Steaks, POlice, transvestites, tango and cemetery
Trip Start
Jun 03, 2008
1
6
23
Trip End
Sep 22, 2008
Buenos Aires,
Capital Federal District,
Argentina
Saturday, June 14, 2008
So I arrived in Buenos Aires around lunchtime, and not having booked a hostel, I thought Iīd turn up at one and hope for the best. I was recommended to stay in Palermo House, but when I got there all they had was private rooms... so it was obviously a popular choice. They recommended Bait Hostel, one round the corner and I settled myself there. Palermo, just northwest of downtown, is a very trendy and hip place. Thereīs loads of nice little boutiques, exotic restaurants and a buzzing nightlife with bars and clubs. Itīs kind of like the posh side of BA but not terribly touristy. The hostel is decent, less than 4 quid a night, with hot showers and only 3 of us in the dorm which can fit up to 9. Itīs small enough everyone to know each other, and theres a kind of family feel to it. The people here seem to be long term though, having planned to stay 2 weeks and ending up being here for 9 months. Theyīre cool and gave me insiders tips into BA, though not really up for exploring since theyīve bin there done that..
I was starving as soon as I got there, and Pablo, a guy that works at the hostel, recommended this place to eat that only argentinians eat at.
BA1
It was quite hidden away, you would never realise it was a restaurant/cafe unless you knew to go there. Nobody spoke english and I was the only gringo (tourist) there so it was a proper local joint and my first steak, chips and egg in Argentina was brill. I spent the first afternoon exploring downtown. The bus there seemed simple enough and quite different to Brazil. Everything is so much cheaper here! OHHHH and the weather.. is cold! Colder than London right now. I didnīt pack any warm clothes because I was stupid and assumed anywhere as exotic as South America would be hot.. but itīs winter here so itīs freezing. Its sunny and the skies are clear however, so the day always seemed nice. I bought a green hoody on the busy Av. Florida and strolled around there, catching my first look at Tango by watching some street performers really strut their stuff, and it was amazing. I spent quite a while at an internet cafe that evening though, since I was faced with a conversation that I really should have had before I left :-@ and I stupidly left my mobile phone there. It was too late when I realised and they were closed, but to my suprise they gave it back to me when I came back the next day. I spent thursday getting my phone back and exploring downtown some more. I ventured into San Telmo, one of the cityīs oldest hoods and that seemed quite cool with less of the European high-rise buildings but two storey colourful homes and pebbled streets. I figured Iīll visit it properly on Sunday where Iīll come back for the famous San Telmo street market.
BA1
I stopped by a wall to look at my map and figure out a way home, when I was approached by a police officer. Thinking he was going to help me with directions, I said hello. He started by asking me where I was from, then asking where I was staying. He then asked me for my passport, and I was confused and asked īpor que?ī (why?) and he said for identification purposes. So I handed him my passport and he carefully checked every page and asked if I smoked. I said no I dont and that smoking is bad for you. Thinking he might be content with all that, having handed my passport back, I thought Iīd ask him where the bus stop was. He then asked for my hand and properly sniffed my fingers on each hand. So he thought I was a dodgy drug dealer. Itīs bad enough getting stop-and-searched in London, but as a tourist in Argentina? Maybe he wanted a bribe. Unlike Brazil, where I blended in easily, I stick out here as people are very european looking so itīs obvious Iīm a tourist, which doesnīt help because Iīm constantly pestered for money or guided towards some kinda īchica showī.
So I went back to the hostel and slept a bit before dinner. Buenos Aires is all about the nightlife and they seem to be quite nocturnal people. You canīt expect to eat dinner in a restaurant till around 10pm and clubs donīt get going till around 2am.. they can shut as late as 8am! I had the hostels 'GRAN asado', which was a big feast of grilled meats and eggy mashed potato... it was soo good and i got soo full because i wanted to get my moneys worth - not the greatest idea before a night out! So that night I decided to go to Niceto nightclub, Thursday nights are apparently the best..
