Saturday May tenth we left Iguazu and headed twenty two hours south to Buenos Aires (BA).
After a quick nap and some showers we went in search of some famous Argentinian steak. After tasty t-bones in a pirate themed restaurant we moved next door to BA´s famous Irish pub, the Kilkenny, for a quiet drink with the intention of having an early night as we were all still wrecked from the bus trip. A few drinks turned into quiet a few and it was after 5 when we fell into bed. This was the start of a lively week in BA.
The next morning with some bad hangovers we dragged ourselves out of bed just in time to grab a McDonalds for breakfast and headed off to San Lorenzo stadium. We were booked on an excursion to see a match with others from our hostel including our new friends Paddo and Linda who we met in Iguazu. The match was a local derby. San Lorenzo versus Boca Juniors, two of the top five teams in Argentinia. Their fans are fanatical and Boca fans are known for their violance. The football wasnt up to much but the atmosphere was amazing. The fans chanted and sang throughout the game even when their team was loosing. One guy next to us was crying. The game was a without a doubt one of the highlights of the trip so far.
Monday we decided to go on the BA pub crawl with Paddo and Linda. It turned out to be more of a hostel crawl we were taken to 3 hostel bars before we got to a proper bar. It was still a great night we met people from all over the world and drank loads of cheap beer. By the time we reached the fourth bar we were all pretty full and Paddo ended up getting kicked out. We found out the next day met some friendly locals asked him if he was a tourist and preceded to take his money (its ok he lived to tell the tale and only suffered a battered ego). We however ended up in a nightclub in San Telmo. Our memories from here are a bit sketchy but we had a great night. Stephen had the kitty wallet taken out of his pocket (it only had bout twenty euro in it). He went back to the hostel with Laura at around four. James, Sinead and Linda stayed out a while longer then went in search of food and somehow found a restaurant serving wine and pizza at six in the morning. While walking home Linda wondered off and we were all awoken at eight by a frantic Paddo banging down the door looking for Linda who hadn't arrived back yet. Don't worry she eventually found her way home and all was ok. It was to say the least a very memorable night (the bits we can remember anyway.)
The next day was lost to hangovers but in between all the drinking we did manage to see some of the city. BA has a very european feel about it and at times you have to remind yourself you're in South America. We visited some sites such as The Pink Palace with the Evita´s balcony and Recoleta cemetry where BA´s rich and famous are buried including Evita. We visited a museum and some Monet and Renoir paintings. We visited the zoo and also saw Avenue 9th of July, the widest street in the world and did some shopping. We never did manage to make it to one of the famous tango shows unfortunately. BA differs from Rio in that it doesn't have very many famous sites to see, it is all about the food and the night life here.
Thursday night we decided to treat ourselves to some proper steak and we headed off to the La Cabrera restaurant; known to be one of the best steak houses in BA. The hour long wait was eased by free champagne. The wait was worth it the food was amazing the portions were huge. We had enough food to feed a family for a week. Each steak was served on a wooden platter with each person getting at least four steaks. All this was washed down with some Argentinan wine and more champagne. Then wee headed off to enjoy yet another late night on the town.
Saturday after an amazing week we left BA for Bariloche!!!
