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Buenos Aires Part One
Another gruelling bus journey later, we arrived in Buenos Aires. It was deemed slightly better than our first bus experience on account of it being only 19 hrs and the fact that they gave out sweeties a couple of times.
We were instantly happy when shown our apartment and began making ourselves at home straight away. For me this meant looking in a mirror properly for the first time in ages and seeing that my eyebrows were almost as big as Harry's; and for Harry, sitting down with the map ensuring he knows the streets of BA like the back of his hand. We also unpacked our bags for the first time which sounds silly but was a big treat! I was a little surprised to find there were no sheets on the bed once we pulled back the duvet, nor towels in the bathroom, and was set on moaning about it to Harry as much as he moaned about dorms to me! I was somewhat pacified when shown the rooftop swimming pool which has been heaven to come back to after walking around the city in 35 degrees heat!
First impressions of BA were very good! The wide, cobbled, tree lined avenues give it a feel of Paris, New York and Madrid all rolled into one. The area we are living in is called Palermo Hollywood / Soho and it's one of the best bits of BA! It's full of amazing rooftop bars, restaurants and boutique shops. It's absolutely buzzing and we've had a few really good nights out here. Nothing kicks off until about midnight so we've been enjoying our siestas before a night out. It's fair to say we are loving redundancy so far....exploring by day, resting by the pool, siestas of an afternoon and drinks in the city's social hub at night. Certainly not missing a Monday morning commute to work in the snow :o)
We were true tourists on our first full day in BA and went into the city centre to see the cathedral and Casa Rosada from where Evita famously spoke to her followers from the balcony. We then walked to Recoleta Cemetery, a surreal and, at times, breathtaking experience. Nothing like the cemeteries at home, this one is a city of tombs often as big as houses! It is where the wealthy of Argentina are laid to rest including political families, military generals, famous writers/poets and of course, Eva Peron (Evita). We were snapping away at her tomb only to turn to each other and realise that we didn't actually know an awful lot about her. We remedied that by coming back and watching a documentary all about her on Netflix! We're now experts!
Not far from the centre is an area called San Telmo which we fell in love with instantly. Cobbled streets, pretty balconettes, shuttered windows, street tango dancers and tonnes of amazing antique shops makes the whole place feel like you've stepped back in time to traditional Argentina. We could have sat in the square having drinks for hours on end! Nevertheless, places to go, more bars to sample.....
We met up with a Scottish couple we'd previously met in Puerto Iguazu for dinner and drinks one night. We'd been recommended a restaurant called La Cabrera by our friends (thanks Tom and Helen) and were not disappointed! Needless to say we all ordered steaks. And yes, I mean steaks (plural) per person. When the waiter arrived with our sizzling plates we found we had not one, not two, but three steaks each! Each one would have been ample in itself but we were not complaining and of course finished every last bite, helped down with plenty of Malbec. Meat sweats inevitably followed.
We couldn't miss out on a tango show whilst visiting BA and my goodness, did we see a show! The venue was classic and again, felt like we'd been transported back in time. It reminded me of the 'Ink and Paint Club' in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I was half expecting a buxom cigarette girl to appear to ask Harry if he would care for a cigar. We enjoyed a three course dinner and free flowing drinks (the main reason we chose this particular show). The show was incredible and all in all we had an amazing night.
We've got another week left in Buenos Aires so there's still loads to come. We're planning on going to a live jazz club, supposedly the city's best, and a flea market in San Telmo at the weekend.
I'd love to say that we're almost fluent in Spanish by now but we've discovered that the Argie's are the Geordies of South America....very hard to understand! Many a time we've come to a stalemate when trying to communicate, although if the subject is football then Harry seems to come into his own. He's had full blown conversations with the cab drivers about Boca Juniors! He reckons football is a universal language.
Love to everyone at home. Keep your comments coming, we really enjoy reading them.
Nicola & Harry
Copa del Sh*thead scoreboard: NH 40 - 51 HF
- comments
James Reilly Its 7:30am, sitting at my desk...........never wanted steak as much as i do now...........thanks.........
Jealous Brother Joe A steak dinner in sunny Buenos Aires or an AbraKebabra in the snow at Upton Park. I mean I'm not sure what's better......
TTP I had a lovely burger before the game on Saturday. So dry and tasteless. Took me back to the glorious days at Suttons school... Sounds absolutely amazing, and with each blog I am getting more and more jealous! On the subject of football, my wonderful brother Joe bought me a Boca shirt when he went travelling... No pressure or anything.... face time me this week, text me to let me know best time. Tom xx
Uncle Graham A great read first thing on a Monday morning when the country is gridlocked by snow. Keep enjoying yourselves! PS The sums you have to do to post a comment on this blog are getting more difficult so you might not hear from me in a while.
Uncle Graham Just looked at the map & seen there's a place in BA called "Lomas de Zamora." You gotta go there Harry!
Kev San Telmo is where me and Joe stayed when we were in BA, favourite place in BA.
Becca I LOVED La Cabrera, so jel right now, this blog entry takes me back so much to my time in BA....xx
Raj C Wel Jel - sounds like all is going well on your adventure - Ur not missing much from london apart from unwanted snow !! @ nicola - lol at your eyebrows and @ Harry - stay off the steaks mate otherwise your gona come back bigger than you went and we dont want that :) have fun - be safe both !!
Green eyed little sister... Miss you both loads and UNBELIEVEABLY JEALOUS OF EVERYTHING!! TANS, STEAK WINE! ARGH!!!
Shazza Hi Guys.... Happy New year!Its nice to hear that you are having a great time!!!Just got back from a very sunny holiday to a snowy London :-( so depressing!! Anywho just wanted to say hi and please keep us posted.God Bless!!!
Shazza Ok Guys just seen your resent photos and I am soooo Jealous and depressed!! Oh Dear!!! Need to go and confess to the almighty....