March 26 - April 2
After a long bus journey of 24 hours we arrived in Buenos Aires. This is what Ashton has been looking forward to for a very long time, for me it looked cool but I had no idea what to expect. Even though we were shattered from the bus we thre down our bags and went off to explore. As it was Sunday we headed down to the markets in San Telmo and I instantly fell in love. It's a lovely combination of Barcelona, Paris and Argentina and it just has a European vibe about it. After a few markets we had one beer, then another and another. Yes it was quite the boozy afternoon and as we stumbled back to our hostel we both agreed that Buenos Aires was the best place ever. The week just kept getting better and better and after days of exploring the different districts we then headed out to explore the nightlife. We were recommended a cute tango hall called La Catedral. In Kate's words it's like something from a Baz Luhrman film; it's a warehouse with higgedly piggedly chairs and tables, random canvases hung on the walls and fairy lights draped all over the ceiling. In the middle tango classes were taking place and people just sit around the edges watching. The music was incredible as it was played on like a 1920s gramaphone. Now even though I hate red wine (or vino tinto as the locals say) we rattled through 2 bottles of beautiful Malbec and I am now a fully fledged red wine drinker. Local drink once again. Tick.
Whilst in Buenos Aires we stayed at the recommended party hostel, Milhouse. Now everyone along the way so far has said 'you must stay at Milhouse'. Well on arrival we felt ancient. It was like walking into the student union on Hollyoaks. Loads of mental 18 year olds running around and the ones not running around were sat nursing their 2 week hangover. it was crazy. Luckily we got put in a dorm of 3 lovely girls and a mental Russian (she just grunted) so thankfully it worked out well. Each night the hostel hosts a party (yes everyone stands around the edge and waits for the drunkest to hit the dancefloor) but after someone asking Kate's age and getting a 'F*** that's old' in reply we decided to go in search of our own mid-20s fun. We hit Palermo which is very much like being in London and after much fun (much more fun than the party) we decided to hit Club 69. Well first we got taken to Club 74 by a mental taxi driver but luckily Kate's combined Spanish, Italian and French argument we arrived at the right place. Many hours later, a fake 50 note and a drag queen show we left the nightclub at 7.30. The Argentines know how to party!
Our last night in BA was indeed a sad one as neither of us wanted to go and even though we have weeks of travelling ahead we both got the holiday blues. Things were made a little better by a visit to the much-recommended La Cabrena; a famous steakhouse in Palermo. We arrived at 8.30 and got our names on the list (people wait hours to get a free table) and luckily we only had to wait 15 mins to be seated. The wait, although only short was worth it as we had the best steak ever. See photos below to see the delight on our faces. All in all it was an amazing week and you should all put BA on your list of places to go.
