Buenos Aires Wilton Palace Hotel

... from the shul to their home you could have felt like you were in Jerusalem. <br><br>Yom Kippur: Steph (the same friend I celebrated Rosh Hashannah with) spoke with her parents when she was very upset after our Rosh experience so they networked through the Jewish community and some how got in touch with a family here who offered to host us for all of the Yom Kippur events. I have never felt more welcomed in a stranger&#8217;s home in my entire life. The family ...

... city tourin'<br><br>And then there were 5 - I finally feel as if I can tackle a city tour and hop on a bus with the loudest earphone commentary in history - not out of place at an Iron Maiden concert. The tour takes 3 hours and takes in everything including the historic Boca area, down town and the botanic gardens. Its a great huge vibrant city but still - its best at night.<br><br>Our last night and Jerome, Helen, Katja, Lucas and I drink some caipirinhas ...

... of which we cycled through (including BA's answer to Hyde Park). All the parks are filled with literally hundreds of dogs being watched over by the crazy "dog walkers" - basically people that spend all day babysitting dogs, walking up to 12 at a time and just sitting with them in parks. It's not an outrageous concept I admit but the sheer volume of dogs in the city was quite amusing. I don't think I saw one bit of **** though, so I guess ...

... its almost like Paris where every corner store sells them. I settle for ´The Special´which turns out to be a pounded steak sandwhich on roll w/ lettuce and tomatoe. Nothing special, and, as warned by Aleks, they don´t have change. This appears to be a national crisis such that even places that clearly do have change (i.e. busy bar) say they don´t out of habit. 4:00ish wandered through the historic waterfront area and ´city center ...

... Madrid in the champions league and gave them an absolute thumping so I had to have a beer to celebrate. The rest of the night was history but I have vague memories of stumbling out of a drum n` bass club at about 6 A.M. I`m sure I saw Yatesy in there somewhere??? or maybe that was the effects of fernet. Some say it`s the devil in a glass! I`m not sure but it`s definitely pure evil. The argies love it. Steak aside they have some strange tastes ...

... del Tiempo. The entrance line was wrapped around three blocks... and I was concerned that we wouldn't make it in. I need not have worried because there was ample space in this strange lot that was converted to house a music group. 15 guys in red shirts played some of the most energetic and lively music that I have ever heard- with a salsa and Caribbean beat you couldn't help but bop along. Wild stuff!

... when I say "we" I mean my friends from la residencia (or "the res"). I wrote last week about starting my volunteer work on Tuesday.. and it's going really well. It's not exactly what I expected - I thought there would be a lot more to do for the kids, besides play games, color, do homework, etc., but it is still very rewarding. The kids are great - it depends on which neighborhood you visit each day but they're all kinds of fun and it's ...

... of Che Guevara and Alberto Granado and dreamed of one day traveling through South America on 2 wheels. Sure you hear of people who take on similar feats such as riding from London to Sydney, or all the way down to Cape Town, but in Bern we actually got to meet someone who had done it all. Our Swiss project manager at the time, Toni Oberhofer, was happy to show us photos and give us advice gained from his adventures so we could one day take this dream and turn it into reality ...

... of homeless in a city of course, but the number of homeless children in Buenos Aires has really struck me. Sunday was chores day (check of finances was a bit of a shock after Madge and Spanish School!) and on Monday I treated myself to a spa day (I booked it before the cash check, it would be rude to just cancel it...) The spa was fantastic! I booked a massage for 130 pesos which for an Argentine is ...

... be absolutely GUTTED if he was injured and missed the game...<br><br> <br><br>After a few more drinks we got hungry and headed to a local all-you-can-eat place that the hostel &amp; guidebooks recommended, only to find a MASSIVE queue waiting OUTSIDE the restaurant! <br><br>It looked fantastic so we made a reservation ...