Deadly......Buenos Aires Cemetery!

12th Of March

Let the weekend begin. It's friday and we have a busy schedule to adhere to. Today is a must visit to the Recolleta area, there we are going to visit the cemetery which houses some of the most important names in Argentinian history. We get on the No. 17 bus and head straight there. A leisurely 15 mins bus ride through the Bs As streets. Arrival there we realise that our stomachs need to be filled, and we go on a quest to find

Itamae sushi. We are suceessful and have a fantastic sushi lunch.

Angela and her favourite MakiSlim & Angelrolls

Onward we go to the cemetery. At the entrance we are met by a woman selling programmes all for the good of the cemetery restoration, however she has the most funniest, posh English queens accent imaginable. Angela walks away holding her laughter so as not to be rude, I purchas the pogramme so as to get away without breaking into a giggle. Inside we stroll around this small, morbid place. The monuments are impressive to say the least and all the coffins are still housed inside making it to be a very eerie walk. We are obviously on a mission to find "Evita's" grave, as are all the rest of the people. When we come to it, it is not as everyone hopes or thinks that it would be the biggest, the best, the most worthwhile grave but in fact its a modest one. We snap away fighting off the crowds of people down this narrow walkway. We are content, job done.

One of the graves.

Father Fahy, our Irish brother!

Alley of the dead.

Another grave with the beautiful statue that is

being eaten by the green bush
oh...just saw that she is bloody breastfeeding...ah well!

Rushing back to the hostel, we need to get to our Tango lesson at 7 pm. Dutch courage comes in the form of a glass of wine. We get started. Our teacher is Luciana, she speaks good English and we begin with the simplest steps. She explains the moves and how we should feel the music. We try and dance in the middle of the hostel, everyone walking in and watching us as we try not to step on each others feet. It is an exciting one hour, by the end of it we are professionals (no, just kidding), but it is a worthwhile experience. She was a good teacher and we can definitely slow dance without fear now plus we made some new friends too (bonus).

We're trying to dace tango here.

We;;, trying to learn the steps anyway!

David and the tango teacher, Luciana

Everybody are in good spirits so the bottle of wine turns into two and so on. We have a great time chatting to new people and even learning some Portugese through our new found friend Luis. Hopefully we can meet him in Rio and see the local side of Brasil. Otherwise off to bed, and tomorrow brings another challenge in our lives.

All of us!

Made in Argentina, Made in Sweden, Made in Russia

 

6 things to go!

Angela & David

La Boca, Tango Town!

11th Of March

2 other things we can cross of the list!

We were smart enough this morning to take the bus to La Boca! (As we heard later on during the day, that the 2 german girls staying in our room got robbed. They never got hurt or anything, but one of the girls lost about 700 pictures from her trip! She even tried o run after and ask him to get just the memory card, but his Argentinian little legs were too fast her!

Colourful La Boca

Tango on the streets

The bus took us right outside the place were we wanted to go to, colourful La Boka. We were Immediately surrounded by tourists, Maradonna look alikes and locals trying to sell us this and that and giving away flyers to restaurants in the area, "come here my friend, best steak in Argentina" "No my Amigo, come here, we have the best live tango, for FREE" "No chicos, come to this one, FREE live show, AND the best steak is here".Aaww, I remember thinking that i've really missed this. I kind of felt like i was back in Asia where all the locals are just crazy and they try and sell you stuff, and rip you off of course. You get sick of it after a while, but still it's kind of nice to have people fight over you.

Is she giving me the fingers??

....biatch!...

Uuuh lala

Anyway, we wondered around, admirering the amazing buildings and its crazy colours! La Boca is a wonderful little town to wander around. Full of tourist, but hey, we can't complain as we're the turists aswell.
There are statues of people everywhere, and not the boring statues, these are of course very colourful and funny looking.
We also found a little market where they all sell lovely knitted scarfs, recycled souveniers, jewellerys and lots of other things. I have to say i'm a big fan of Markets.

