Ayres de Palermo Buenos Aires

... Cemetary which is the burial place of Evita Peron. Though IŽd booked just a dorm bed I actually had the entire room to myself. There are a party of Aussies also staying for a wedding being held later in the week up in Cordoba and I bumped into a couple of them. Nice crowd. However rather than getting sucked straight into beers I went out for a wander around the neighbourhood and then grabbed a dinner of a selection of empanadas before getting early night.

... to the tone.

I finally got the chance to experience long distance travel Argentine style - by bus. This is the most common way to get between cities in the country (and throughout most of South and Central America, for that matter), but in Argentina they have elevated it to a high level. The buses are run by dozens of different companies, and offer a variety of comfort levels, from the 'chicken bus' bare bones familiar in Central America through semi-cama, a ...

... Chefs famous BBQ. This turned out to be the biggest bit of steak you have ever seen and was pretty pink inside - Celia was delighted, Lee was mortified, however he really enjoyed it eating every last bit and even mopping up the blood with his potatoes!

We decided to take some Spanish lessons as we were staying in BA for a while and we were struggling to get by on our very limited ...

... She told me the history and the stories and of the states failure to provide in many ways and their bizarre actions. The whole area, crammed with thousands of families, only has one health centre opened for a few hours a day Monday to Friday and you have to queue the day before to get a ticket to be seen the next day. Illegal squatting is an issue as families overspill out of crowded and dangerously inadequate social housing often with no or little ...

... with literature and information, and then walked around the plaza, with many people looking on. There were also several noisier protests, including one that seemed to be about a teacher's strike, and another that looked like it had something to do with the construction of the aforementioned Colon Theatre. And plenty of people just out enjoying the day, including lunching office workers, and a bunch of children playing with the many pigeons.

Then, back to the hostel ...

... cheers up our sleeves... "Diego, Diieeego, Dieeee-go and we wanna go home" The game was awesome, MaradonaŽs first as coach and the fans were here to see him... Banners were flying and read "Maradona y 11 mas", forget about the actual team - this man is reveered to godly status. Argentina won 4 - 0 and the crowd got louder on each goal. The best noise makers were the Boca fans who for the entire 90 minutes beat drums ...

... my ballpoint pen was not allowed. El Monumental - Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti - is a mammoth stadium that resembles walking up to the a big NFL structure. The largest stadium in Argentina houses 77,000+ and was the site of the 1978 World Cup Finals where the home team Argentina upset the Total Football of Holland. I was entering a stadium where Johan Cruyff played his best World Cup football. I had goosebumps ...

... applying to med school when she goes home at the end of February. She's been here since November, but was living in a home stay and decided to move to the res to be with people. Victoria is from Argentina and moved to the city to go to school for cinematography. She's really cool and is wicked good at English which makes me feel bad that my Spanish isn't better than it is. But I will keep you all updated on the roommate situation, seeing as I should be getting a new one after ...

... los Andes. Everything from the naturally clean small town, the amazing river that runs through town and the surrounding Andean mountains, the owners of the Alina's Inn and the Iowa couple we met while there made this place the most loved by the Willbond's.

Least favorite place overall and why?
We both have to agree that Mendoza, Argentina was the one place we wish we had skipped. Among many other things, this is where the hostel owner was caught filming people ...

... and I proceeded in English...telling her that she would be in Brazil soon (which turned out to be true...I have a gift). After some more laughs, we wrote a nice air letter to the server and we settled the tab. With full bellies, the long walk to "Olsen" was well worth it. Arriving 15 minutes later, we were greeted by one of the cooler spaces I have seen...a chic outdoor patio with deck tables and grass bound cushions. Inside, the bar and restaurant were perfectly framed ...