Argentina! Buenos Aires

ARGENTINA!

Buenos Aires

Arriving in Argentina by ferry was not a comfortable journey by any means with the sea being particularly rough and the rain pouring down although it was fairly quick. When we reached Buenos Aires the roads were like rivers from such heavy rain at the other side of the River Plate. We dashed into a cab and the first port of call was a bank as we had no Argentine money. Looking around I could see the sheer size and grandiosity of the city and I knew it was going to be an adventure being in not only in this huge city but in this huge country for the next month or so.

So I've been here in Buenos Aires for 3 days now so I thought I'd better get something written down...on our first night of arrival we went to see Boca Juniors which was the most amazing game of football I've ever been to. There was an electric storm going on with huge lightning forks lighting the sky, the loudest thunder I've ever heard even at points drowning out the deafening crowd and the rain well the rain could be described as nothing less than torrential being ceaseless for the entire match. The match itself was not the only entertainment with the crowd being just as entertaining, singing, jumping, dancing and then the drums and whistles just made everyone want to sing and clap and dance despite the pouring rain, there was no disheartening their spirits. It was like being at a carnival and a football match at the same time and I often found myself paying more attention to the crowd than to the game. The atmosphere could be described as no less than breathtaking and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who even those who have no interest in sport or football just for the experience! I can’t some it up in words and pictures but I’ll eventually get a video up of it so you can witness the atmosphere. It was truly amazing. According to the Observer the number 1 sporting event in the world that one must do is the Boca v River game (the two biggest clubs in Buenos Aires) and I cannot even begin to imagine what the atmosphere would be like in this game with such intense rivalry and passionate fans! The game ended up with Boca coming out 3-1 winners and I’m glad that we witnessed Boca winning and scoring 3 goals as they went wild whenever they scored and got even louder. The whole of the bottom terrace would surge forward towards the pitch and everyone would be jumping and cheering. Simply amazing! The whole stadium would be rocking literally!

Anyway so that was our first night, what a way to start your time in this great city! Unfortunately we’ve now been here over a week and it’s time to leave so I’m going to try and sum up our time, what we’ve done, what I thought of the city, people, places, food etc. Before I start, I've been told by a friend that my blogs are boring so for those of you that are actually reading them I apologise if this is the case (they were actually likened to travel stories by Dan Brown which I didn’t quite know how to take since he is a very successful author) but I think the point was that he has a rather boring style of getting the point across so from now on I’ll try and spice them up a little just for you Osh ;)

So we arrived at our hostel and kind of didn’t even see it as it was quite inconspicuous, just a door in the street, you wouldn’t know it was there if you weren’t looking for it. On arrival we were greeted by the lovely Natalia, the nicest hostel owner I’ve ever met. She went out of her way to make sure we settled in, spoke good English and even sat down with us with a map and went through every area, do’s and don’ts, no go areas, sights to see etc and she did the same with every newcomer. We agreed with her that we’d change rooms as the one reserved for us was a little small and not ensuite so for just a little extra we upgraded to a room with 2 floors with a balcony with 2 beds upstairs and a big double bed downstairs that Steve claimed since he booked the place. It was very cozy almost like an apartment just without the kitchen. One drawback however was that it was very hot but we did get given a fan which was also claimed by Steve! Anyway so yes the hostel and all the staff were very friendly and we’d arranged with Natalia that we’d go and see the Boca game on the first night so she told us her friend Diego arranged the trip, picked us up in a minibus and dropped us back and this included drinks, the ticket and a meal afterwards (all for 200 pesos) which works out at about £40 which is less than what we’d pay for just a ticket to a premiership game! Diego was a bit of a wheeler dealer and reminded me a little of Diego Maradonna for some reason although another English guy suggested he was more like Cheech form Cheech and Chong which was probably more accurate. He was trying to sell us fake shirts in the minibus before the game which to be fair were quite good quality but we thought we’d hold off to see what we could buy at the ground. Our group on the minibus were an amiable bunch, we had Peruvians, other Argentines (one of whom looked scarily like the older guy from motorcycle diaries) some other Brits and a nice couple from Bruges. On arrival we were made to wait in the pouring rain for Diego to do his wheeler dealer thing and get his usual touts to sort our tickets. It was all a bit hectic with lots of people shouting and pointing but we all got in in the end and as you can tell from what I wrote above, an experience not to be missed when in BA.