The famous corner

The not so good restaurant!
We ended the day with going to one of the restaurants with free Tango and gouchers show. The food was kind of horrible, but the show was very good!

We also went in to a shop to look for No.10 Argentinian football shirt, they were just too expensive, but at least he tried it on! I hope it kind of counts!

David and Maradonna

It's big as a house for him, but it suits him!

Back at the hostel we just had a few glasses of wine to end the night.

Angela & David

City Centre!

10th of March

IRELAND 14 days left

SWEDEN 29 dagar kvar

So this is the first day of proper sight seeing in Buenos Aires.
We are really excited to start ticking of things from Lauras list.

So first thing first, we take the Metro in to town, and not far at all from the Metro stop is Plaza De Mayo. You would think it's the Mayonaise Palace , but no. It's a big square and they have a lovely pink building in the square that resembles independance. We sit down on the grass, we chill out and we take in the beauty of the building. Not far from there is the big Park called San Martin where we wondered around and got attacked and bitten by mosquitos. We're used to mosquitos by now so it didn't really matter, untill we got back to the hostel and found out that there are lots of dengue going around here in Buenos Aires! Panick!

PLaza de Mayo

We descovered a few poeple making money by dancing tango on the streets of BsAs.

Angela in San Martin

Back at the hostel we went food shopping. Our supermarket is literally across the road so that's great! We decide to buy a steak each to cook at the hostel. And that was probably one of the best steaks we've had in a very very long time! Me like Argentinos Steakos! nam nam nam.

Tomorrow is another day of being a turist so we better go to sleep!.

Angela & David

Buenos Aires

9th of March

IRELAND 15 days left

SWEDEN 30 dagar kvar

 

We finally arrived safe and sound after a long bus journey. Buenos Aries already looks nice and we like it straight away. We already have a hostel picked out, so we take our heavy big backpacks and get on the local bus to San Telmo.

Me and David used to work with this girl called Laura Mayer, a lovely girl from Buenos Aires. I emailed her to let her know we were in Buenos Aires, sadly she now lives in Dubai so we won't be able to meet up. But the good thing is that she wrote us an email and listed a load of things that we have to do in BA. Thank you Laura! So here it is, THE list. We will try and do everything on it!

Laura:...."do not even think of leaving Argentina with out eating alfajores (with dulce de leche), asado (do not forget to request chorizo and mollejas in your asado!) or missing Plaza de Mayo, Obelisco, Puerto Madero, San Telmo or La Boca. If I were you I would buy an Argentinean football

t-shirt with Maradona's name in the back (and the number "10"... of course!). Take a Tango lesson and, if you haven't already, DRINK MATE!!! "

We didn't do much today as we were very tired from the bus journey,

(we did have a bloody good stake though, that we bought in the butchers across the road and cooken in our hostel. mmm...

Angela & David

A little city tour

8th of March

The end of Mendoza & The beginning of Buenos Aires

IRELAND 16 days left
SWEDEN 31 dagar kvar

We have only one day left to spend in Mendoza and we do it the bicycle way!

Today we beat the siesta and arrive early enough to still be able to rent a bike before Mendoza goes for a siesta.

Today we want to visit San Martin Park, which is supposed to be the biggest park in Argentina. (That's what some guy said to us anyway)

Our asses are still soar from the other wine and bike tour so cycling on the bad roads in Mendoza city is not exactly what i was hoping for. But we tighten the bum muscles and off we go!

Angela infront of the big gate that leads into San Martin Park.

We arrive at the big entrance to the park. The gate is pretty impressive i have to say. We can see rubbish and glitter everywhere as it was the last night of the wine festival last night in this park. We cycle and cycle, the park does not seem to end! But it's lovely, the sun is shining and we're enjoying ourselves.

We stumbled upon a big impressive fountain so we decided to park our bikes and rest for a while, have a soda and cuddle up on a bench. Love is in the air....!

After a while we got on our bikes again and discovered the rest of the park. Such as lovely ponds and statues until we felt very tired and cycled home.

