
The Irish girls and I resorted to using baby wipes in the dorm (which
actually did a remarkable job!) but within 5 min I was sweating
profusely again.
Did a bike tour around buenos aires and saw some of the tourist sites.
Riding a bike in BA streets was an experience in itself but Recoleta
Cemetary was amazing as was the tango and houses in La Boca.
Headed down to Mar Del Plata on an amaZing bus with the most
comfortable seats ever even though it was really cheap. Was great to
go to the beach and hang out with wild sea lions. Also visited a
catholic holy site where sonething happened but guide was talking
superfast Spanish so not really sure. Something maybe involving
miraculous (or immiraculous!) conception one other tourist told me.
Spent a night talking to the reception guy at the hostel I was staying
at as I was the only one staying there, which was great for by spanish
and he was the funniest guy alive.
Came back to buenos
Plaza San Martin
Monuments and Statues of General San Martin are in pretty much every major or semi-major city. He was a General in the fight for independence from 1810-1816 and afterwards. aires yesterday and checked into by tour up to rio
and was relieved when I wasn't placed in a room with a ridiculously
annoying and culturally inept wierdo! I'm with another Aussie guy (we
seriously are everywhere over here - out of six in by first day in a
dorm there were 5 Aussies!!) who is 21 and a heaps cool guy and
everyone else seems cool as well. Had a few regrets about doing a tour
and losing some if my impulse travelling flexibility but I don't have
any of that anymore! It's sooooooooooooo good having it all organized
and so much cheaper when travelling as a group.
Am currently sitting in the roof of a ferry to Colonia in Uruguay from
buenos aires listenibg to some amaZing tango music and the sky is blue
and everyone is tanning and life is wonderful! The culture over here
is amazing I went to a huge free tango show in the streets last night
with a stage and everything in the middle if the street with tv
screens and speakers sending the live music all the way down thestreet
as far as the eye can see. Then at the end
everyone started tangoing,
the entire street and thousands of people just started and I was try
to get out of the tango mosh-pit but as soon as you find an opening
between dancers another coouple swoop in and block your passage. It
was tango mayhem!
Anyway this entry is already 20 billion times longer than expected but
this boat is going so slow I really am going to be quite bored when I
finish this!! Haha
Will try and get some photos up as soon as I get them burnt onto a DVD!
Hasta luego chicos!
James
UPDATE:
Have just reached Colonia in Uruguay and it is absolutely beautiful.
It's an old town from the 1800s with cobbled streets and incredible
arhictecture. It's a beach/bayside area borderin on the Rio Plata
which means that you can walk out about 100m and still only be
submerged up to your knees and then look back at this picturesque
town. I now truly feel like I'm on holidays. The big cities are great
fun but they are hardly as relaxing as places such as here! The hotel
I'm staying at is 10m from the water and a cottage type
feel that
really reflects what this town is like. Went to sunset yesterday it
was simply amazing then we went out to dinner and had the funniest
night ever I ate so much and I started to get the giggles and you all
know what I'm like when that happens!
Love you all and missing you heaps!
Sent from my iPod
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Emma
non-member comment
Hey buddy... It looks like you are having the most amazing time - I know you don't really have a choice but it looks like you've made lots of friends incredibly quickly! That cemetry looks absolutly amazing, I am so jealous!!!! Life here is not particularly exciting, getting ready for Christmas etc. Ben and I are both working almost full time at the moment so we're very busy with that, not much time for normal holiday type things. Hopefully will go away for a weekend after the school holidays end. Anyway keep up the blog posts, that one was great. Love Em xoxo