The next day the 3 of us did our own thing with Lee going to the main shopping area, Steve staying in due to the fact that we were still waiting on our laundry and so he had no clean clothes (this was another good feature of the hostel, they take all your laundry and bring it back the next day all nice and clean) and I decided to go have a little wonder around the sites. Unfortunately the weather was still cloudy (typical that since only on our last day the sun did actually come out).

I ended up walking around about half the city (the part on the map we’d been given by Natalia anyway) going all the way from the hostel to huge congress building which was quite a site with a fantastic great big green dome on top. 

Bearing in mind this was the second biggest city in South America behind Sao Paulo and one of the biggest in the world, I felt I had a lot of ground to cover and a lot to see. The congress building was of the most grandiose buildings I’ve ever seen and you just have to stand and marvel the masonry and wonder how on Earth they did it! It was just a shame about the weather because everything in my opinion looks so much better with a blue sky backdrop rather than a dull grey one. From the congress building I headed west towards Boca where we had been the night before as I was keen to see Caminito the part next to the Bombanera (Boca’s stadium) and the west docs with beautifully multicoloured buildings all around and cafes, shops and restaurants. A real treat on the eyes and a must see if you’re in BA. On the way there and back there were some fantastic churches, cathedrals and Spanish style architecture with some exquisitely ornate domes and steeples and I really felt like a true tourist as there I was with my camera, I just couldn’t stop snapping away. Not only was I struck by the old style architecture in every street but also by the juxta of the modern era with some fantastic modern glass and steel buildings cropping up everywhere between the older buildings. You walk around and just can’t help but be looking up at everything. There were also many impressive monuments and artistic paintings on many of the walls which some may call graffiti but I’d say it’s art as it brightens up and otherwise dull grey concrete wall. This is one thing I appreciated that they even artistically painted the corrugated iron shutters on the shops with ships at sea or something else to represent the area you were in which I thought was nicer than just seeing plain metal and brightens the whole place up. It suggested to me that this was a vibrant colourful and creative city with a clear passion for things such as football, dance (founding place of tango), art, culture and food.

On the subject of food, we just need one word to sum up our alimentary experience in BA, and that word in case you hadn’t guessed already is STEAK. 

There was a fantastic parillada (steak house) just at the end of our road, a 30 second walk which we visited 4 times in total. I know it seems bad that we went there 4 times and didn’t try anywhere else in this grand city but the quality was superb and it was so convenient and the service excellent from the same guy every time. The quality and size of meat here just doesn’t compare with the UK and for this reason we don’t even ask each other what we want for breakfast (yes steak for brekkie too), lunch and dinner, steak is always on the menu J. I think the steak house was called Diablada in case anyone is interested although I’m sure there are plenty of other great quality places to be found. Another of these is one recommended to us by the English guys in Punta del Este called L’Abrigada which was one the best restaurants I’ve ever been to (very posh so I felt a bit underdressed turning up in my recently purchased Boca top), it didn’t help either that they were River fans so since I still had the t-shirt I went out in I changed it to my other t-shirt which according to Steve was hideous but I think he was just jealous I have such nice clothes and besides at least I don’t wear the same shirt for a whole week in a row like he does!! Anyway so I digressed, where was I , oh yeah, the steak, simply amazing, you don’t even need sides, salad, chips etc as it’s hard to fit it all in with sides and starters etc but we went all out getting empanadas or impanemas as Lee calls them lol (Steve’s new favourite food). They’re like Cornish pasties but with really high grade steak and cheese or whatever you want inside. Delicious. Then the sides were delicious too, the garlic and sage chips were delicious, so much flavor and not to mention the steak with juices running, the knife just cuts through like butter and it almost melts in the mouth with the sauces provided complimenting every taste and giving the taste buds a real treat. Then there’s the wine, cheap and yet very high quality, can’t wait to get to Mendoza (the city famous for it’s wine growing and production) to sample some of the best vino the world has to offer! Speaking of price, I must say that Argentina is very cheap which is good for our budgets. The prices in pesos are pretty much spot on what we would pay in pounds yet the pound is worth around 5-6 times more so for a 3 course meal and a bottle of wine you’re looking at around 100 pesos so just over 20 quid.

