Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ecobici update: I’ve been suspended from using the service until Wednesday. Thomas messaged me last night and said he was heading back to Holland early, as he has a standby ticket. All flights for the next few days are full, so he was taking what he can rather than be stuck in BA when he should be working (for KLM). Good new is his friend Thomas is back from Mendoza and would like to go to the Ferias de mataderos with me. We arrange to meet at Plaza Italia at noon and catch a bus to the city suburbs when the feria is based every Sunday, in a more traditional neighbourhood. The bus was quicker than I expected, taking around 40minutes for less than 7 pesos! (35p). The fair is billed as a traditional gaucho market, where there is a market, parillas, milonga and horse races. I feel it delivered on the first three but I didn’t see any horse racing or more traditional cowboy type activities. The milonga was great, I loved watching an old gaucho dance in traditional clothes with so much passion for the dance, and lady he was with. Tango is a very expressive and flamboyant dance when it is in a bigger group, a bit like country dancing. We also heard some local bands and singing which seemed to go down well. Wilfred and I had great fun scouring the market for presents he could take back to family in holland. We liked a man making belts, and also there were some very kitch stalls. The stand out winning gift was the lidded pot, crafted from a lemon skin which is destined for his stepmom. It was another sunny day which gave us a thirst for some craft beers, honey beer was very tasty. We also enjoyed some freshly fried empanadas which were delicious. We spent the afternoon here into the evening before catching the bus back to the city. Nice to have explored a new area and had a break from the bustle of the city.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

I am not sure whether it was my email or a system reset, but the bike system seems to permit me to remove another bike. Fresh from the thrill of riding in yesterday’s sunshine, I spot a round park at the more southern part of the central city called Centenary park. This is a good ride into new territory with a bike path all the way. The park itself is disappointing, I thought it might be more modern and lush as it is a fairly big park in an area with relatively few. I enjoy the Saturday feel of the city, sun is warm and kids are running around enjoying themselves. I sit for a while before deciding to grab another bike and push on, it is at this point I realise it hasn’t registered the bike again so I am stuck. Granted I could get on a bus, but it is a nice day so I opt to stroll back up towards home via Palermo and the Plaza Serrano market. I discover a few clothes outlets but as I am over the plane limit already, I put everything back on the rails….new clothes options would be nice! Palermo is buzzing with groups chatting on bar terraces or browsing the market wares. There is some great graffiti art in the surrounding streets, and I enjoyed my winding stroll. I spotted a ice cream shop and bought a small cone, could not believe how much the guy managed to balance. (See photo for reference) I felt like a child that was at risk of dropping it, it was awesome, particularly the passion fruit mousse. I will be back for some of the other flavours.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Today I was determined to work out the Ecobici system and ride a bike down across the parks to Puerto Madero. I managed to get the first bike out and it was knackered, also the last in the rack. I went to the next one and the bike was a little better although you could not spin pedals to I had to just go with whatever position I was in when I stopped. I had resolved to stick to bike paths, as the drivers are terrible here and I don’t have a helmet. I enjoy whipping past the big parks and through San Martin park, I manage to get myself in a dead end train track at one point but eventually make it to Puerto Madero. At this point I rented a mountain bike to loop the trails in the ecological reserve, this is the place I visited a couple of weeks ago and I thought being in the peace and quiet of the reserve would be a nice way to spend the afternoon. It is a lovely space full of pampas grass, palms and lots of other colourful plants sat on the river Plato. I spent a couple of hours cycling around the edge and then along the ponds looking for wildlife. After returning the bike I grabbed a bondiola sandwich (pork shoulder) from one of many vendors that sit on the Costanera Sur with their picnic tables stretched out in the sunshine. My plan was to see if I could pick up a cheap cirque de soliel for this afternoon or evening performances. This wasn’t possible, next availability is for Thursday and the cheapest is about £70. I have bought one! I have been reading about the show and decided to splurge, it’s always a fun production and this one is based on music by a band from BA, Soda Stereo so this is the premier. It is still glorious sunshine and 22degrees so I wander through the main central area, walking up Florida street and window shopping. I stop to hear a blind man sing, ‘time to say goodbye’ he is amazing and nearly made me cry. Ice cream of pears and blueberries is delicious in the afternoon sunshine. I grab another bike from San Martin park and cycle back home, this one has a wonky pedal but the biggest issue is I couldn’t get it to register at the station when I got home. Hopefully it will sort itself out, I meanwhile have earned a beer!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Thomas (my new gay best friend) mentioned that he was going to try and get tickets for the ballet tonight. This is not my first choice for entertainment but this production is in the Teatro Colon. This is one of the top sights to see and you can do a tour but the guides say a performance is a better way to see inside. It is ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic and is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world according to experts. It was built in 1908 and has a horse shoe shaped auditorium that wraps around the stalls. We arrive separately and have underestimated how many people will be outside, so after struggling to find each other we only have 10minutes to grab any ticket and get inside. We bought the cheapest seats at 160pesos only £8, and whilst we knew we would be in the gods it was pretty high. We had to get a lift up through 6 floors and then climb a staircase, on a positive note we got a great view of the ceiling mural! The ballet actually was a great choice, no Spanish to understand just a great orchestra and lovely dancers. The story was based on love and Greek mythology, featuring Eros and Diana. I really enjoyed it and so did Thomas. We took the long way out so we could take pictures of the grand theatre. Headed to El Caurtito for pizza after, itself an institution and a bustling joint with a healthy queue for their pizza. I had a white sauce based pizza with onion and cheese. Tasty but I was pleased I didn’t order a whole one. I genuinely don’t understand why the Argentinians don’t have more health issues with the red meat, cheese and sugar in their diet but it doesn’t seem to affect them.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

