On arrival on the one hour ferry crossing from Colonia del Sacremento we walked back through the well heeled Puerto Madero basin, not bad as a route through the city toward the San Telmo area where we where staying. We had booked into America del Sur hostel, a purpose build establishment which came with several benefits. Rooms and communal areas are all clean and spacious with fully working fixtures. The biggest asset for the hostel is the staff, all welcoming, friendly and not able to do enough for you, superb. The only down side was the ropey WiFi but that seems to be a bit of a theme.
A text message exchange teed us up to head into the San Telmo market where we met Martin, out friend from NZ who happened to be in BA on business and the opportunity was too good to turn down. It was great to see the difference being fluent in another language can make, being able to crack jokes with waiters and taxi drivers.
That evening we headed out on Buenos Aires time, a cheeky beer before going to Martin's recommended Parilla (steak / grill) restaurant where he'd made a reservation for 10pm, or so he thought. Arriving at the restaurant to discover it was closed and realising there had been some date confusion we headed off to Palermo in a taxi. Realising further evidence that getting the Lonely Planet top pick recommendation is a license to print money, Don Julio's was again queueing out the door. So we headed further into the main area which was buzzing, we were soon lured away by a tout who proved well worth following. It was by now after 11:30 which is late for us but by no means so in Latin America. We sat outside and had a view of the meat smoking over hot coals, certainly got the juices flowing. Some of the finest Bife de Chorizo (steak) washed down with some fine Malbec was superb.
Malbec at some point must be due a blog in it's own right, surely Argentinian Malbec is the finest wine there is.
We adjourned to a bar for a couple of quiet whiskies. Watching the Portenos out was fascinating, socialising at 2am involves a couple of quiet drinks, maybe a coffee or a coke and maybe a bite to eat, a very relaxed atmosphere all round, being drunk even at this time of night is still very much frowned upon. 3:30 was time to call it a night.
The next day we again had a trip to La Boca, known for being a working class suburb with rough edges, an area where you may need to take more care not to flash too much evidence of wealth around.
More importantly it is the home of Boca Juniors, one of the best supported football teams in Argentina. It is also known for brightly coloured corrugated iron buildings and being match day it was bound to have a great atmosphere.
Boca certainly didn't disappoint, an amazing technicolour display, the buildings are the stars of the show. This is despite the fine looking tango dancers offering a photo opportunity at every turn. The buildings are often topped with caricatures of the live of Maradona, Eva Peron and the unsurprisingly popular Pope Francis.
A fantastic afternoon was topped with a trip to La Bombanera, which had a great atmosphere with supporters singing as they queued patiently to get access to the stadium. I was keen to go but wasn't prepared to pay $175 for a tour and there seemed no other way of getting tickets.
Monday was a trip to the Paraguayan embassy to sort out our visas, NZ citizens are among the few who need an advance visa and at a whopping $160 US. Not sure what we've done to upset the Paraguayan's except take a point off them in the last World Cup.
Our last day in BA meant we could finally catch up with Seb, a good friend and my former work colleague at RESULTS.com. It was great to see him and share our journey so far in his country with him. I enjoy catching up with former colleagues and seeing how their journey is continuing. It is also always a bonus to have the local inside word on where to get the best empanadas in town. On the corner of Scalabrini Ortiz and Santa Fe, opposite Plaza del Carmen, if you are interested.
So BA comes to an end, a truly amazing city, one I'd be more than happy to spend more time in but now it is time for the overnight bus to Mercedes and the start of our northern route.
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