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It's been a busy few days in Buenos Aires, so this will be a pretty long entry since so much stuff has happened. I should really be more regular on here but I struggle to find the time to frequently update!
Me and Caitlin got to BA on the 28th March, and only started doing touristy things the day after we arrived because the first day we were so exhausted we slept as soon as we got to our hotel. On the 29th we wandered around the centre of Buenos Aires, just trying to get a feel for the place and see all the landmarks located on our 'tango map', given to us by a lovely old man working at reception. It really is starkly different to Brazil, because although the natural landscape here is nowhere near as remarkable, the architecture more than makes up for it. I've previously described Centro in Rio; everywhere here is like that, but with buildings that are even more varied and grand. Located in the vicinity of a beautiful colonial theatre you can find gothic style buildings, a palatial looking courthouse ('Tribunales') and a massive structure they call the 'Obelisk'. And that's only a very small part of the city! It's pretty incredible. We spent around 5 hours just walking around Buenos Aires; when we got back Caitlin had a look at the map and commented that we had covered almost a third of the city by foot... Needless to say we had an early night that night..
The next day we went to the stunning town of Tigre, an hour train journey away. On the train we weren't really sure of what to expect, considering our journey there consisted of standing in a sweaty un-air-conditioned carriage for over an hour.. But when we did get there, it was completely worth the trip: Caitlin described it as 'toytown' and likened it to Stepford which I think were very apt descriptions for it. Everything was verdant green and the water of the river was a bright blue, and there wasn't an ugly building in sight. It's lucky that we've had such good weather here, because I can imagine it would be totally different on a rainy day. Anyway, we had a boat ride down the river on a Catamaran and generally had an absolutely lovely day.
On Thursday we spent the morning in Recoleta, and visited Evita's mausoleum (on the Familia Duarte plot) in the cemetery there. Although it was quite eerie spending the morning in a huge cemetery stuffed full with mausoleums and sarcophaguses, it was strangely beautiful; not only because of the sculpture and artwork with each mausoleum but also because there was a sense of peace and calmness surrounding the cemetery that I haven't experienced in one before. Then that afternoon we went to the zoo in Palermo. Originally we were very excited about going, but after seeing a polar bear (in 30 degree heat), a performing elephant, and a huge Mauritian tortoise forced to live in a space only three times it's size, we came out of it quite disconcerted and appalled. But I guess less emphasis is placed upon animals here than in the UK; it was just a bit shocking.
On Friday, we met Alice and Helen and moved to the Milhouse on Hipolito Yrigoyen- since then we've been partying a little bit, doing some more touristy things and generally have been having a great time. Friday night we went to a club called Crobar, which was immensely fun and played every sort of dance-worthy song under the sun. On Saturday we went to Caminita in La Boca, which is a town with boldly coloured houses, tango in the streets and markets with lots and lots of beautiful artwork. In the evening we went to Pacha, which, if I'm honest, I was pretty disappointed by. The club wasn't very impressive, and it was a bit too trance and electro for my liking. Monday night we went to a club called Severino just up the road for an old school hip hop night, and then that brings us to today, half an hour before we leave to start our two day journey to Ghana! It's been wonderful here, but I'm definitely ready to go and start afresh in a completely new environment doing completely different things. I'll let you know how it all goes.
Photos will be coming soon, as always missing you all lots and lots.
All my love, Vick xxx
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