It was our first super early start this morning to get the ferry from BA to Montevideo at 9am. We're now en route so it's given me time to talk about our first few days in the city, which has been non stop!
We landed in a fogged-over city with almost no visibility on Sunday morning. I actually thought we had touched down in Glasgow as it's such a common sight when coming home, however I give them their dues it is right in the depths of Winter. We had good intentions of heading straight out to explore but after no sleep on a very uncomfortable 13 hour flight and the fact we got an early check in at the hotel, it was straight in bed for a 3 hour siesta!
Our hotel was right in the city centre in Recoleta area, perfectly located to walk or take a bus to other areas of the city. We spent the afternoon taking in the surroundings in the "micro-centro" and were surprised at how much we felt like we were in Europe. I had read that Buenos Aires was the perfect mix of Paris & Madrid, and this seemed to be spot on! Large tree-lined boulevards, pretty and colourful colonial apartments and laid back, friendly locals made me feel right at home. The fact it was a Sunday meant things were a bit quieter than usual, so we found a local bar for our first meal - omelette and revuelto which is a dish of scrambled egg, fried potatoes, onions and ham. No meat to be seen yet! I think our long journey had taken it out of us so it was an early night to get set for the next day's adventures.
Day 2 saw us venture further afield to the la Boca neighbourhood. After some confusion on getting a bus card which you had to buy at a kiosk then top up in a shop, we managed to find the correct number of bus in the overwhelming network across the city. There is a metro in BA but it's a bit like the Glasgow one in that it doesn't really cover the whole city so buses were the way to go. I just love taking buses in a new city as it's affordable plus you get to take in the city (unlike the underground!). The bonus is you get a wee snippet into local's lives. On the downside, working out where to get off is always a challenge but we managed to make our way without a major problem. La Boca neighbourhood is the most colourful district in BA located near the port. Back in the day, immigrants settled here mainly from Genoa and made the place their home. The homes are small and boxy, made of corrugated iron and painted all the colours of the rainbow. There was some interesting graffiti pieces scattered around the area also. The neighbourhood nowadays is known to be a bit dodgy so it's recommended not to go off the beaten track. We wandered around "El Caminito" (the little street) and up towards La Bombonera which is the stadium of the famous Boca juniors football team. After a refreshment of Quilmes (the local beer) we headed back to our neighbourhood for the cheese-iest 4 cheese pizza I have ever eaten and some empanadas which are what can only be described as Argentinan Greggs steak pasties.
Buenos Aires has alot of influence from Italy, notably the food, so you can find traditional pizza ovens and ice cream parlours on every street. Another big thing they are known for is meat, specifically big juicy steaks barbecued and served with chimmichurri salsa (like a pesto of parsley, garlic, olive oil). I thought I'd be eating steak everyday but it actually wasn't til the 3rd day we ended up sampling a Parrilla-style meal.
On our last day, I gave into Niall's request of a stadium tour at River Plate - the most successful Argentinan football team (you learn something new everyday!). The stadium itself was not the most glamorous as the level of health and safety is slightly less than Europe. They actually have standing areas right in the God's which gives me the absolute fear about falling off! Anyway it was interesting to see, even for a non - football fan like myself who's only ever set foot in the Bernabeu and Dumbarton football stadium ;)
The afternoon took us to another neighbourhood of Palermo Soho: what you could call the trendy, hipster area of BA. It was full of wee cafes, quirky boutiques and plenty of parilla restaurants! We finally found "the one" after some Trip Advisor research and it seemed to be one of the best in the area. The waiter was dead-pan, but the food amazing. We ordered chorizo criollo ( Argentinian sausage) and provoleta cheese which is like the halloumi equivalent, fried up with herbs. So calorific but tasty! For our main course we shared a "bife de chorizo" which is actually a sirloin steak and some papas fritas (chips). Now, at £12 per steak we thought oh it'll probably not be that big but the reviews had recommended sharing a steak as they were so large. They were right - I honestly thought he had served us 2 steaks but they had just cut it in two haha! This was all washed down with a bottle of red from Mendoza and the best part of it? Under £20 a head and a bonus wee Limoncello after dinner shot! It was such a good feed that we didn't need to have dinner either and just had ice-cream later on instead.
Our Tuesday night was mainly spent trying to digest the massive steak as we looked to our next stop, Montevideo the capital of Uruguay. The 6am alarm was set and we're now looking forward to exploring a new city and country.
