Argentina you almost made me cry...

Arriving in Buenos Aires late on Friday night I was looking forward to collapsing in bed and sleeping after my flight was delayed. My plan was somewhat thwarted when I returned to my dorm after showering and turning the light on and being suddenly verbally attacked by a couple for interrupting their drunken antics in the bunk bed opposite mine....forgive me for thinking this was a shared dorm?! I awoke a few hours later with the bed shaking vigorously...it transpired the guy in the bunk beneath me had the same idea as the other two travellers earlier on. It was only a matter of time on my travels before I encountered this but I didn't expect two lots in one night! Thank goodness for ear plugs and eye masks...


Exploring Buenos Aires the next day I was initially excited about seeing the city which Id been longing to visit since I cant remember when, however after walking through several of the districts I began to get slightly disappointed with what I saw. There were areas that resembled Paris but other than that it was just like any other city with its fair share of visible poverty. I don't think it helped that within a day of being here we had been scammed and my friend had had her backpack stolen...I wont go into details but they basically throw liquid on you that smells disgusting which distracts you and then they offer to help you before grabbing you bag and running off. Ironically the hour before we were discussing how safe we felt here compared to Rio...famous last words.


What with my friend losing pretty much all her valuables, I was feeling massively disillusioned with the city Id had such high expectations for, I was beginning to think Id made a mistake when suddenly after going for a walk we discovered an area called Palermo. I cant tell you how much Buenos Aires has to thank Palermo for redeeming itself. Palermo was not what Id imagined Buenos Aires would be like but it didn't matter, it was pretty, much safer than where I was staying down town and way more hip. It even had neighbourhoods called Palermo Chico, Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood which made me like it even more. It reminded me a lot of Berlin and Soho in NYC but with better shops (Its made me excited about shopping which for me is weird) bars and interesting graffiti.

Most of the streets have these enchanting trees lining them

My mama and auntie will appreciate this piece of street art . For those of you who aren't sure who Torrente is click here

I caught up with my friend who I met in Rio who is from BA and she told me off for staying in the hostel I was in as it was quite dodgy at night (as we´d experienced) so having discovered my new favourite part of BA, I immediately moved to a hostel there. 


So far I have been to an area called Recoleta which has the cemetery where Eva ´Evita´ Peron is buried (if you haven't seen the film of her namesake then read this for a history lesson).

A giant iron portrait of Evita on the front of Argentina's social development ministry building, where she gave a historic speech prior to her death from cancer in 1952. It reminded me of the iconic portrait of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Havana, Cuba.

Another portrait of Evita on the other side of the same building

Surprisingly her grave was quite small compared some of the other mausoleums in the streets (yes they have streets!) of the cemetery. Whilst there, we cheekily eavesdropped on two guys, one of whom was given the other a tour of the cemetery, however subtlety isn't my middle name so he quickly clicked what we were doing and said it was fine for us to tag along. He turned out to be a tour guide on his day off which was a bit of a result for us as tourists. What was a little strange was the fact that despite him being from Buenos Aires he played cricket and was sporting a Reading football club t-shirt (my old recruitment director will like that) and he spoke with an Aussie accent...a proper one, even referring to rough around the edge locals as bogans!! This coming from a guy who is adamant he has never been to Australia...bizarre.

The Duarte Family grave (Evita´s maiden name)

The ´streets´of graves...

Is it a house? no its a grave

We then visited La Boca which is famed for its coloured houses and the Boca Juniors, one of Argentina´s best football clubs who are based there. Their stadium is tiny compared to Emirates in London! : ) Mr Diego ´hand of God´Maradona used to play for Boca Juniors in the 1980´s.

Some local kids improving their game

Diego Maradona...the early years

La Boca stadium

Do not park you car here...

Another area which we visited was San Telmo where we stumbled across a carnival procession and watched some al fresco tango dancing. Randomly I bumped into my sisters work colleague walking through one of the street markets there! Talk about a small world...

His bombons did not really appeal

You wouldn't see the pensioners of Littlehampton doing this...

Last night we went for some steak in a restaurant called La Cabrera, where we had to wait an eternity to get a table on a Tuesday night - its not just in London that this happens then! Thankfully the portions made up for the wait as did the huge range of accompaniments that came with each dish, including apple compote which is surprisingly tasty with steak. 

Check out the size of my steak!

Delicious : )

Lolly tree. Little Chef eat your heart out.

Tomorrow Im going to have a relaxing day exploring the Botanical and Japanese Gardens before meeting up with some friends in the evening to visit some of the bars I've been recommended to visit in Palermo (cultural purposes only of course...)  :  D


My Argentinian friend has then invited me to spend Christmas at her grand parents house just outside of BA which I have graciously accepted. Im then going to hopefully join her and her friends for NYE in a Punto del Diablo which is a coastal village in Uruguay where I've been assured is the place to be...so Ill let you know!


¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!