Hi All,

So we finally arrived in Buenos Aires after 28 hours on the bus!! The bus stopped in BA before La Plata which it said on our ticket so we did get the right place! We got a cab to Hostel Gay and Lesbian and of course there was another nightmare awaiting us. We had bokd a private room for two online but she was saying only one person could go in that room so we ended up in a 6 bed room but just us. The woman was horrible and shouted at us but luckily there was a guy there to translate lol, we had enough to pay her and then went out to find food. We kind of got the impression that is was clearly because we were not gay. We couldn’t get money out at the ATM but it was all in Spanish so decided to get some the next day and ended up with a MacDonald’s which we were not too bothered about having not seen one in a few weeks lol! I also read another James Patterson book in a day lol, we are getting dangerously low!

The net day we got up and went to the ATM none of which worked and we tried every combination but there were other people trying too and it was as if they were just not giving out cash but then we found one that was working and it still wouldn’t work. So with about 50p on us we trekked all around the area ending up back at the hostel with me in tears wondering what we were going to eat over the holiday weekend!! Luckily the hostel had free wifi so we transferred my money to Craig’s account and went back out to the bank and it worked and we had money! We took a cab to Plaza de Mayo, the main plaza in the city centre and had a look about, there are so many pigeons here and very now and again its like someone blows a whistle or something and they all take of and practically fly into your face, it was amazing there were hundreds of them! We took a walk along Florida Ave the main street and had a look in some of the shops but its all quit expensive here, most things are pretty much on par price wise with at home. We then looked for somewhere to have our first $5 steak which was an impossible task so we ended up in a place having a £5 steak instead, it was gorgeous although the plate was covered in grease! One meal in a day is not bad though lol! After we got a cab back as we still didn’t really know the way around and didn’t know where was safe, luckily we did as in the cab on the way back the taxi driver leaned back and locked us in - must have been a bad neighbourhood, scary!!

Next day we moved to a new hostel in San Telmo which is were the city is said to have originated. We were trying to look for football tickets as Boca Juniors were playing Banfield but the guy at the hostel said we would need to go to the stadium and buy them from touts, sometimes reaching 500 pesos and sometimes ending up with fake tickets. In San Telmo on a Sunday there are performances in Plaza Dorrego and all the antique fairs come out in the street so we set out to find it. We didn’t find the plaza but all along Defensa was covered in stalls and there were loads of antique markets and street performers. There was one guy dancing the tango with a doll and he cornered me and of course I went bright red and then he pointed out that I was bright red in front of the whole crowd, so embarrassed!! We yet again had McD’s and had a wonder along the street and looked at all the stuff, we found a really cool shop that had all original posters of old concerts and films etc, we limited ourselves to two though. We also realised that here we are just a 20 minute walk from the plaza. We decided not to bother with the football as it was likely we would get conned and have to pay a taxi there and back as the stadium is not in a good area. There was meant to be a free tango show in a restaurant at 9pm if you ate there so we set out late an thought we found the restaurant but it was guff but we did this time find Plaza Dorrego and it was all strung with little different coloured light bulbs and people were all dancing, then we saw a drum parade with people all dancing at the front then another one with jugglers etc, it was really cool. We got out some money and went to find somewhere to eat and fund a nice restaurant and I had like a casserole thing and Craig had the biggest steak ever, we even treated ourselves to a bottle of red wine, Im surprised we were not drunk after not drinking for so long! I gave Craig a bit of my food and it was too hot for him (as in warm) and all the waiters were laughing at him “caliente, caliente” lol!! After we went home to bed after finally having a realy great day, this was more what we expected Buenos Aires to be like!

Yesterday we were waiting on a transfer and didn’t have much money so we just went out for breakfast and then went for a walk at the plaza and Florida Ave to see what the cinema was like, most films were in English so we went to see Duplicity which cost us £2 each lol, film was pretty rubbish though to be honest although Clive Owen was in it so it wasn’t hellish lol! After we couldn’t find anywhere reasonably cheap to eat so we just went where we had been the day before and it was not quite as nice and dead, Sunday seems to be the day in this area! Also they have Cadburys Dream white chocolate here and it is amazing and I have ate like a bar a day lol!
Today we got up and checked our mail and walked to the Plaza and got tickets to be total tourists on the open top bus tour, of course though the weather was colder today so no shorts and t-shirt for us today, Im glad we came home when we did as if I came home with this colour I would not be impressed so at least everyone has seen that we were brown at one point lol! The bus was absolutely freezing, we were baltic the whole time!! It took us all round the city and we got off in Boca which was cool and had a wander round, there was the famous b rightly coloured buildings and we walked up Cominito which is full of local artist’s work which was all very good but they were a bit adventurous on the price. This area was obviously set up for tourists and all the shops were about three times the price of the markets on Sunday and everyone kept annoying you to eat in their restaurant so we just went and waited on the next bus in an area that looked very much like the Clyde lol!!! After we went round on the bus a bit more through Palermo and Recoleta, which had loads of posh shops and dog walkers, on guy with like 15 dogs, I want his job. It was quite a good thing to see all the places we hadn’t been to yet while staying safe, apologies that I cant really remember the names of anything for the photos but there was too many things to see lol! We had a walk along in town to get something to eat and decided we had enough steak so went to an Italian and got pasta and mine was swimming in grease and I couldn’t eat it then they charges us a peso extra and then the waiter stood over us while I counted out the money for the bill saying it dint include tip but I left none anyway. Then we went to the cinema to see X-men:Wolveine which was ok but I slept for an hour of it so I’m not too sure lol! We walked back to the hostel and have just packed up our bags etc as tomorrow we are heading to Brazil, our final destination, well apart from our wee stop over in NYC! We are heading to Foz do Igazu as its mid way between here and Rio and it breaks up the 44 hour journey and we don’t even know if we have enough to get all the way there before the transfer is through so better to be safe than sorry!!

Hope all is well back home!

Lots of Love

Eva and Craig xxx