Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
And get better it did. It was almost a shame that Buenos Aires was our last port of call and we got so little time there as it was incredible, and both of us agree it was one of if not the best place we visited. It was everything Santiago was, vibrant, beautiful and so much more.
We landed after much faffing we managed to get a transfer, which is good as the city is HUUUUUGE there is no way you could have found it by yourself. The maps are deceptive what looks like a 2 minute walk on the map usually takes at least half an hour and more often then not more.
As we only had 2 days here we had a lot to get in so it was busy busy busy! On the first evening we had to follow Argentinean tradition and try the local speciality which is of course steak. Loads of people had told us how good the steak was and how cheap it was, but to be honest i don't like steak and i don't like red wine so i wasnt expecting it to be up to much. There is a small restaurant on a back street in San Telmo which is famous for the best meat in BA, and its not too pricey. We had 2 glorious steaks, with potatoes and veg and bottle of red wine and it cost us a fiver, and for someone who hates steak and detests red wine it was bloody gorgeous! The steak cut like butter and the red wine complemented it completely, to boot the staff were really friendly and all the meat was on show for us to have a look at! On the way home we learnt that the citizens of BA are more learned than their neighbours in Chile, where nobody speaks English, when we met a big issue seller. He comes up talking of course Spanish, and we tried the usual "Ingles" at which point everyone in Chile shrugged and walked off, to our amusement this bloke began to shout in english "i speak English, this big issue, big issue you take home show all your family and friends!" and began to follow us down the street until we managed to loose him! We weren't too keen walking round at night so we headed back and had an early one.
The following morning we awoke with the dawn fresh and rosy fingered and went on a tour of the city. Not our favourite way of doing things but with our limited time span it was all we had time for. So we boarded the coach with the other tourists and drove past a lot of the sights. Although we didn't get off in some of the areas you got to see and get the general vibe for the area. We saw a lot of the architecture, which had a lot of french influence, we saw dog walkers, (which is the typical way to earn money for students in the city) with their hands full! we saw british phone boxes, a huuuuge metallic flower that opens and closes with the sun just like a live one, we saw the Obelisk (dedicated to commemorate the anniversary of Buenos Aires first foundation), Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar (the oldest church in the city) and lots more. The first place we got off the bus made Si's face light up like all his Christmases had come at once, it was La Boca Juniors stadium (for all the girlys out there apparently they are famous for their rivalry with the other BA team River plate) which even though i wasn't interested in the football the area itself was very colourful and bright. Its in a very rough neighbourhood and there is a small police presence to protect all the tourists hanging round. The walls, streets, and every available space is covered with the teams colours of blue and yellow, not to mention pictures and statues of fans and of course Maradona. He adorns everything from walls and table mats in the gift shops his face cannot be avoided! So if your reading this before you look at the pictures be warned there are a lot of pictures of him. Next we moved on the Caminito street which amazingly was more colourful and vibrant. It was painted in more colours than just the yellow and blue, there was a steel band, and a jazz band, tango dancers, street performers, bars, shops and restaurants all along the river. We danced to the music looked at the art, and sat and had a drink just soaking up the atmosphere, even though it was very touristy it almost felt like the heart of the city. next we drove round a bit more and got to see more little bits and pieces, including Palermo the neighbourhood of the rich and famous and the most fashionable area of the city before our final stop at the Plaza De Mayo. This is the political centre of the city and before you even get off the bus it becomes strikingly apparent. There are posters and banners up everywhere. Our tour guide advises us that these are for 2 things, one is protesting about something in current politics and the other half are still protesting about the past. When the dirty war was going on many people simply disappeared and once a week on a thursday mother, brothers, sisters, fathers, uncles aunties come to protest and plead with the government to provide them with some closure and tell them what happened to their loved ones. Surrounding all this controversy is some amazing buildings. One of Argentina's most recognised places the Casa Rosada or the pink palace with the famous balcony relating to Eva Peron and "don't cry for me Argentina", there is the Cabildo and the Cathedral. The Plaza itself has some lovely statues and fountains, but is split down the middle by barriers which we assume were ready for the many protests that seem to descend on the square.
Our final destination of the day was to the Recoletta cemetery, where all the rich and famous are buried. It was more like a small city of churches than a graveyard, all the tombs are vaults for an entire family, they all have glass or see through doors where you can see the coffins stacked up inside. The have spires, stained glass windows, altars, bells, statues of Angels, jesus on the cross, you see it in a church it was in these tombs. They were incredible, at first we thought it might be a bit macabre to walk round a cemetery but you could get lost in there for hours and hours and hours it was fascinating. The main highlight though was the final resting place of Eva Peron or Evita. There are so many plaques on the wall, flowers and all sorts you could see that she was really loved by her people.
The that was it our sightseeing tour was over and our last night began, and we couldn't leave without taking at least one Tango lesson and having just one more steak. So that's exactly what we did, we learnt some basic tango moves, and let me tell you its harder than it looks especially for the woman! the men get to lead, as usual, the women however have to walk backwards, do lots of fancy footwork and get thrown up in the air, all whilst weaning a skirt and heels! Needless to say we excelled and are now taking up a career in Tango dancing...NOT! We thought we were doing quite well, better than a lot of the other at least but we were in for a big shock. The rest of the evening included a 3 course meal and a Tango show where we got to see professionals, and OH MY GOD some of the footwork they did defied gravity and anatomy, it looked impossible but they did it and it was tremendous. At one point a girl was held above a mans head he threw her down towards the ground and caught her by a hand and a foot just before she hit the floor, we all sat there open mouthed in awe, whilst enjoying a lovely 3 course meal and drinking as much free red wine as we could!
And then it was over, we were back in our hotel room, packing up the rucksacks for the last time, it was very sad, and neither of us slept. We were a mixture of nerves, excitement and depression.
Then we were on the plane, back in Heathrow (where the weather was awful) and now home a month and it almost feels like it never happened, but we had the most amazing time and id do it all again in a second, it was the best experience of both of our lives and we don't regret a second.
Thank you all for reading, see you next time!
Becky and Simon xx
- comments