Europe meets Latin America

We stayed in Puerto Natales for another full day after the trek to catch up on sleep and food. We also booked ourselves a flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires (cheaper and much quicker than the bus) for two days time. This meant we had to retrace our steps and take the bus back across the border to Argentina then spend a night in the same hostel, but the thought of a nice short flight made it worthwhile. We did consider heading down to Ushuaia which is known in Argentina as the 'Fin del la Munde' (end of the world) but it was going to take a while and all research suggested that it wasn't a cheap place. Having spent quite a bit of money in the last couple of weeks we were eager to be heading towards cheaper countries. As it turned out our flight did head south and stop in Ushuaia before heading North so we caught a glimpse out the window.

You hear some horror stories about big cities in South America with regard to pick pocketing and robberies so we were a little unsure of how safe we would feel in Buenos Aires. If anything though it is known to be one of the safer metropolises. After disembarking from the plane and getting our bags we caught a bus in to the centre of town. A little bit of confusion regarding how to pay as we're used to handing the money to the driver, but generally in Argentina you drop your coins in a machine on the bus and out pops your ticket. Correct change is pretty much mandatory. We jumped off at the bus station and then were planning to take the Subte (subway) but our line was closed because of a strike, so we got a taxi.

We'd booked a place to stay, and the taxi dropped us outside the building. So far so good. We rode the old fashioned elevator with wrought iron slide gates

to the second floor and expected to see a nice big sign say 'Casa de Papa' but unfortunately there was nothing. Just a piece of A4 paper with some printed writing on it (which we now know to be Hebrew), stuck to a big wooden door. After checking floors above and below we decided to press the doorbell and after some muffled noises from inside the door was opened. We asked if it was the right place and a completely zoned out boy nodded and we followed him in to a haphazard reception area. It was like someone had flicked his switch to slow motion as he fumbled about trying to figure out who we were and answer our very basic questions. His blood shot eyes and general demeanour screamed of recreational drug use, which seemed to be an all day, every day activity at Casa de Papa. The smokey haze which hung like a veil when we peered in to the lounge was also a good indicator.

We were still hopeful that we would have a nice room, the website described them as light and airy with high ceilings and cable tv, but this was not to be. We had a room at the back which was half the height of the other rooms, had a tiny window that looked down into an inner cavern between buildings and a tv which had a fork for an aerial. Tired and well aware that we would get no where trying to talk to the zombie boy we just closed the door. Adam pointed out that there was an Israeli flag in the hallway and therefore the likelihood was that it was a predominately Israeli hostel. Hence the Hebrew sign. Not wanting to offend or generalise but Israelis travellers do have a reputation so we were aware of what to expect.

After a bit of a rest we ventured out, past the raucousness in the living room and on to the streets of Buenos Aires. We were staying on Avenida Plaza de Mayo which is was a good spot (one plus). As we crossed Avenida 9 de Julio, which is one of the widest avenues in the world, we saw the giant needle shaped Obelisk pointing into the sky.

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We continued down until we reached Plaza de Mayo itself, then turned north and entered the central shopping/tourist district. Here there are lots of pedestrianised streets with shops and restaurants. By now we were both really hungry and tired so we had ate a lovely steak each at an obvious tourist spot before calling it a day.

We considered moving hostels but in the end decided it would be too much hassle and we would just keep our heads down. When we had returned the previous evening we did meet a couple of people who worked there that seemed nice enough. One gave us a new sheet for our bed and asked if we were from Israeli (our suspicions were confirmed) and when we said no we were from England he told us he loved Radiohead, so it could have been worse. The noise levels were pretty high during the evening but we both managed to sleep ok. One guy who reviewed the place on the booking website said the breakfasts were the best he had had on his entire trip and maybe even his life. We couldn't see anywhere to eat breakfast and there was a lot of shouting and commotion coming from the tiny kitchen so we just decided to slip out and eat somewhere else.

As I mentioned before we were both on the hunt for a leather jacket and we'd heard good things about getting them made to measure in Buenos Aires so we caught the Subte over an area we had read about. On one street there were lots of shops and we both tried on various jackets but none of them seemed quite right. Adam didn't want anything too shiny and size is really difficult because it can end up looking really geeky or wannabe biker. Suffice to say we weren't successful and no one offered to make anything for us, maybe we didn't look like we had enough money!

