We crossed the Rio Plata and stepped onto Argentinian soil for the second time during our trip. A short taxi journey into Buenos Aires and we arrived at our swanky hotel in the Almagro district, the birthplace of many famous tangos apparently! Our stay didn't start off too well when my cash card got eaten by an ATM and Dave got charged for money he never received from the machine; our first problems of this kind though so can't complain too hard.
Spent our first day in BA meeting up with friends we had made in other far flung places and exploring the up market neighbourhood of Palermo; with fancy boutiques, hip bars and comfortable coffee shops; I thought I'd found heaven.
Evita was on the agenda the next morning, you really can't come to Buenos Aires and not visit her grave; it is still adorned with flowers, bought here by her adoring Argentinian public.
Another must do was ticked of the list that night when we made our way to the Carlos Gardel tango show. We enjoyed a juicy steak, free flowing wine and the amazing talents of the tango dancers; unfortunately we have no decent photos as flash was forbidden.
Another day, another walking tour around this fantastic city; Wednesday 30th December and we headed to the central part of the city. We started in Plaza San Martin and discovered the impressive Torre de los Ingleses, a tower given to Argentina by Britain to commemorate its independence from Spain back in the 1800s; somewhat ironically as we crossed the road we found the memorial to the fallen from the Islas Malvinas (Falklands to you and me) conflict. We lowered our voices and tried to appear less English, had a quick look and scuttled off before the soldiers on guard duty got a whiff of Los Ingleses.
We crossed the 12 lane 9 Julio Avenue, gazing up at the obelisk monument in the middle and made our way to the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace on the Plaza de Mayo. The balconies are where Evita made her famous appearances and the square in front, where political protests are often held.
New Years Eve in Buenos Aires was fantastic; we were invited to a party at a hostel by our Austrian friends from the Pantanal, Stefan and Enrique. We enjoyed a meal of barbequed lamb up on the roof terrace before watching Buenos Aires erupt into the night sky to welcome in 2010.
We drank lots of beer,
laughed lots and lots and
and at around 2am made our way to a club for some dancing. We finally stumbled home at around 5am and only reappeared on New Years day due to the promise of seeing the Dakar rally contestants leave the city centre.
We joined the cheering crowds on the city streets to watch the bikes, quads, cars and eventually the huge trucks set off on the first stage of the famous rally.
On the 2nd January we left Buenos Aires via a much less exciting mode of transport, another bus!
Spent our first day in BA meeting up with friends we had made in other far flung places and exploring the up market neighbourhood of Palermo; with fancy boutiques, hip bars and comfortable coffee shops; I thought I'd found heaven.
Evita was on the agenda the next morning, you really can't come to Buenos Aires and not visit her grave; it is still adorned with flowers, bought here by her adoring Argentinian public.
Another must do was ticked of the list that night when we made our way to the Carlos Gardel tango show. We enjoyed a juicy steak, free flowing wine and the amazing talents of the tango dancers; unfortunately we have no decent photos as flash was forbidden.Another day, another walking tour around this fantastic city; Wednesday 30th December and we headed to the central part of the city. We started in Plaza San Martin and discovered the impressive Torre de los Ingleses, a tower given to Argentina by Britain to commemorate its independence from Spain back in the 1800s; somewhat ironically as we crossed the road we found the memorial to the fallen from the Islas Malvinas (Falklands to you and me) conflict. We lowered our voices and tried to appear less English, had a quick look and scuttled off before the soldiers on guard duty got a whiff of Los Ingleses.
We crossed the 12 lane 9 Julio Avenue, gazing up at the obelisk monument in the middle and made our way to the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace on the Plaza de Mayo. The balconies are where Evita made her famous appearances and the square in front, where political protests are often held.
New Years Eve in Buenos Aires was fantastic; we were invited to a party at a hostel by our Austrian friends from the Pantanal, Stefan and Enrique. We enjoyed a meal of barbequed lamb up on the roof terrace before watching Buenos Aires erupt into the night sky to welcome in 2010.
We drank lots of beer,
laughed lots and lots and
and at around 2am made our way to a club for some dancing. We finally stumbled home at around 5am and only reappeared on New Years day due to the promise of seeing the Dakar rally contestants leave the city centre.
We joined the cheering crowds on the city streets to watch the bikes, quads, cars and eventually the huge trucks set off on the first stage of the famous rally.
On the 2nd January we left Buenos Aires via a much less exciting mode of transport, another bus!
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