Palace Cevallos Buenos Aires

... sunk a few beers and talked about travel, life and BA until i really did have to get my 5am flight...i never did get back to my hotel that night, except to get my bag. As i was leaving, they reminded me of the story i`d told about how i`d lost my iPod in Nicaragua...and gave me one of the new MP3 players they were selling! How nice is that? I`d only met them hours earlier. Cool people. If my journey takes me through BA again i`ll definitely swing by and get some beers in to return ...

... than i thought. Still, its great fun attempting to communicate with goodnatured (and cute) argentinan (girls).

The first couple of days included strolling down Av. Florida - a pedestrian street with gorgeous European architecture, tango dancers and other street performers. We ate the first of the many empanadas Buenos Aires would serve up, tried and failed to finish the famous Argentinian steak (easily the biggest I´ve ever seen), and I was ...

... which was just round the corner from the Obelisco. It's quite a nice hostel with a similar feel to La Casa Roja in Santiago - tall ceilings, old wooden floors and little courtyards. We checked out the local supermarket and grabbed some grub for tonight. We then went for a walk round the nearby central district. We went to the Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosada is. This is where the famous Evita balcony is. We obviously both broke out into our own ...

... dance form that seduces even the most casual observer and is deeply intertwined with the folkloric music and classical guitar playing of the country. Combining the best of the Spanish flamenco-style of classical guitar with the rhythym and sexuality of Latin culture, it is quite invigorating. Yerba mate is a natural herb that is brewed in a wooden gourd and savored by citizens of both Argentina and Uruguay ...

... skinnier that day. After a cramped, but free, night in a stuffy dorm room, we packed up and caught another bus, this one heading out of Argentina, through the Andes mountain range, into Santiago. We managed second row, top, seats for the captivating 7 hour ride. Our bus snaked its way up through towering red, arid, jagged peaks along rushing rivers to the border, and then down countless steep switchbacks into the valleys of Chile.

... here... so many people are not in the city, and it was on a week day, so, again, the numbers were fewer. Wednesday night, I went to dinner with Anna and 3 friends she met from "Couch Surfing". Now, if you are like me, you might not know what "Couch Surfing" is-- well, it's like "Meet up", only where you are either ...

... and that it cost 5 pounds! We had great Turkey, potatoes, salad, roast veg, chocolate brownie.....the works. Boxing day was the best food wise as Char cooked Toad in the Hole for 9 people with assistants for the veg and roast potatoes. She even tought the chef how to make it. Proper big chorizo sausages with amazing crispy huge yorkshire. Heaven. A couple of days after Xmas we went to Tango hall, a real milongueros called Confiteria Ideal http ...

... to ´party´¨ and another who asked me dance and thereafter wanted to kiss me once he found out I was from Canada (what the heck??) ... Roxy on the other hand had the creepo who tried to impress her with his Chinese speaking skills and when she tried to ignore him he stuck around near us just staring with a permanent creepy grin on his face. =) We left at a respectable time of 4am and the party was still going strong.... I seriously don´t know how they keep it up here ...

... could do the same if we wanted so that was cool. So, sightseeing... We did make it to Recoleta (posh area) where there is a huge unusual cemetery (everybody is buried in little houses). Eva Peron´s family´s grave is there which we saw but apparently she´s officially buried in Milan as there were attempts made to steal her body ??? Ew. We also visited the Evita museum, saw some tango in the street, visited San Telmo... another nice area kind of like Greenwich in New York. I´m ...

... tickets for their game on Sunday v Colon Sante Fe!

After the stadium we got back onto the #29 bus and headed back into the centre of the city for some lunch.

After lunch we walked back to ...