On the way home we spotted a sushi restaurant and we both got the urge to go in and have some sushi!! We only brought small money and could only afford 6 pieces to share, but i have to say...it was GORGEOUS!!

They're called Itamae Sushi and have a chain all over Argentina. YUM!

David

San Martin Park

Some girls kiss frogs hoping it will turn into a prince.
Some Davids slap statues hoping it will turn into princesses.

 

So this was our last day in Mendoza. We have a 16 hour bus journey to Buenos Aires tonight which we're looking forward to.

Angela & David

Football, football...ZZzzz

6th - 7th Of March

Football Diaries and Buenos Aires!

Saturday today, and therefore possible to enjoy a game of football on the satellite tv. A rear treat for me, so the remote control is gripped tightly for 3 matches. After that we take a stroll to the atm and get some cash out and pick up some tasty ice cream before embarking on a beer drinking, ping pong playing, shit talking night of fun in the hostel. The night is humid tonight, the sweat pours from all body. The girls jump in and cool down in the pool while the men play ping pong until the late hours of the night. We chat to an American dude who has many opinions about everything. But in a good way and an interesting chat is simulated. The night ends at around 4.30 am when all the beer from the hostel fridge is gone. Lucky, otherwise we would have stayed up for more.

Hazel was hot, the pool was not!

Wet T-shirt competition!

Hazel is always a little bit of a nut :) he he

So the camera is water proof yeah?

David is not sweaty, that was just me sneeking up on him after

coming up from the pool to give him a bear hug!

spot 3 very wrong things!

1. Beer in a wine glass.

2. very dirty pool.

3. Crazy sweed with clothes on in the pool

Hazel is always up for it ;)

Angela standing on her head.

What am I trying to prove??

duu du, du du du du du!

(trying to recreate jaws, doesn't work on words though!)

New day begins at lunch time, with some spaghetti bolognese and laundry. Humidity level is high again, so god bless the air con in the room otherwise it would be unbearable. I could bearly finish my spagetthi...i need air con...!! Sweating like pigs we go down to the room again. Thank you air con, we love you!

Today was just a day for being hungover so we didn't get much done apart from walking to the supermarker (which was closed) and getting an icecream. The humidity is catching up on us again and we need to get home ASAP! And once again, when we get back i thank the person that came up with air con...WE LOVE YOU AC!

 

Angela & David

Wines and Bikes in Maipu!

5th March

Ireland 17 days left

Sweden 32 days left

Hurray, its wine bike tour day. Bus number 171, please and we were on our way to Maipu. The wine country is in Maipu. We got on the bus, we spoke and didn't understand Spanish, and ended up getting the ride for free to Maipu. We arrived in Maipu, we made jokes about being in Maipu and then it was time to hire a bike in Maipu, from none other than Mr. Hugo himself. This guy was recommended to us by Mark (English) in Bolivia. So we got on our bike loaded with a map of the wineries and a small bottle of water. First stop Trapiche winery.........and its only 11 am. But as it happens it is closed. So no luck there.

David

Trapiche Winery

Angela

Our favourite favourite winery

 Stop 2 is Tempus Alba. We open the doors and there we were greeted by Christian (5th generation) of the winery. He is friendly, happy and very welcoming. So we get our first tasting on the way. The wines are presented on a placard with descriptions of the grape etc. Very very stylish, modern roof garden overlooking the vinyard is the setting. We grab a plate of Roquefort cheese to accompany the Malbec, Tempranillo, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvingnon grapes we must taste. Oh the flavours of different wines in my mouth are divine, and we are in heaven.

Angela & Hazel

A little bit tipsy but still cycling in a straight line.

On our bikes again, to literally 10 metres down the road to our second stop. Vino Al Cerno winery. This place is a bit older and not as welcoming, or professional as Tempus Alba, but we try the wines. They are ok and at the end of the day its still wine. We meet a few people there, we chat, we taste and then its time to move on again.