Right sorry if I’m getting boring, still lots to talk about, just getting distracted by the lovely views out of the coach window, lovely grassy fields, trees, lakes. Can’t wait to see Patagonia! Anyway so where was I? Think I’m up to day 4 or so, trouble is they’ve all merged into one now. Some observations I made that were notable were that you don’t notice many tourists at all which was rather surprising and there is a very small amount of multiculturalism in the city ie you don’t really notice different ethnicities, they are all mainly European looking whites which I thought was rather strange for such a large city. The next point to make is that I can’t emphasize just how safe I felt and how friendly all the people were in the city, none of the grumpiness or mass homelessness as witnessed in Sao Paulo (although there were some people sleeping rough but not nearly as many) but there are certain areas you really don’t want to be going at night. Being brave one night I thought I’d go out and find somewhere to eat dinner and have a drink and maybe meet people on my own as Lee and Steve had already eaten so I thought I’d head to San Telmo, the area where I had been where they had plazas and seating areas outside cafes and restaurants so I thought I’d head there but it was further than I thought and the streets were dark and filled with people sitting in doorways and strangely kids still running around all over the place even though it was nearly midnight! Anyway so I didn’t get there in the end as I got a little lost and felt slightly vulnerable and had to settle for an empanada from the bakery which always seemed to be open opposite the hostel. One incident which did shock me a little was being on the metro or subte as they call it and having some guy duck under my arm rather than saying perdon and I would’ve moved. I felt this a little strange. Then when he tried it again I just moved my hand. Next thing I know he’s right close beside me and I’m surrounded on the busy tube but me being me I think nothing untoward until I see his hand in my pocket, slowly trying to take my camera out. As soon as I noticed, another guy to my left coughed loudly and nudged me to put me off balance which showed me that there were at least 2 or 3 of them in on it. Anyway he quickly removed his hand from my pocket when I whacked it away and I went and sat down feeling a little shocked and slightly embarrassed about the whole thing with everyone else on the tube watching and needless to say the culprits all fled the tube at the next stop. I know it sounds naive but the guy who tried to take my camera really didn’t look like the type, he was id say in his 50s, pretty small and slightly Japanese looking but the other guy looked dodgy again probably in his 40s or 50s but he had a hard looking face with an earring and gold chains and the tye you wouldn’t want to mess with! You never can tell and have to learn to trust no one these days although no harm was done and nothing stolen it has made me even more precautious now. It has unfortunately tainted my view of Argentines as everyone else I’ve encountered have been lovely and very friendly.

In terms of nightlife and going out, I was determined to experience one night out drinking and I wasn’t willing to go out alone so luckily I had an online friend who had been helping me learn Spanish from Buenos Aires so I arranged to meet her and her friends in Palermo an area Steve, Lee and I had been to earlier which is an area full of bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants. They have a Palermo Soho and a Palermo Hollywood and we had spent the afternoon in an Irish bar in Soho watching footy and later eaten yes a steak in Hollywood so I knew roughly knew the area which helped. I met them at a bar and we went to the nice open terrace to have some drinks. She had brought along 3 friends, 2 other girls and a guy called Nicholas a lovely guy who spoke excellent English. In fact they all spoke good English except for her which was ironic. Here they go out very late, the bars don’t start getting busy til 1am so that’s when we agreed to meet and Lee, Steve and I had already started drinking earlier and by the time I got to the bar I was pretty drunk having polished off a bottle of red which cost 7 pesos less than a pound! So I was the centre of attention and they all wanted to ask me about England and English language which I gladly obliged but insisted that at times we spoke Spanish as I wanted to improve and understand more. In the end we ended up in a cool night club called Sahara which was 3 floors high and overlooked the huge cemetery in the centre of the city. Quite a spooky looking place! Anyway so I got out about 7am which felt strange coming out in bright light but then that’s the way they do things in South America. It all worked out nicely in the end as there it was a Sunday and I had noting I urgently needed to do except for get up to watch Chelsea v Arsenal at 1pm and then we had agreed with Natalia that we would go see River Plate

