Buenos Aires -part 2

Saturday 23rd April 2011
Today was our last transit day of the trip. We headed for the port to get our catamaran back to BA, a trip that would take 3 hours. Emma decided against taking a sea sickness tablet this time as last time it wiped her out for the day. The trip was a little rough at the start but we'd positioned ourselves in the middle so rode on through with no issues.

Back in BA, we returned to the America del Sur. We considered moving area, but being happy with the hostel and having felt we had just discovered San Telmo before we left, we're really glad we returned. On reaching the hostel the power was out for the block so we headed straight out to walk the local area.

Great bar for ladies.

In the evening we discovered an amazing bar/restaurant, the best in Argentina and maybe the holiday. The Pedro Telmo adjoins the market, serves cheap beer and has a full menu. It's nothing special to look at, but the atmosphere, enhanced by the slightly wacky but charming waiter, is great. The half and half option on pizza was appreciated by James who could at last have some meat on his half.

Sunday 24th April 2011
This morning we were woken at 4.30 by all sorts of commotion outside. There's a bar opposite our hostel that stays open most of the night. It's common to hear drunk and rowdy people on the street below. We're normally so tired from the day that we sleep through the noise but this time we heard a man shouting 'I'm going to kill you,' whilst smacking an iron bar against anything he could find. A few police sirens later and everything was quiet again.

Being Easter Sunday, we didn't know what to expect as we headed out. We were glad to find that quite a lot was open, with the added bonus that the roads and pavements were quieter as many people had left the city for the weekend.

We walked from our hostel north to Recoleta, one of the more affluent areas of BA. On the way James managed to get a Boca Juniors shirt, so he was happy.

Like a city.

We headed to Recoleta to visit the cemetery and look around the weekend market. The cemetery is quite an experience. It holds the remains of numerous famous people from Argentine history, including presidents, writers and Evita in the Familia Duarte tomb. There is no sign of her husband though. You can literally spend hours walking around and it's slightly bizarre looking directly at the coffins through the tomb windows. There are many different styles of architecture as things have changed through the years. It's a must do if you're ever in BA.

The famous tomb.

Walking around Recoleta looking for somewhere to lunch, we felt a little underdressed but found a comfortable place. James had sorrentinos con jamon y queso - pasta dumplings, a bit like ravioli, but bigger and more filled hence only 5 of them. Considering we didn't know what they were when ordering they were very tasty.

Lots of crafts.

Next we wandered around the market, admiring the crafts on offer and laughing at the tat. On the grass surrounding the stalls, musicians and actors entertained a large audience.

The colourful Caminito.

We had one more thing we wanted to do that day, so jumped into a taxi and shot down to La Boca and Calle Caminito. This is said to be BA's most famous street. There was plenty going on with shops, market stalls and street performers all looking for money. We suspect it's also popular for pickpockets as it's full of tourists and is in one of the dodgier areas of BA. With the sun going down and everything packing up, we followed our cabbie's advice and headed out of the area.

Football: it's easy to say but everyone really does have an opinion about it here. Most taxi drivers talk about it, it's on in bars all the time and with 18 teams in BA, it's not really a surprise. One or two people have even heard of Blackburn Rovers.

Monday 25th April 2011

A lovely museum.

Original brickwork.

As we've mentioned before, Mondays can be tricky as many places are closed. Fortunately we found a fascinating museum that was open. The 'El Zanjon' is nothing to look at from the outside, but the inside is a huge surprise. When the owner bought the property in 1985, he planned to open a restaurant. What he found was access to underground tunnels that show perhaps the earliest settlement of BA. So instead of a restaurant, he set about renovating the site into a museum. 20 years later, it opened. Our guided tour took us through the house and tunnels, providing further historical information on BA. It was fascinating.

We hoped to have another walk around the ecological park and have a picnic there but it was shut. Instead, so we tucked into our empanadas in a park and wondered what to do next.

Surely this is a not right.

We decided to visit an old boat of the Argentine navy, the 'Fragata Sarmiento'. It was fun walking around all the decks and engine rooms, though slightly bizarre when we saw a stuffed dog on board. A highlight was a display which referenced coal from Cardiff, a place that is in Wales, a zone of England (according to the wording). Not sure the Welsh would agree.

The warehouse.

The band.

 In the evening we went to Palermo to the highly recommended 'La Bomba de Tiempo' in a warehouse. This is a group of drummers and percussionists who manage to create a rave-like atmosphere though their beats and a few lights. We were thoroughly entertained and it was quite amazing what they achieved. The fact they were really enjoying themselves only added to the occasion.

Tuesday 26th April 2011
Today we rode the trains. After seeing so many lines and stations closed down it was nice to actually make use of this marvellous piece of engineering.

Houses on stilts.

We headed to the Tigre Delta on 'El Tren de la Costa'. On the way we passed through some of the leafy suburbs of BA and had stones thrown at the train. We noticed that several windows on the train were cracked so can only assume this happens all the time. One nice aspect of the journey was seeing lots of rugby pitches. We felt this must be somewhat of a heartland for it in Argentina.

