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Published: February 16th 2011
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Well I can certainly say Day 1 in BA ended with a huge BANG! Not long after writing my initial entry Nic and I went to a local bar for a drink and got talking to the bar man. We were asking him about La Bomba ( a really well known Argentinian percussion band who suposedly play on Monday nights. He got onto Google for us and wrote down the address and the next thing I know we are trotting through the park towards the main road, plastic beer cups in hand, (because in Argentina if you´re in a rush they´re like here have a plastic cup and take it with you, HOW FUN!). Mind you it was 6:30 and they were starting at 7.
I don´t even have any idea which part of town we were in we were in so much of a hurry. We jump out of the cab to what looks like a huge vacant block (I was later told that it was an old oil factory or something) and the place was swarming with trendy, young Argentinians. The cue to get in stretched to the end of the block and then around the corner and
almost half way up the next block, and every time you moved up a few metres in the cue you were offered either a beer or space cake!
Once we got inside we went to the bar and bought a beer, it comes only in a 1L cup which is ridiculous! La Bomba started beating their drums not long after dusk and I can honestly say it was the most amazing live performance I have EVER seen. I think there were about 15 ish percussionists and they always followed the conductor. It was kind of like the instructors instrument was the rest of the band. I wish I could explain how cool it was, but I did get some footage (which I may upload later if I can figure out how). They all took turns at playing the different percussion instruments and turns in conducting. Then they had like special solo guest performers play with the band i.e. one guy on guitar for a couple of songs, another guy doing sax and trumpet, and the last guy who was the best with these three huge bongo drums and the rest of the band all grooving away.
The atmosphere
of the locals was AMAZING. The way the conductors and the drums could get the crowd going was like nothing I´ve ever seen. If you ever get to BA, DO NOT MISS THIS!
Hmmm what next...... I´m losing track of the days already! Yesterday we did some sightseeing around the city, just all the famous spots; Avenida Florida, a bustling inner city street. Puerto Madero a huge long, I´m talking maybe a 1km long strip of restaurants, that run either side along these huge canals, which is where we stopped for a lovely lunch on huge couches in the sunshine overlooking the water. Plaza De Mayo which is the main square in BA city which is symbolic of 25th of May or Argentinas Independence Day, we saw ´The Pink House´ where the President works. Then wandered through an inner city street market being heckled by locals (which seems to be a common thing everywhere we go, but it´s always been good natured and friendly so far).
Last night we went to Palermo, which is a bit further out of the city but renowned as the Surry Hills equivalent in Sydney, lots of bars and restaurants. Here we met
up with an Aussie gal and guy we met the previous night at La Bomba, Maddy and Toby (who are really lovely) and an English couple whom they had met in Chile a few weeks back. We also met up with James (my Aussie mate) and his partner Santi, who brought a friend of his Adrian. So here we are, all 9 of us, catching up for dinner and drinks in gorgeous Palermo, like old friends 😊 It was really nice to have a possy! And Santi (who is Argentian) took us to a really trendy and popular restaurant called Miranda, where we ate lots of YUMMY meat and drank lots of YUMMY wine and paid about $25AU each. AMAZING!
We haven´t managed much today but we do have great plans for tonight which I can´t wait to suprise you with next time.
Take care amigos.
XXX
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Sister Anna
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Trippin ...
:D That's it - just wanted you to know I'm reading and loving hearing your tales. Love you, Anna.