Angela with 

1 glass of Champange,

1 glass of very fruity white,

1 glass of Utopia Cab Sav.

1 glass of  mature Malbec 

We cycle like the wind to the furthest winery called Carinae. Arrive pouring in sweat and muscle pain, we are greeted by our tour guide. She is really nice and friendly and explains the process from start to finish, and we even get a tour of the cellars included in the AR$15 peso price. Angela and I decide to pop back to our favourite one for another glass and some tapas. We are once again greeted with kisses, and open arms by Christian. He is very happy to see us again. We devour a platter of cheese, sun dried tomatoes, olives and carmelised onions while enjoying a galss of Malbec and Tempranillo for Angela. It is what we dreamed the wine tour to be, and it is great.

Angela with a glass of tempranillo

Angela & David

The huge platter of 5 cheeses, olives, sundried tomatoes & Peanuts

YUM!!

David, Angela & Christian

We manage to get back to Mr. Hugo just before 7 and he has more crappy wine waiting for us all. We sample and compare and chat to other travellers before embarking on a bus journey back to Mendoza. The day was a complete success, we got exercise, we got tipsy drunk while enjoying the countryside and good wines, and we are also educated about the origins of the wines and how all the process works. Thums up for Mendoza (Wine Country).

Angela & David

Cama Cama Camellion and Mendoza!

2nd - 4th March

David (A stroll in Independance park)

Ah the luxury of today came in the form of a cama seat on an overnight bus journey to Mendoza. We went with Flecha Bus company, and our seat had tonnes of leg room, really nice reclinor seats and of course a full food service. It is like being on a plane, only better. The movies played for a couple of hours, then came the hot food with a glass of wine too. Wehoo, its luxury and only at a fraction of the cost of a flight in South America.

We arrived in Mendoza safe and sound after a gruelling 18 hours. Not too tired either. So the search for a hostel began. We tried the Lao hostel first, however it was fully booked due to the popularity and the wine festival. The town was busy. Luckily after visiting a few places, we decided upon a hostel called Saviglianos. Nice, clean, good air conditioned rooms and a swimming pool (well a paddle pool really). We were pleased to have a place we can call home for the next few days and so we can arrange our long awaited bike wine tour.

Mmmmm interesting book me thinks

We had a stroll into the Independence square and chilled out there for a good few hours. Picked up a Pancho (meaning a hot dog with all the bits you could possibly want). Walked with a bottle on our heads, with all the local people having a good laugh about it. Tourists eh, nobody understands us. Lay on grass, played with a really active dog, who kept trying to snatch crackers out of our hands. Then read for hours while the Argentines slept for their siesta. (It is funny how the whole town shuts down between 1pm and 5pm), but thats how it is here. We got informed about all of our options from the tourist info and it was time for coffee.

David (Pancho Doble) a monster meal!

Angela (Bottle on head world record attempt........60 steps)

 

Angela & David

hangover day number 157!

1st of March

Today was hangover day!

I wonder how many times i've promised myself never to drink again. Ah well, you've got o have fun sometimes, even though it hurts the next day. Sebastian was up early and asked if we anted to party tonight again...."we're not 20 anymore i'm afraid"

Anyway, we can't just waste a day just because we're hungover so we decide to go for a stroll and go to the bus station and book our tickets to Mendoza. This time we spend a little extra and we get a Cama Bus. It's more space and the seat folds down a little bit further. We leave tomorrow at around 15.00.

Now time to eat.

This is my meat feast!

David and his dead Llama on his plate

David never got to try Lllama properly in Bolivia so we're very lucky to find out that Salta is the last place you might be able to find Llama in restaurants (as llamas live more in Bolivia and Chile.) I've looked up this restaurant on the Internet and it takes us a good while before finding it.

It was a little bit disappointing as the sevice wasn't great and it took them 20 minutes before taking our order and another 45 minutes before we got our food. The food wasn't all that great either. I had a big meat feast and couldn't even finish half of it. But the main thing was that David got to try Lllama, so we can tick that of the list.

