Buenos Aires - Capital of South America?

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What a city!! We have seen a few South American cities during the last 3 months and we have enjoyed many of them; Lima, Salta, Cusco to name a few but Buenos Aires is just a completely different kettle of fish - modern, sophisticated, creative, fun, cheap, sporty, beautiful - it´s got everything. The "portenos" (residents of BA) are justly proud and they compliment the city beautifully - they are a very elegant, refined and gorgeous lot. It is just so different from anywhere else we have been to, some may say that it is more European than South American, maybe... it certainly feels very familiar, and it is bigger than anywhere else we have been to but more than that it is very stimulating and exciting here. We love it, fortunately we are staying for 3 weeks so we can really get used to it!!

We got here last Thursday and decided to put our feet down for a while here so we´ve rented a flat - we were getting very sick of hotels and restaurant food too so it´s great to do some cooking and move around in more than 15m2 of space. However, we are in a big tower block of flats and our neighbours seem to be competing for " who can stay up the longest" and sleeping has been tough at times. On the plus side the apartment has a tennis court (raquets, balls, shoes and clothing were purchased pretty quickly) so we have been enjoying playing again, though that in itself is fraught with frustrations - where did my forehand go? It´s Autumn here but the weather is gorgeous, sunny but not too hot, mainly cloudless skies. We are staying in Palermo which seems to be where all the funky young things hang out, so clearly we fit in (in our "practical" man made fibred clothing and scruffy trainers we actually look like lost ramblers). Sushi is ubiquitous (yippee) and there are seemingly hundreds of gorgeous restaurants, shops, cafes, boutiques etc a stone´s throw away. It´s nice to be able to get a sandwich without the obligatory ham in it which has been testing in other areas of Argentina!!

Getting here was less enjoyable, we took an 18 hour bus from El Calafate to Puerto Madryn then another 20 hour bus from Puerto Madryn to BA - sounds a lot but you actually get used to it and the buses are very comfortable. We are aware that we haven´t "blogged" for over two weeks (17 days actually) so here is a quick summary of what we have been doing, in chronological order for the pedants!!


Hiked in the Tierra Del Fuego national park.
Ice Trekked on the amazing Perito Moreno glaciar and enjoyed a wee dram of whisky at the end!!,
Cruised round some more unbelievably huge, ice white and blue glaciers.
Took a trip to El Chalten
Trekked in the Fitzroy mountain range and saw the Fitz Roy and Cerre Torres peaks in all their glory.
Dined with the president of Argentina (well, she was in the same restaurant as us in El Calafate)
Took a bus from El Calafate to Puerto Madryn.
Watched Whales playing off the beach at Puerto Madryn.
Spied penguins in the sea off the same beach.
Played Tennis at Peurto Madryn tennis club.
Took a bus from Puerto Madryn to Buenos Aires.
Rented a flat.
And here we are!!!

We are not rushing around doing stuff here as we have 3 weeks - there is loads to see and do as well as just strolling around taking the atmosphere in. We are going to MALBA, the latin american art museum and the Japonese gardens this afternoon.

We´ll leave you with a little joke about Argentinians (it was in our lonely planet):

How does an Argentinian commit suicide? He jumps off his ego.

There´s certainly plenty of preening, posturing and posing going on... I seem to be the only woman in Buenos Aires with short hair. Everyone is lovely and seems delighted to practice their English with us which is handy as our Spanish remains ropey to say the least.

Miss you all loads.

Ta ta for now.

xx

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Comments

[Poulu]

Hello Iain and Suzie, great to hear from you and thanks so much for your messages. I´m about to write another blog so won´t bore you with too much detail, suffice it to say that we are still having a brilliant time, you should try it!! We are currently in Mendoza near the Andes, and the border with Chile, quaffing wine, munching steak and generally enjoying life. How are you guys? Love Nige and Louise. xx PS Nige is now permanently beard-less!!