Buenos Aires

We've been in Buenos Aires a week, and what a week its been!  We rented an aparment for the week so we could do our own cooking and did a lot of sleeping in!  After the craziness of Carnaval and the daily alarm clocks and tours in the Pantanal and Iguassu, the rest was very needed and welcome! 

Our first day here we went to the big Sunday market and bought lots of gifts, as well as some little trinkets for ourselves and took in the energy of the city.  The original plan was to go to a football (soccer) match in the evening, but we weren't able to get tickets (just as well - the home team got creamed!) 

On Monday we wandered to a really nice neighbourhood where Caroline bought a couple of lovely new articles of clothing and we proceeded to wander through the oldest cemetery in the city, where the elite try to out-do each other for eternity - giant mausoleums, ornate sculptures - acres and acres of them.  The most famous was that of Eva "Evita" Peron. 

At about 2:30pm we found a nice patio intending on having a couple of pints and some lunch before moving on.  We were in for a treat - an interesting group of men sat at the next table and engaged us in conversation as we were also speaking English.  Brothers Roberto (lives in Australia) and Miguel (lives in BA) and their English friend they met in Oz, Angus.  Several other friends came and went as did the time and many many pints...we didn't get home until after midnight!! 

Roberto, Felix, C, Miguel and Angus

The next few days we spent exploring the city some more and were thrilled to find out that there was to be a free outdoor concert by Placido Domingo - one of the most incredible voices of the last 100 years.  Because of the rain on Wednesday, the concert got pushed to Thursday.  I was expecting maybe a 90 minute show, but with an estimated crowd of over 100,000 people and a giant stage closing many blocks of the main boulevard, the show went on for over 3 hours - unreal...no words to adequately describe it... 

We spent a few more days exploring the sights, museums and neighbourhoods of the city before we met up with a friend of a friend - Helen who lived in Victoria for a time (worked with my friend Claire) and her fiance, Alejandro.  Again, a couple of drinks quickly turned into several, dinner, a bottle of wine, then a blues bar and many more drinks.  It's been great to meet so many wonderful and entertaining people in such a exciting city!!

Tomorrow, we're off to the north part of Patagonia - to Argentina's Lakes District for some outdoor adventures - stay tuned!

In the Italian district of Caminito - the birthplace of the Tango