as well so it would be a day punctuated by football for me that and a bad hangover! The Chelsea game went well although we played badly and were dominated for the most part we still won 2-0 so it was a great result for us and moved us back to top of the league by 2 points. Next was the River game with our friend Diego. This time we shared the minibus with some Aussies, Brits and a Dutch guy. All very nice, friendly, chatty people who shared their travel experiences with us and vice versa. One guy called Ilat who I was chatting to for a while and lives in Sydney with his girlfriend even suggested I came over to Aus and visited them in Sydney which I excitedly agreed to but unfortunately never got their contact details in the end.

On arrival at the stadium I was told it was the Argentina national stadium so I was very much looking forward to seeing it. It was an extremely large stadium although not as great as I would expect for a national stadium as it looked fairly old and rusty with an old looking running track around the pitch and even the quality of the pitch didn’t look great also it was an all seater stadium but everyone stood up anyway which was good as the atmosphere again was electric even of the game wasn’t. The fans were again deafening and the band were just awesome, the rolling drums and whistles and jumping, clapping, singing just made it like a carnival and this great big stadium was actually bouncing with the people. Such passion and such devotion to the club cannot be rivaled apart from Boca perhaps but not in any other country I’ve been in. One of the songs that they sing over and over went something like this ‘we’re going to talk with our feet, if you don’t want to listen then we’ll kill you’! Quite glad I had earlier bought a replica River shirt before the game when I heard those lyrics. They were just such catchy tunes you found yourself just wanting to join in and sing and club with everyone else. Unfortunately the game itself was dull and we didn’t get any goals so we didn’t get to see the wild celebrations that would’ve occurred had we done but to be fair to the fans they kept on singing and the band kept going all the way to the end and even for about 15 minutes after the final whistle! The atmosphere at both Boca and River were second to none although I think I’d be a Boca fan if I had to make the choice even though I got both shirts for 2 reasons, Boca are blue and blue is the colour as we all know and the Boca fans didn’t stop even during half time they kept it up, there was never silence whereas at River every now and then there was silence. Oh and Boca were better and gave us 3 goals and the fact that I already joined the Boca fan group on facebook so I can’t really go joining the river one too now hehe. Anyway so brilliant experience both games and I think I should vow to come back for Boca v River one day cos that would be out of this world no doubt.

The next day, our last full day in BA we agreed to do a walking tour of the city of the areas we hadn’t yet done. Thankfully it was hot and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. First we headed to the obelisk which is one of the most famous landmarks in Buenos Aires and the place where all celebrations occur when there is a sporting achievement in BA or on a national scale. We continued to Retiro a place full of skyscrapers with some interestingly shaped buildings to note. We then got out bus tickets and headed to the cemetery that I had overlooked from the club the previous night. This was an experience with huge tombs and actual streets with most tombs being the size of small houses! Quite amazing what people buy for the dead to rest in! Very spooky too, looked inside one of them and the crypt was stacked full of coffins all the way down as far as the eye could see! I then left Steve and Lee as they wanted to go to Florida (the main shopping street) and I headed to the giant metallic flower which is a great piece of modern art and was quite something, poised above water the reflections of the water and buildings and the bright blue sky and bright reflection from the sun certainly gave it a special look. Next I headed to the Japanese gardens and the parks and space observatory which were all very beautiful with lakes and trees and grass and people everywhere sunbathing, picnicking, rollerblading and generally enjoying themselves. A lovely day overall for me. I must’ve walked about 15 miles at least and bought some much needed shades down Santa Fe, one of the main shopping streets and felt great. I had really enjoyed my last day and indeed my time in this city and would recommend it to anyone as it has so much to offer for all kinds of people and apart from that incident on the tube I felt at home, welcomed with smiles everywhere.

Now we head South to a place called Pinamar a coastal town with beaches, yay more sea and sand and swimming I hope. Not too sure what the place has to offer but I’ll be finding out soon so keep reading people. If I haven’t bored you to death yet……