BA1
one room was a night called Club 69 and the other smaller one called Zizek Urban Beats Club. I spent more time in the Zizek room because it played my kinda music... though everyone else (who were all argentinian) seemed to be hippy like and I guess this type of music was for the non-conformist type. I went with Marvin, a long termer at te hostel, and he knew some of the DJs so I chatted to quite a few people. All sorts of urban music was played, I listened to Cumbia for the first time, which is quite popular though sounds very traditional and I wondered how it was classed with the urban music. So anyway they played some good music - reggaeton, dancehall, hiphop and I was suprised to hear the more familiar UK genres of grime, bassline and dubstep. Lets just say I had a lot of fun in this room. The other room, Club 69, was much bigger and very popular with the Argentinians - house / techno / electronica seems to be what they love in BA. This night was cool though as there was a caberet type show which featured transvestites dancing around and breakdancers doing their stuff, the acts taking in turns to entertain the crowd. It only started getting full and the entertainment starting around 3. It was a crazy night and I wasnīt in bed till around 7:30am!Goes without saying I slept most of Friday, waking up for a few hours for lunch. I decided to go to a milonga, a place where tango is danced, to see the action and try it out.
BA1
This is supposedly the biggest one in BA, and everyone there seemed to be locals, so I practised my spanish as far as to say īHola, me llamo steve. los siento, hablo un poccito de castellanoī They did a salsa class at 9pm followed by a tango class at 2230, both of which were heaps of fun and I met all sorts of folk. The professionals showed off their skills, tango is very sensual and intimate - quite a macho dance that heavily relies on the manīs lead. After the classes were over at midnight, it was an open dancefloor until 6am and it wasnt till around 1 that locals started flooding in with their tango shoes, out to enjoy themselves through tango-ing the night away. I was glad I went in the end, and it was so much better than seeing a proper show, I think this is tango in its rawest form and not pretentiously geared towards tourists. Today (saturday) I went around recoletta, to the only thing to sightsee in BA really, a cemetery. Apparently this was where Evita (Eva Peron) from the musical was buried. I havenīt seen the musical or have a great political knowledge, so it wasnīt as significant to me. The cemetery was cool though, unlike any other Iīve seen. You could see into some of the tombs, some had stairs leading underground, others had shelves with several coffins in them. Some were really extravegant, massive statues and angels and all sorts of tings which couldnīt have been cheap. There was a kinda hippy market in Recoletta since it was the weekend, it was much like Camden, with lots of hand crafts, gloves, scarves and other nik naks. After this I headed to Once, which I was told is never visited by tourists and has lots of cheap clothes. I mustīve been the only gringo in a 2 mile radius, and there was lots of bargains.. I bought a t-shirt AND a jumper for less than a tenner. That was an experience, difficult because my spanish was poor and I couldnīt understand a word so couldnīt haggle as I would elsewhere.. but yeah I managed to walk back to Palermo, passing through some of the trendy boutiques which were expensive on the way. Think Iīll have an early night tonight (even though its already 2am!) as Iīm moving to a more lively (party?) hostel downtown so this will probably be my last good nights sleep in BA.
Updates to come and pictures too. Safety famoīs
Comments
missing you and your farts!!!
Hi mister adventurer,
Wow man, I am seriously blown away by your blogs. Never knew you could write with such flare and charisma. My heart started to panic when you mentioned the police and your passport...man your blogs are better than eastenders. Your photos are really cool especially the ones with food...yummy!
Just thought I'd tell you that we really miss you here...even your farts.
Love you lots,
Atching lheng x
Buenos dias
Hey SA,
Sounds like you are having an amazing time - soooooooo jealous!! Loving all your blogs - glad that police man didnīt arrest you. Iīm in sunny barcelona just now for my hols with 2 friends. I could get so used to this not working thing! Anyway - you take care of yourself. When you going Phillipines by the way? Lloyd and I should hopefully be there in August if all goes to plan. Gayle xxxxx