Living it up in Buenos Aires

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So we’ve been here now for almost 3 weeks and are really getting to know this giant city. To be honest there’s nothing too exciting to report but I’ll do my best to give you a bit of insight into our trip thus far. As always we have religiously attended our hostel soccer matches and the weekly asados, both of which we look forward to each week.

We have been enjoying eating out at the restaurants here immensely. The best two that deserve mention are “La Siga La Vaca” and “La Generosa.” The first is an all you can eat restaurant that serves up giant slabs of meat straight off the parilla (grill). For $34pesos we had all you can eat meat, salad as well as a desert and drink included in the price. We simply could not comprehend the quality and amount of food we were getting. A great night was had by all. We all thought we had stumbled upon the best place to eat in the city. However on our planned return trip to the restaurant we were persuaded to try “La Generosa.” This place was incredible. It was buffet with a twist. Instead of helping yourself to food from dishes sitting under warmers, you walk up to different stations and order your choice off the menu and then the chef cooks up the food infront of you. And to top it all off this place had all you can eat high quality dessert. Delicious!

We have also headed out to the zoo which was quite fun. Andrew couldn’t resist buying a bag of pet food after he saw the kiddies having so much fun having animals eating straight from their hands. The zoo had a great family atmosphere with far better animals then the Wellington zoo. Well worth the $25pesos for both of us.

Last Saturday night we decided to check out the famous nightlife which we had managed to avoid for two weeks. We went with a group from the hostel to a place called “Opera Bay” which is a replica of the Sydney Opera House. The club itself looked amazing with floor to ceiling windows overlooking water, swimming pools inside and five rooms playing different music. We went in the hope that it would live up to the hype but unfortunately it was not meant to be for us. Over here you don’t even contemplate heading out until after 1.30am and clubs don’t really fill up until 3ish. We brought VIP passes which meant we skipped the 40m long queue and also meant we could sit up on the mezzanine floor overlooking the dancing masses. It was interesting to check out but the electronic nightlife just isn’t for us. Some of the other people here at the hostel live for the nightlife and sleep all day and then head out around 1am and return as late as 2.30pm in the afternoon, craziness.

In an hour I’ll be catching a 16hr bus to Iguazu falls in the north of Argentina and will hopefully pop over to the Brazilian side for a day.

Before I leave Buenos Aires though, I thought I should let you in on some of the quirks of Porteño life. The cigarettes are $3pesos ($NZ1.50) for a pack of 20 and as a result you are surrounded by second-hand smoke wherever you go. The drivers as well as pedestrians have death wishes. The roads are marked with lanes, however taxi’s chose to drive down the middle of the lanes, indicators are merely decorations on the car and headlights are optional at night. The city suffers (like all big cities) in great disparity of wealth and as a result we see scores of people (some families with toddlers) searching through rubbish at night for anything they can recycle. This city loves dogs and we walk past them in their masses everyday. Dog walkers fill their hands to the brim with leashes and walk 201 dogs at a time and as a result their waste is to be found on every sidewalk in the city.

Well time for me to leave. I’ll put up some pictures later. Can’t wait to check out these famous cama (bed) buses.

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Photos

Hostel Clan
Home for 3 weeks

Siga La Vaca
Giant slabs of meat!

Siga La Vaca
Some of the gang enjoying their meal

Siga La Vaca
Every part of the cow you can imagine

Family futbol
We watched this family play for about 15mins, they were great.

Hostel Clan asado
Another great asado

La Generosa
Mmm...all you can eat!

The Zoo
I didn´t even know tortoises came in this size (Andrews in the background for comparison)

The Zoo
Andrew making friends with the white tiger

The Zoo
Me with the funny camel thingys.

Comments

[Graeme]

Food and all that
Nice to see some more photos. Whats up with all the food photos and commentary - Are you guys eating your way around the world? Its great to see you are having a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to reading about your travels into the real South America. Look after each other. Cheers Dad