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Hi!
As I have four weeks to catch up on I've decided to write about things in sections rather than chronologically, so here it goes...
Sightseeing and Important Days
I'd just like to clarify that normally I do not enjoy walking around cemeteries, however Recoleta is no ordinary cemetery. Most people visit Recoleta to see Evita's grave, but in all honesty it is nothing special. There are far more ostentatious ones, which makes walking around Recoleta an enjoyable, even if slightly strange way, to spend an afternoon.
This may sound odd, but I went to a Japanese Garden in Argentina! Despite visiting on a busy Saturday the garden still managed to inflict calmness amongst people. Unfortunately my clamness was short-lived, as I went to Belgrano afterwards. Belgrano is a wealthy barrio, but the area of Avenida Cabildo and Justamento is manic - full of people shopping etc etc - just like any other main Avenue in the city.
For true relaxation I highly recommend the Ecological Reserve, BsAs' largest green area. After a picnic with Polly and Jen we hired bikes to cycle around the Reserve. It was quite unusual, as on one side you looked out onto the Rio and on the other the skyscrapers of BsAs.
An even more relaxing place is the sleepy gaucho town of San Antonio de Areco, which is about two hours away from BsAs. In all honesty there is not that much to see, but Jen and I had a lovely lunch, visited the Church and a traditional Silversmiths, and bought chocolates at probably the nicest smelling Chocolate shop in the world!
Other things to note are I went to the World's Largest Milonga. A milonga is an event where people dance tango, so it's no great surprise that it is held in Argentina - the Tango Capital of the world! However, what is surprising is just how big it actually is - ie they close down one of the city's main avenues - Avenida Corrientes.
Sticking with the music theme I went to see Oasis! I know I have seen them before, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to see them in BsAs, especially when the venue is a 10 minute walk from where I live. As always they were brilliant! When they came on the crowd went wild! I even lost the people (Polly, Dani and Harry) that I was with, however I managed to find Dani later on, which was good just to see his face when they played Don't Look Back In Anger!
On 24 March 2006 Argentina had a Bank Holiday to remember those that "disappeared" during the Dirty War. This was the first year of this Bank Hol, and it was marked in many ways. The "event" that I went to was at the Plaza de Mayo. People marched towards the Plaza to listen to people making speeches. The important message was "Nunca Mas", which means "Never Again".
Two days later there was another important day for Argentines, albeit on a very different note. The day when Argentina's two largest football teams, Boca Juniors and River Plate, play had arrived! This derby is known as the Superclassico and is one of the world's top matches to see, and I am happy to say that I was at La Bombonera, Boca Junior's stadium to see it. The only catch was that I had to sit with River Plate fans (boo hiss boo!) because all of Boca's tickets go to members for this game. Nevertheless the atmosphere was unreal! I was in popular, as oppose to platea, and I have never experienced anything quite like it. The stands are all decorated with ribbons, people bang drums to provide music for the songs, which people sing throughout the game. I did try to keep up with the singing, but at times it was a little too difficult so I just kept shouting random Spanish words and jumping up and down! The score was 1-1 - Boca scored in the last few mins - much to my delight, but I had to try to be upset, as I was surrounded by angry River fans!
My Birthday Weekend!
Although my birthday was Sunday March 19 we made a weekend of it - no surprise there then! First, Anita and I went shopping - an activity that always makes me happy! On the Saturday night we had an Asado at the hostel, which was delicious. Polly then lured me into a false sense of security when she asked me to go and see Jen - this was to allow her to decorate the patio area with balloons and candles! At midnight everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and I blew out the candles on my birthday cake - luckily there weren't 22! After a few more drinks we went to Sonar Sound, an International Dance Festival from Barcelona. The event was held in a massive warehouse and it was great! The atmosphere and the music were priceless. As I didn't go to bed til 7am on the Sunday I didn't get up til about 2ish! After opening cards, presents, reading emails, speaking to people on the phone I went to the apartment Lucy was looking after for a few glasses of wine. In the evening eighteen of us went for a meal at Filo, which was very tasty. Sundays are pretty quiet in BsAs so after the meal Polly and I went back to Lucy's apartment. All in all a great birthday weekend!
Miscellaneous
In between all of the above I have been working, and trying to improve my Spanish by taking private lessons with Luciana, who is absolutely brilliant. Then of course I have been meeting a lot of people, which is great because it helps you to enjoy all the social activites on offer in BsAs, such as going to fantastic restaurants, bars and clubs. Areas to note are Palermo Hollywood (my home!), Palermo Viejo, Plaza Serrano and Las Canitas.
However, as I`ve said before, the real downside of travelling is when people move on. Unfortunately Filip left this month to surprise his girlfriend in Nicaragua - how sweet?! I have had so many good laughs with Filip, and I will really miss him. However, I will see him when he returns in July for his flight back to Sweden - looking forward to it already!
Lucy.x
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