We went back to the central shopping district and ended up having a buffet lunch, which we then did everyday we were in the capital. It was a relatively cheap way to eat far more than we needed to! Part of it is a parrilla which is basically Argentinian bbq and you can get all sorts of different meats of varying quality. Then there is usually jelly and cream for desert which I've now got quite a taste for! After lunch we went to the cinema and saw Surrogates which was an alright film. It was in a really old fashioned cinema and the sound quality was bit dodgy but it was quite cool at the same time.

The following day we were both feeling a little under the weather and didn't make it out til lunchtime where we ventured to a different buffet restaurant. We both wondered whether the one from the previous day was the reason we weren't feeling so great. This one was much better than the first but we still couldn't muster the effort to do anything else for the rest of the day so we headed back to the hostel. As we walked through the hallway back to our room a girl said something but it didn't really seem as though it was to us and then she said 'you don't speak Hebrew?' To which we replied no and then she asked us about the weather before grabbing my cardigan and saying, 'so you think I'll need one of these.' I smiled and confirmed that I probably did before making our way back to our room.

That evening there was suddenly loud music playing outside and lots of shouting, it sounded like a parade of some sort. We managed to get the very dodgy WiFi working long enough to find out it was Gay Pride and although we still both felt rough we decided we should go take a look. There were a few floats and a big crowd of people gathered around them. Loud music and lots of frivolity as people got into the mood. We stuck around long enough to get a good feel for the atmosphere before retreating back to our cave.

Next morning we both felt a lot better and we were up early. The place was dead, it seemed everyone was enjoying a Sunday morning lie in. We stuck our heads into the kitchen but there just seemed to be cold rice, potatoes, raw onions, stale bread and butter for breakfast, the possibility of the best meal of our lives continued to allude us. We walked down to San Telmo and were there for the beginning of the very extensive Sunday market. It goes on forever and there are stalls selling lots of really lovely things. We bought a few items, including some little leather bags for about £3, you could spend a serious amount of time and money browsing!

We then walked all the way down to La Boca where there was a whole host of people milling round some brightly painted houses.

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It's quite a cute little area but very touristy. There were people performing the Tango in traditional costume and you could pose with them if you wanted to, but we opted to just watch for a little while. On the way back to the centre we passed by the La Boca football ground and there was clearly a match planned for that day.

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We both want to go to a football match while we're out here but looking at the state of the stadium and the general area decided it was maybe not the best idea and from what we've heard since I think this was the right decision.

After our obligatory buffet lunch we walked up the bus station and purchased tickets for the following day. Our next stop was to be Puerto Iguazu so we could visit the impressive Iguazu Falls. With this task complete we decided to head back towards the hostel because we were both knackered and a day of hitting the pavements had made my knees sore.

That night we were awoken at about 12am and kept awake for two hours by our fellow hostel guests. Our room was right next to the bathroom and one after the other it seemed that everyone was going to be having a shower. Some of them decided to do a spot of singing as well. Both frustrated we lay there for a long time and said nothing. Then came the final straw when a couple were in the bathroom screaming, shouting and laughing. Adam just beat me to the door, and he was about to unleash a tirade of abuse but managed to curtail it at the last second and said in a very tight voice 'Can you....keep it down a bit.' I think they got the idea and things were quiet from then on.

The following morning we stayed until almost check out time, may as well get our money's worth. As we were waiting at reception to pay a girl came up behind Adam and peered at him as if he was being inspected, she said nothing and then walked off. We were never sure if he met her standards! There was then a bit of confusion over the bill but in the end we waved a very firm and happy goodbye to Casa de Papa. We caught the Subte up to the bus station where we stowed our bags in a locker as our bus was not leaving til the evening. Then we had lunch and went back to the leather district we'd visited before. Unfortunately we'd simply left it too late to make any big decisions about jackets we weren't quite sure about and there certainly wasn't enough time to get anything made.

There was one final thing we wanted to see before we left Buenos Aires and was the Cemetery of the Recoleta. It is set out like a miniature city with streets and alleys separating family mausoleums built in every imaginable architectural style.

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Among the famous names from Argentine history is Evita Peron who lies in the Duarte family mausoleum.

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We were a bit pressed for time which was a shame because you could certainly wander round for a long time, some of the tombs are incredibly beautiful and touching. There are also lots of mangey cats stalking around the place which gives it a kind of hauntingly eerie atmosphere.

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As it turned out we needn't have rushed because our bus was cancelled and we were bumped on to another bus. Which really annoyed us because we'd finally secured those elusive front seats which we subsequently lost in the move. Still it was a nicer bus than the one we were meant to be on, so there was a positive!

More Soon,

Laura & Adam