I solely blame the miserable weather for the amount of alcohol I drank last night, I had to keep warm!

It was a pretty fun night at the hostel, with a live band playing and then heading out to Hype - an ok club. We didn't get home until 5am, so I had a bit of a sleep in, and then got ready to start my first full day in Buenos Aires. The weather was still pretty bad, so I went for a quick walk around with an aussie girl, Brooke, and then had some breakfast in a really cute cafe. We did a bit of shopping along Avenue Florida, and then headed to our mid afternoon activity - a cooking class, Argentinian style!

It was held at the other Milhouse hostel just down the road, and as soon as we arrived we were handed a huge glass of malbec - the nicest red wine I have ever had, and it's made in Argentina. We got taught how to cook empanadas, which are like pastry filled with meat, vegetables and potatoes. They're so yummy, and went down pretty well with my slight hangover I must say. After making a few empanadas and drinking more wine, we moved onto the most famous drink in Argentina - fernet. It's a strong dark alcohol that's made from various herbs and spices, and is extremely bitter. The way Argentinians begin to drink fernet (at a very early age) is to cut the top off a 2L empty coke bottle, fill it up with ice, and then almost half half fill the bottle with fernet and coca cola. Some people add mint too. They then pass the bottle around the group and drink it constantly until it is all finished, sitting and holding onto the drink is not allowed! It was a recipe for disaster, and all of us at the table soon became very merry and red-faced. Several large bottles of fernet later, we moved onto something a little tamer (thank god) - mate tea. You drink it through a metal straw and silver mug, and it tastes like a herbal tea. Argentinians almost never leave home without a thermos of hot water and their mate tea! A few hours later it was time to head back home for a much needed rest, and all that fernet and red wine did the trick quite nicely! I spent the rest of the night hanging out at the hostel and having the first early night I have had in 2 weeks.