On reaching the Delta station we walked to the boat station and got a boat bus to Tres Bocas, a residential area lined with canals and with pretty houses on stilts. The waterways reminded us a little of the backwaters in Kerala. The water of the Rio Plata and the associated rivers is a very consistent murky brown. It's not quite the same colour as the Galapagos waters. Yet again dogs were present. They happily goaded each other from opposite banks, although went quiet where crossing was possible. The wimps.

We had a wander around the centre, tried to go to the mate museum (shut most of the week) and as the light faded, we hopped back on the train to the city, catching rush hour and the crowds the nearer we got.

Wednesday 27th April 2011
Today was polo day.

Our polo group.

Throughout the trip we've tried to do new things. Playing polo certainly fits into this category and so it was with excitement and a hint of nervousness that we headed to the pickup point.

Fernando, who runs the whole show, picked us up along with another couple Ruth and Damian. We headed out to the country somewhere southwest to a ranch. Being novice riders, we were first given some tips on how to control our horses. This was not a problem for Ruth, who has ridden since the age of four and is a horse dentist. We've never met one of those before!

Goalscorers.

Once we felt comfortable in the saddle, we were given some instruction on how to hit the ball, followed by taking a mallet and trying it for ourselves. James was immediately able to put his golf experience to good use and was getting a few hits in. Emma was still struggling to control her horse, apparently the most obedient of the lot. Emma was not convinced.

Spot the polo player.

After a break, we 'played' a match, 2 on 2. Emma's team won 5-4, largely due to having the full time polo player on her team. Emma managed one goal whilst James scored two in a losing effort. We were absolutely shattered by the end, with hands shaking. We were proud of our efforts given we can't even ride horses. All this had happened by about 1pm

Slightly quicker than us.

Fernando was playing a practice match in the afternoon and he invited us along to watch. Having never seen any type of match, we accepted. We drove about 65km out of the city to another ranch, owned by the parents of two professional players who are currently playing in Germany. Whilst watching, we realised we were some way off participating at even a practice level, but it was reassuring that even the players missed the ball. In fairness, they were travelling at 50km an hour, so any misses should be forgiven.

Afterwards we chatted to the players and tucked into a nice piece of cake freshly baked by the owner's wife. Everyone was amazingly friendly and we were glad we went along.

Fact:
A new rule has been introduced by the Polo Association which prohibits the players talking to the referee. This is because players had started to get argumentative with and sometimes abusive towards the referee. The rule is an attempt to maintain polo's reputation as being a 'gentleman's' sport.

Thursday  28th April 2011San Isidro

We caught the local subsidised train to San Isidro, a suburb 30 mins on the train north of the Retiro station. The fare for each return was around 30p, which is an absolute steal.

San Isidro is a wealthy suburb boasting many mansions and is located on the Rio Plata. After a walk around to find a map, we had a look at the beautiful neo-Gothic cathedral. With sun shining through the stained glass windows, it was a lovely sight.

Next we went to the 'Museo Pueyrredon'. In the garden we were able to see a tree under which San Martin planned battles against the Spanish. The museum itself gave us the history of both the house and San Isidro, which 300+ years ago had been merely farm land. The house once belonged to Pueyrredon, an artist and architect. It shows some of his finest works which were impressive, although would look out of place in Allder Close.

A nice house.

After more walking (it's lucky we both like walking) we arrived at 'Villa Ocampo'. This is a house restored in its original style that was once the summer residence of the creator of 'Sur' magazine, apparently famous in these parts. We enjoyed the tranquility of the beautiful gardens and were lucky enough to take afternoon tea overlooking the lawn. For a moment we pretended the house and grounds were ours.

Cream tea.

Back in the city, we headed out to our last steak house. We accompanied our meal with a bottle of Bianchi Malbec, from our first vineyard trip in San Rafael, and it was a very enjoyable way to spend our last evening.

Friday 29th April 2011Our last day in South America.

Having packed the night before we were able to watch a bit of the royal wedding before checking out. Seeing pictures of London made us excited about coming home.

Our flight was not until the evening, but we found out from the hostel staff that there were strikes and protests in the city so we should prepare for delays getting to the airport. As it turned out, the bus transfer company had cancelled most of its services so we were to get to the airport several hours before our flight. This news made the thought of being at home all the more enjoyable.

Protesters.

We'd been meaning to go to the cathedral since our first day in BA when we couldn't enter due to our legs being on show. How apt that we finally fitted it in on the last day. Once inside, the highlight was the tomb of San Martin. There's also a flame outside to keep his spirit alive. In general we actually preferred the much brighter and simpler cathedral in San Isidro but were glad we visited it.

We grabbed a coffee in a lovely cafe 'London City'. It's over 60 years old and still going strong.
Refreshed, we had a last walk around the city centre, crossing marches as we went. Around Puerto Madero we had our final ice cream (Dulce de Leche flavour of course) before heading to our bus.

The last ice cream.

Here the long journey home began...

Pacharan and coffee in Madrid airport.