We only have 4 days of Spanish this week, so we have 5 hours of classes each day to get the same time. 9am to 2pm and it is a killer. The extra brain power needed just drains energy so we have taken to bringing snacks, sweets and Mate in. I have still not got used to the taste of mate, over stewed green tea and bitter…..apparently it is addictive. Had a lovely late lunch with Thomas, who is back from Salta and picked his brains on the city, sounds good!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

I spent today researching and planning the next part of my trip. I have found a reasonable flight to Mendoza which will be much better than the overnight bus. From there I will head north, through a couple of national parks to Salta in northern Argentina. This misses Córdoba but I think I prefer the idea of seeing more of the Andes and the national parks rather than looping in to do another city. I had lunch with Faye, who goes back to the UK tomorrow….she seems to have enjoyed her stay despite the weather this weekend!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

This weekend has forecast rain for a long time, I kept hoping it would change but the promised rain came in gusto. I have been lucky with the weather and this is the first real rain in the daytime. I went out for brunch round the corner and finally discovered good coffee. Had a great baked eggs and tomato dish with a Flat White which was awesome. I even complimented the barista and told him it was the best in BA, which he smiled at! I have had the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) on my list for a while and though it is half price on Wednesdays, I figured it was perfect for such a miserable day. It is only a small museum but is put together well and showcases Latin American art alongside historic photos within the permanent Collection. The temporary exhibit was of a group called ‘general idea’ who formed in the late sixties. It was a collective of three Canadian artists, Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson. It is largely media-based art which was interesting, particularly their beauty pageant ‘miss general idea’ where applicants were given the same dress and asked to send photos of themselves. There was also a polystyrene installation with seal pups in one room that reminded me of Antarctica! The group also did a lot of work highlighting the aids crisis, Partz and Zontal died of aids in the 90s.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

I felt inspired today to find some new foodie places and set off after Spanish for La Cocina. Apparently they do some of the best empanadas, so I squeezed into this small bar and ordered 3. They were amazing, hands down the best I have eaten and they fully restored my faith in these being a good rival to the pasty post a few tasteless ones I have tried lately. I had a beef one, a chicken one and then one called ‘picachu’ which was a spiced chicken one. This was my favourite. Given I was doing well on the food hunt I headed down the street to Rapa Nui, a heladeria which had some interesting flavours. I particularly liked Frambuesa Nevada, that was a raspberry mousse with meringue topping. This evening I headed out for a wine tasting session in Palermo, with a few guys from class. We were drinking mainly a selection of wines from Salta that surprised me. Apparently the high altitude produces exceptional results and the white was particularly citrusy. My favourite was a blended Malbec called Amalaya which was really easy to drink. It is ‘Malbec week’ so the bar let us sample a range of wines and I couldn’t fault any to be fair. By midnight we were all drunk and hungry, so we piled into La Cabrera for a steak. This place is very popular and considered one of the best for steak. I talked Dan into sharing a steak which was good move given the size, we also had Provolone which I had seen on many a menu but not eaten. It is essentially a grilled round of cheese with herbs, not as exciting as I hoped. Steak was great, felt my expectations were perhaps too high or maybe I should try it more sober. Finally with a very full stomach, I caught a taxi home. The driver found my mispronunciation of my street ‘Ruggieri’ really funny…..still can’t see why what I was saying was so hard to understand!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Chatted today to Sarah, recently arrived from Perth. We decided to grab lunch and then I volunteered to show her the parks and Floralis generica (large steel flower). The parks of BA are perhaps one of my favourite things about this city. They have a varying degree of structure to them and they always have a cross section of people to watch. I particularly like early mornings in my local park when all the dog walkers are in. Owning a dog in BA is very popular, and so is paying people to walk your dogs. The dog walker can earn up to £10 per dog and you see them walking around 10-15 on mass leads. I digress, today is a scorcher of a sunny day and post a pizza & beer lunch we stroll up to the flower and then through the parks to Plaza Italia. Gorgeous afternoon!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

A haircut had been praying on my mind for a while. It’s been about 12 weeks, which is the longest I had gone without a cut & colour for years. I have my genius hairdresser at home, but he is refusing to fly out, so I decide a trip to La Peluquería is overdue. I have spent a few weeks eyeing up options and had spotted one that looked reasonably priced (budget conscious traveller that I am!). I made my way up there after class and politely asked if they spoke English….No?…google translate it is then. Suffice to say, they were never going to be as good as Barry but the colour is ok and the cut has taken the weight out. I think it is perhaps the shortest my hair has ever been and feel it is too short. On a positive at least I won’t need to go through that trauma again for a while, although I dread to think of what a good cut in Bolivia or Peru looks like….perhaps I will just grow it.