Stepping off a plane into a new country after almost a day travelling is a strange sensation. Especially when its 20 degrees warmer and people are speaking a different language. From the plane and from inside the bus it became obvious that Buenos Aires was as hectic as it was immense. There were no lane markings on the road and what appeared to fit two vehicles, fitted four. Dangerous overtaking was the norm which took some getting used to in streets that are 12 lanes wide.I met Angel in La Plaza de Mayo. To my suprise his friend Luis was there as well. It turned out that Luis heard about our journey a day before and bought a ticket that same day. So now we are three.
The city had a Friday afternoon buzz that is common almost everywhere. Even though I was tired we had to go out and see the city. We headed to San Telmo, a funky little area with some nice bars and a little Plaza with people drinking in the streets. The Porteños (BA loc
als) have the custom of sharing and drinking litre bottles of Quilmes larger. Not really having a clue where to go we just walked arouns asking people and going into bars that looked fun.
Saturday, with a slight hangover we wondered around La Recoleta, a barrio which is famous for its cemetary where Eva Peron is buried. It also has a great artesan market, a massive metal moving flower: Floralis Generica, which opens and closes and a great buzz about the place. A common site that day was of groups of people sitting in cirlces, listening to the busker whilst
The city had a Friday afternoon buzz that is common almost everywhere. Even though I was tired we had to go out and see the city. We headed to San Telmo, a funky little area with some nice bars and a little Plaza with people drinking in the streets. The Porteños (BA loc
als) have the custom of sharing and drinking litre bottles of Quilmes larger. Not really having a clue where to go we just walked arouns asking people and going into bars that looked fun.Saturday, with a slight hangover we wondered around La Recoleta, a barrio which is famous for its cemetary where Eva Peron is buried. It also has a great artesan market, a massive metal moving flower: Floralis Generica, which opens and closes and a great buzz about the place. A common site that day was of groups of people sitting in cirlces, listening to the busker whilst
sharing mate tea. Infact, the Argentines like the tea so
Luis and I at the Floralis Generica much they carry around flasks of warm water and top up whilst walking around the city.
On Sunday we headed to Boca, the dockside neirbourghood known for its colourful main street, being the home of Boca Juniors football team and Maradona´s home. Walking down the street we admired the beautifully coloured houses made of wood with tin roofs. Being Sunday the street was jammed with tango shows, Maradona impersonators, dogs dressed in football kits and market stalls selling football shirts, artesan products and photos with tango dancers. By luck we found a little courtyard on a side street, where some locals had big lumps of meet cooking on the barbie. We hung and chatted with them, drinking beers and feeling that our money was well spent here, rather than on the tourist places. Before leaving we walked out of the tourist area and down towards the Boca staduim. Wild dogs, burnt out cars and tough looking locals re-asserted the view that this was a tough neigborhood. We were lucky enough to see Boca fans queing up three hours before the game started. For such a small group of 50 there was plenty of noise and atmosphere. It was a shame not to have been able to get to the game, which would
On Sunday we headed to Boca, the dockside neirbourghood known for its colourful main street, being the home of Boca Juniors football team and Maradona´s home. Walking down the street we admired the beautifully coloured houses made of wood with tin roofs. Being Sunday the street was jammed with tango shows, Maradona impersonators, dogs dressed in football kits and market stalls selling football shirts, artesan products and photos with tango dancers. By luck we found a little courtyard on a side street, where some locals had big lumps of meet cooking on the barbie. We hung and chatted with them, drinking beers and feeling that our money was well spent here, rather than on the tourist places. Before leaving we walked out of the tourist area and down towards the Boca staduim. Wild dogs, burnt out cars and tough looking locals re-asserted the view that this was a tough neigborhood. We were lucky enough to see Boca fans queing up three hours before the game started. For such a small group of 50 there was plenty of noise and atmosphere. It was a shame not to have been able to get to the game, which would
have been a 
great if slightly imtimidatying experience.
great if slightly imtimidatying experience. 
Tango show in El Caminato Hanging in La Boca
That night we caught the super cama bus North to Iguza Falls on the border with Brazil and Paraguay. Our two days on Buenos Aires had flown by and I left with thinking how well everybody had treated us (apart from the odd person who charged us foreiners prices-I´ll try and get used to it.)
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