How the hell have we been away for a whole month already? It really doesn't feel like it, though I have missed home a few times in the past week or so. Wee Conor has started walking which will be cool to see when I get back and I'm missing out on all the new Late Late Show host debate which I'm sure is raging back home.... Nevertheless one has to get over these trials and plough on with the travelling.
We´ve been in Buenos Aires for five days now. Arrived here via the Argentinian bus system which CIE could definitely learn a thing or two from. Fully reclining seats, movies and a guy who comes on board to serve you a hot dinner and drinks. Apparently if you opt for the highest class ticket you even get a glass of champagne before bedtime! What we´ve seen of BA so far has been great. We're staying in an area called Palermo Soho which is quite a trendy part of town and has lots of cafes, boutiques and bars. We haven't been rushing around to see everything in the city at a crazy pace because we're staying here for 2 weeks in total. Also given the nightlife here it's hard to get out of the scratcher before noon. The going-out scene here is crazy: people eat dinner at 9 or 10pm, start drinking at around 11pm and then hit the clubs at about 2am. Clubs stay open all night long - at least til 8am. I´ve been told that hardcore partying portenos will regularly get home at 6am, nap for three hours and then head off to work for themselves. It takes some adjusting to. We´ve been to one really good club here which had the unusual combination of been hosted by a huge drag queen troupe and also included a breakdancing show mid way through the night. As for steaks... well, we've still to sample some of the better restaurants of the city but we've definitely set our sights on few places. We're just back from a soccer match now. We were there in support of Boca Jnrs who were playing in their homeground. We didn't have tickets and only managed to get touts to smuggle us through the gates for the second half. This was after walking around the grounds of the stadium in the very dodgy area of La Boca, passing through police on horseback and in riot gear. There were a few moments where we wonered if the touts were leading us down an alley to relieve us of all our belongings (Mary and I have taken to stuffing money down our bras) but thankfully we managed to get in. The atmosphere was brilliant, with some really passionate chanting and some rather colourful language from some very small children! My favourite bit was when a sixty-something year old lady fully decked out in the Boca colours produced a rucksack full of caramel sweets and starting throwing them out into the crowd. Now there's a way to earn popularity points! The match itself was great and we're thinking about going back again next week. I think there might be a football fanatic in me waiting to come out.
We're planning on spending another week here and I´m starting a week-long Spanish course tomorrow morning. If I can manage to rise at 8am in the mornings for the whole of next week it will be a miracle.
Until next time.
e
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