Steak, Cemetaries and Football
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2009
1
18
84
Trip End
Dec 10, 2009
Buenos Aires,
Capital Federal District,
Argentina
Sunday, June 21, 2009
impressive. I didnt really know what to expect but all the graves are
like tombs or mausoleums. Most of them had alters when you looked in
the glass and the coffins would be placed underground level which would
be reached by going down steps. We could even see some of the coffins
all placed on shelves. We saw Evita's grave which I have to say did
not look as impressive as some of the others but there were lots of
flowers in the gate. Evita was the presidents wife and apparently she
did alot to help the Argentinian people so she was beloved by them
Recoleta Cemetary
.We met the Irish gang Friday night for dinner - what else but steak on the menu! It was really tasty. I am also getting the taste for red wine - the Malbec is really nice here. We went for drinks after to a bar in a square a few blocks away from us. We decided to move on and try another bar and happened across an Argentinian restaurant where there was live folk music playing. It was really random coming across it and we seemed to be the only foreigners in there which was cool. It was about 2am at this stage and I think alot of people had just finished up eating. There was even a little boy of around 8 only leaving the restaurant then! After the music ended different groups started having their own singsong sessions and I counted about 8 different guitars on the go with different groups. It was really cool to see as this is their culture.
On Saturday we went to La Boca and did a tour of La Bomboneira stadium which is La Boca Juniors home ground. The pitch was a state - there were 2 guys going around filling in all the cut up bits with sand in preparation for La Bocas last home game of the season on Sunday. Boca Juniors colours are blue and yellow (or gold as they like to call it). Story goes that back in the day someone went down to the port area in La Boca and they said that the next ship to sail in they would take their colours...a swedish ship docked so they took their colours
Typical Grave in recoleta
. River Plate, who are La Bocas rivals, colours are red and white and they are sponsered by Coca Cola. Well in La Bomboneira there are Coke posters up in the stadium but they are in Black and white - you dont and wont see any of the trademark red and white colours of Coke in there because they are so fanatical about it that they will have no reference to River Plate in their statium! We saw where the hooligans part of the stadium is who call themselves Player No 12. We were the only people in our group who didnt speak Spanish so that was embarrasing when she translated everything into English for just us! Before we left we asked her for directions to La Camonita which is the touristy part of La Boca - it really isn`t the type of place where you go wandering around from what we have heard. It was a few blocks away from La Bomboneira so we said we would stroll over. It is so touristy but sher there was a good vibe there. The buildings are all made from coloured corrugated metal so its quite pretty. We went into one of the restaurants where the touts were calling us in - so annoying. There was a tango show on at the restaurant aswell so that was good enough. There was a Maradona look-a-like on the street but he was charging 15 pesos to get a pic with him. Thats just under 3 euro. We went back to hostel and decided to have dinner in as we were spending quite alot on steak dinners and double rooms so we got pizza and salad - nothing too gourmet yet!On Sunday morning we went to San Telmo to the antiques fair. To be fair we do not have the slightest interest in antiques but it was really good and there were lots of other stalls selling clothes, jewellery etc. We both got gloves and I bargained yer man down - was delighted with myself. I spotted a really toasty scarf then so I got that also - it was only 13 euro but so warm and handmade
Recoleta Cemetary
. You would spend alot more on it at home. There were lots of street artists aswell. There was one orchestra who were amazing. They even had a piano on the street! After that we went back to the hostel for pick up for the big match! We got a bus with 3 other people from our hostel, Brookes and Sebastian, a couple from Canada and Germany and a French guy called Jeremy. We were picked up at 3.30 and the match wasn`t on until 7.30 so we were a bit perplexed as to why we were going so early - hardly because its that dangerous there we thought! But no that wasnt why - we were brought to a building near the stadium and there were loads of other people in there drinking free beer and coke. There was a draw then for some retro Boca jerseys - it was the design of the first Boca jersey in the 1930s (it could also be said to be a retro Carrigtwohill jersey!) and we all got a ticket when we went in. I got number 89 and thats the number we won the facial on and believe it or not we were the last ticket drawn out again so that is now officially our lucky number! So I gave Ror the jersey to wear - its hilarious really to see a Sars man wearing what really looks like a Carrig jersey! So anyway off we went in convoy for safety walking over to the stadium. We were all searched walking in and were not allowed being any bottles or lighters in. We got into the stadium and I thought that we would be sitting but oh no - we were the the stands and the hooligans were in the stands on the opposite side of the pitch to us
recoleta cemetary
. The visitors were above us. They were putting up banners and one of them fell down and one of the Boca supporters started trying to pull it down but he was getting nowhere with it. They started trying to cut it then and nothing was happening. I mean what was the sign made from! Next thing they pulled out a lighter and started to put it on fire but it wasn`t catching. There were firemen on the pitch and all they were doing was looking up at what was happening - it was hilarious. The best yet was one of the Boca fans pulled out a can of deodrant or something alcohol based and they sprayed it at the lighter and the banner caught fire - there was rupturous applause from the Boca fans and sher we all had to join in - we were warned to sing along with the supporters and really be up for the match so as not to draw any trouble on us. The Hooligans had what seemed like a 10 piece band with them - they were playing music with drums and trumpets - they were amazing. All through the match they never let up with their support. In the second half in our stand and accross the pitch the Boca fans pulled out fireworks - it was brilliant! The match was only so-so I thought but I will let Ror write some more about that! We had a choripan before the match which is like a chorizo sausage in a roll - very tasty! Info on Game;
The match ended 2-1 to the oppostion , Gimanese who were playing to stay up in the league
Evita grave
. Boca were so so but they did have a few class players, most notibably Riquelme who has played for Argentina many times. He did look a total class apart when he tried-he seemed a bit of a moaner and lazy git but when he tried he was awsome! Pity the ground was not full but we were told theres alot of politics over here with tickets etc and the fact that Boca had nothing much to play for as they are in bottom half of table. Still it was a class experience-we had to wait 30 mins after the game to leave the away supporters out- they were going mental and on our way out (as we had been told pre game) we began to get a fowl smell on the steps going out of the stadium- they had pissed all over the steps-total scum but great experience!Diego Maradona has his own private VIP box in the middle of the stadium that had yellow seats compared to all the other VIP boxes that have blue seats but unfortunately we did not see him in it even though the next day Conor had said they saw him in the centre of the pitch-he is a God over here as is expected!!
