Tales of Buenos Aires, Uruguay and chocolatey delights

Hello,

The Awesomeness of Buenos Aires. It is awesome in many ways, namely the steak, the wine, the people, the sights, the night life, the history, the steak, the travellers, the museums, the atmosphere, the tango, the steak, the wine, the steak...(guess what I have been mostly eating since I got here!) After a good two weeks in this most wonderful of cities I could proudly list for you the things which I have enjoyed most. However, such a list would entail only the repetition of two things on the above list: wine and steak. Which is not to say I did not enjoy the other things I did, which were also awesome. But the steak and wine were amazing. I realise, nonetheless, that you might also appreciate a little insight into the other excellent things about Buenos Aires. So here goes...

Buenos Aires is a pretty darned cool place. The atmosphere is very cosmopolitan, very European, very multicultural. In fact, due to the Spanish and Italian heritage it is almost an extension of Europe and certainly has a very different feel to the rest of South America. You can get shower gel, brown bread and other such western delights, and even (albeit terrible tasting as it is made in Brazil) Cadbury´s! And they know how to make a proper cup of coffee. Gone are the days of Ecuadorian ashtray-flavoured instant coffee with a sprinkling of powdered milk. Gone are the days of coffee gloop reminiscent of congealed soya-sauce found in Bolivia which had to be watered down and doused liberally with sugar to make it even partially palatable. And welcome the days when quality caffeine can be relied upon to cure the worst of red-wine hangovers. Beunos Aires is also pretty darned cool because it has so many different areas. For the first stint of my stay I resided in the Clan hostel in the microcentre. A rocking atmosphere and a selection of great new traveller friends were complimented by the great things to see in the neighbourhood. I checked out the Casa Rosada (Argentina´s pink answer to the White House) and saw the Madres (mothers) of the children lost in the Dirty War protest outside it, I saw the congress buildings, and dallied around the most expensive shopping malls salivating lustfully over beautiful leather bags. I also managed to catch a tango show in the rather swish Cafe Tortoni before branching out to visit the area of La Boca - the colourful home to Boca Juniors Football Team and historic birth place of the sultry dance of tango itself. With some new found Israeli friends and the lovely Norweigan Ida and German Claudia, I ticked off another area and sauntered around the middle class gardens of Palermo. Then, with Pete Ross safely sent to Patagonia, the arrival of Peter Goult and his friend Will brought a new selection of exciting things to be done. Firstly, an afternoon trip to see a polo match resulted in sneaking in the back accidentally, then taking full advantage, naturally, of the free wine and beer afterwards. And since then Pete and Will have been doing a splendid job of entertaining me. On Sunday Pete and I mooched around San Telmo (another area - cobbled stones, lovely little squares, rather quaint) antiques market, watching street artists and tango dancers. And on Monday they convinced me to go to Uruguay...

Uruguay. First stop, Colonia. One ferry ride at an unearthly time in the morning later, and we reached a pretty but overly quiet little place where there was little to do, and where it rained. All day. However, given that I have only seen rain twice in the last 3 months though, the novelty of rain only added to what actually turned out to be a rather enteraining day. Faced with next to nothing to do, the impromptu rental of a golf cart enabled us to see the city in style, as well as speeding recklessly at the maximum golf cart velocity of 20 mph, racing other golf cart renters and attempting wheelies and spins on gravelled areas. We found a deserted and dilapedated bull ring, saw a lighthouse, some ruins, and marvelled at the show piece 1.90m walls the guide book raved about. The day was topped off by dining in the excellently converted interior of a 1920s car in a rather eccentric restaurant. As you do. So all in all a good day. Which is more than can be said of Montevideo. Again, it rained. Again, there was nothing to do. We met some friendly South Africans, went to a none existent beach and saw an uninteresting museum of art. And then we went back to BA.

Soooo, back in buzzing Buenos Aires, and we changed hostel to stay in Palermo, where I resumed culture vulture status by visiting the Museum of Belles Artes and the Evita museum, as well as finding a beautiful leather bag, and making a quick re-visit to the microcentre to see some churches. I also resumed my party-animal penchant for a couple of nights, once again consuming more steak than is strictly necessary and imbibing more red wine than is probably wise. Pete turned 23, in aid of which a few screwdrivers and various other cocktails assured he didn`t even make it out of the hostel. So I went out to a club instead to celebrate my last night in BA. Sigh.

And now - one 26 hour bus journey later - I am in Bariloche. The journey was rather scenic, passing expansive plains on which cattle grazed and finally melting into the rolling hills, snow-topped peaks and sparkly lakes of the Lake District. Bariloche itself is wonderful. It is just like Christmas. The streets are lined with log cabins and chocolate shops piled to the ceiling with delicious chocolatey goodness. Mmmmmm...And Bariloche is also a great centre for outdoor activities. Some of the things I would like to do are skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, paragliding and horse riding. Not that I will have time to do all of them, or that the (slightly cloudy and drizzly in the town, but nice and snowy in the mountains) weather or my finances will permit me to do everything, but I am having fun deciding which outdoor pursuit injury to acquire first. Watch this space for inevitably hilarious pictures of me failing spectacularly at various new sports (but doing so, naturally, in superlative style). I think I might hit the slopes tomorrow for my first skiing lesson, and in the meantime I will be taking full advantage of the sugary wares of Argentina`s chocolate capital.

xxx