Buenos Aires - 14 April onwards

So we had finally reached the big BA,
the city that all travelers SAY,
is full of CARNEee...
Where you party till the light of DAY,
and you never really have to PAY,
for a LAY,
we would be there from April till MAY!
Hip Hip HOORAY!

OK seriously, we arrived in BA at the Tango Inn Hostel, I guess its nice if you like cooking dinner in a bar with people smoking and playing pool around your pasta, we didnt! Still we met some interesting people that we clung to for much of our stay. Our first night involved going to what would become our favorite restuarant - Desnivel!! - this is the kind of place that gives Argentina the reputation for amazing delicious COW! We would visit here many times even though the MAVRIX were on Greek Easter fasting and therefore non COW eaters for a full 2 weeks! This would be torture for most of our stay in BA but we enjoyed watching our friends eat steak you can cut with a spoon (we tried it, it works!). They also had great house wine (Vino Tinto de la Casa) that was poured out of a penguin! Making penguin puking noises is really lots of fun!!

We started Spanish school on the Monday with an early morning move to another hostel, this was to become our home for the next 3 weeks - the Garden House Art Factory - this quiet hostel was perfect for us as it was arty, we had a private room, breakfast and internet etc. Basically a home in a hostel where we could hang out and study spanish without interuption...or that was the plan, but somehow BA just pulls you in.

Spanish school was great, we learnt alot there and now feel as if we can ask for stuff and even have a basic conversation rather than just pointing and grunting to get what we want like some 3 year old cave person ( La gente de las pedras) .

The M´s big 31st birthday was coming up and Vix was running around like the loca chica she is rustling up friends for the bash at our favorite Desnivel! M was given Che shoes, a harmonica (V doesnt let M actually play it but swears that he is the best harmonica player she knows) and lots of Dulce de leche cake with little candles in them for the big day. M also got to learn the happy birthday song in Spanish at class when V suprised him with more cake and a well sung ¨Cumpleanos Feliz¨. Turned out that 11 people really wanted to wish M happy birthday that night at Desnevil, not that we knew all of them but it was a rent a crowd and we made the best of it! Till about 3 in the morning when the V had to be stumbled home. A great time was had by all! The fact that the Mavrix were back on the meat for a day made it even better as we washed down the worlds best steak with the worlds cheapest wine spewed out of a willing penguin!

San Telmo - This is the best market EVER! The long cobbled road of Av Defensa in San Telmo comes alive on a Sunday with artesans selling everything from Mate´gourds to Tango pics to fine art to Antiques to high fashion, there is something for everyone here and we had to restrain ourselves from buying the whole damn market...we did give in sometimes though and walked away with a Penguino jug ala Desnevil which V is now carrying in her backpack ( you wont find THAT on any of the recommended packing lists on any website:-). The market is also FULL of street performers, every 10 steps is a new sound or experience, people dancing tango (careful they might pick you as a partner), folk singing, bubble blowing hippies, free hugs and entire Carnival inspired parades! What a vibe! We liked it so much we went twice.

Recolletta Cemetary - This is the burial place of some of Argentinas most prestigious, wealthy and well known personalities. In this maze of mausoleums you will find Evita lying near San Martin (the great liberator of Argentina) and just down the drag from some boxer in his still dressed in his bathrobe (he looks like a Hugh Hefner wanna be). We went on a day when BA was covered in smoke (literally, the farmers had burnt kilometers of fields and everything poured over the city) so the whole place was super spooky, right out of an episode of Scooby Doo. We walked through the many many ailes of the cemetary marveling at the beauty of the place and jumping out of our socks when a cat would jump out of the shadows...ooooowwwwooooo ...thats my scary sound. V was very fond of peaking into every Tomb, she was fascinated that there were sometimes up to 40 coffins stacked ontop of each other like cans of peas at the Pick n Pay, M had one look, shivered, squealed like a girl and didnt look again...oooowwwoowooo....we were also suprised when we were walking out to see a ¨new arrival¨ this is still a working cemetary and very much a tourist attraction...strange.... We would definitely recommend this to anyone coming out this way, it is beautiful and the energy is unmissable...ooooowwwooowwoooo.

Bocca Jnrs Futbol Game - Every guide book says the passion of the Bocca Jnrs fans is unsurpassed. Our hostel said ¨Dont go on your own you idiots!¨ its dangerous for locals but crazy for Gringos. Sigh... the mavrix said but finally gave in and went with the tour in the Gaggle of Gringos. The game was everything it promised to be. The fans are fanatical, they start singing about 20 minutes before the game starts and carry on past the final whistle, fireworks and flares erupt with the start of the game, every goal and when they are getting bored and want the players to do something more fun. Wow what a crazy crazy cool place! In this instance Bocca needed to win 3-0 and with 10 minutes and some pushing from the crowd they got the final goal, you have no idea what 50 000 jumping screaming argentinians (and a handful of gringos) feels like till you are there, it knocks over any rugby or cricket game we have ever been to!

Feria de Matadares - The Gaucho (argentine cowboy) Market - After a 1 hour bus ride into a scummy part of town the Mavrix were ready to turn right back and go home, the weather was overcast, the neighbourhood was dirty and the first stall sold the same crap you find a 100 people selling at Bruma, but the further we walked in the better it got. This was a side of Argentina we had not yet seen, the legendary Gaucho and their tradional dances, food and games. A Gaucho is part Cowboy, part Gypsey and all Argentina. They all have a definite Spànish swagger about them which we loved from the first sight. Thier dancing is powerful and shows their masculinity and power, it is the main reason you come to the fair as the crowds surrounding the stage will testify! But hunger a mistress like no other and we pulled ourselves away in search of sustanance, we found it in the form of Humitas (corn paste with meat wrapped in Mielie husks) thisi is real Gaucho food and tasted like home on the range....yum. After the bellies were full we heard the thunder of horse hooves and giddy upped to an exhibition of accuracy and riding skill, the Gauchos rode at full speed and put a small metal pin though a hanging steal pinkie ring (bigger than Alley Macbiel´s smaller than Oprah´s), wicked cool!

Overall BA is everything that it says it is and more. It has culture around every corner and every subway wall, it is common to see people walking with guitars on their backs or even bringing them to the restuarant to play with their friends. It has beautiful old buildings to rival Europe, the French and the Italians definitely had something to do with this. Good cheap food that even now with a full stomache the thought of is making me hungry. Markets in every area of town where real artists rather than matric drop outs show case their work. Beautiful parks where grups upon groups play soccer together and kids enjoy the merry go round. But there is a darker side to BA....Dog poo! They just dont seem to know how to pick the stuff up... apparently the locals have evolved some sort of dog poo radar and do the Tango side step without looking (maybe thats how Carlos Gardhel got the idea).