The rest of the day we spend just stroling around in a market where they sell basically everything.

Still tired and hungover we go home and spend the rest of the night resting our tired feet and soar heads.

Mendoza tomorrow!

Angela & David

White Water Rafting and some beer too.

28th Of Fberuary

Davids day is finally here

The day started with David, Hazel & Norman waking up pretty hungover. I woke up very grumpy as i had 1 hour sleep last night. This hostel is much nicer then the other one, but still very very noisy. But i suppose 1 hour sleep is better then none. We have a cup of coffee for breakfast and we try to re-enegize for todays adventure. White Water Rafting!

The day gets only worse, as we get to the bus that will take us to the river, we realise that we will have to spent about 1,5 hours on the bus with 4 drunk, stoned and crazy Argentinian guys! They make stupid jokes and they all laugh, nothing wrong with laughing, but tis sounds like cows laughing. It's not good for David, Hazel & Norm as their heads are hurting from the hangover. Not good for me, even though no hangover, i only had little sleep. And trying to catch up on some sleep with cows laughing is not easy! They drink more on the bus and chew some more coca leaves. Get more drunk and stoned, why don't you! Stupid Argentinian guys! All i can think of is, "the erthquake didn't kill me, but 4 drunk and stones argentinian guys will make me drown in the river"

We arrive and get changed, put sunscream on and learn a bit about Rafting.

THANK GOD!! The stupid, cow laughing Argentinian are going in another raft! Me, Hazel, Norm & David get to share raft with 2 Aussies and 1 Canadian girl. My life is saved once again.

We're all in the raft having fun!

This is the other boat

 (the one with the stupid, cow laughing, Argentinian)

Getting wet in rapids

We have a great time rafting. We got very very wet as we had wars with the other boat (the one with the stupid Argentinian) we try and squirt water on them and vice versa. I nearly fell out of the raft. Thank god i had my feet well tucked under the rope. Only my back and head was in the water, and the rest of me in the raft! The rapids were great, not too big but big enough for us to handle. Our guide is trying to be funny by pushing 2 of the girls in. He also tries to hit on one of the aussie girls, which she doesn't really like.

Norm found this cute looking little thing in the water

David between my legs....!!....

We get back safe and sound but wet and very dirty! We're all very happy and tired. BBQ lunch is waiting for us. And it is DELICIOUS! Now back again to the hostel. We have a great fun night with beer and plying cards. We meet some Israelian people that we make friends with, sorry As'ad! We go to bed at 6AM!

Orrie, David, Tal & Sebastian

Angla & David

earthquake

27th February

No sleep for any of us last night, as the hostel was a disaster. Noise until 5 am from other drinking travellers. As we were all awake, Hazel went on the interner on her Iphone and found out about the eartquake in Chile. We were the just 2 weeks ago. It could have been us!! We were lying there in bed thinking how lucky we are.
We decided to move hostel as noone of us liked it. Too big, too noisy, too dirty, too bad for them!
We went to the other hostel a bit away from the town, but a much better standard. Its called "Hostel La Linda", we settled in and got ready for the rugby match. Hazel and I went to get some beers, whle walking there was a little tremor passed through the ground, but was only small in comparison to the earthquake in Chile a day before. We made it back to the hostel safe and sound, where Angela and Norman were worrying about us. Angela and Norm was saying they were lying in bed when it happened and the house was shaking and they got a bit scared. They went outside and could still feel it standing up. It was like they were drunk or something. All that passed and we got watching the match. Come on Ireland, and it was ment to be, because Ireland won. Happy days. More beer followed and we of course met many other people at the hostel and drank a few beers with them too. It ended up to be a late night, and I was pretty drunk.

White water rafting trip was organised for tomorrow with Salta rafting company. Wehoo. It promises to be a fun day on the river, plus they promise bbq lunch and all that sort of thing too. Adventure here we come.

Angela & David