day one - The Falls
it was a long and rather painful fourteen hour bus journey from Flori to Foz du Iguazu on the Brazilian side, and then a quick and very painless taxi ride* over the border into Puerto Iguacu and to our hostel, the seemingly infamous Hostel Inn. first impressions were good; sun shining, a huge pool and picturesque surroundings. after a bit of a power nap i hopped in a taxi to the airport (with Sergio the cab driver, a Liverpool fan from BA) to meet Carly. after an anxious wait hoping that i was at the correct terminal, my chica rounded the corner and all was well, with big smiles all round. up early the next day we all headed to the falls and once in the park, we strolled along to the small train station and boarded the little train to the main falls, called Garganta del Diablo (The Devil's Throat). when i first laid eyes on the falls, i was actually gobsmacked. until now i thought it only happened in cartoons, but i stood with my mouth open for a minute or two, just staring. the sheer volume and immense power of the water was stunning. really no photos or videos can capture this, it was absolutely unbelievable. after seeing this main part of the falls, we took a very relaxing raft ride back along the river to see many other smaller falls, each as beautiful as the last. we ended our day with a boat ride straight underneath one of the falls, getting absolutely soaked. this added a bit of a cheap Alton Towers feel to what had been a day of amazing natural beauty, but was still an enjoyable experience. that evening, the four of us took it easy over a few bottles of red and a few games of Uno. the next morning, Ste and Clam told of how upon returning to their room they had spotted a load of mosquitos loitering around the light by their door, and so in an attempt to minimise nightime bites they quickly burst into their room and shut the door. an undoubtedly suprised couple who were having sex in the dorm at the time must have thought that this was an intentional ploy to catch them in the act. Clam cleverly dived into the toilet, leaving Ste in an absolutely textbook situation of awkwardness, one which he cleverly filled by going through Clam´s toiletry bag as it was the only thing to hand. his backpack lay too near to the embarrassed couple.
from Iguazu we flew directly down to Buenos Aires with much anticipation and high hopes, they were not to be disappointed.
*we learned that we had dodged a huge bullet (literally) whilst chatting to two girls who were in our taxi over the border. they told us that the hostel that we had been staying in in Rio over carnival had been raided by an armed, masked gang on the day or the day after we had left. hope our luck continues...
day two - The Steak
our minds had been made up that the only way to open our BA account would be with the best steak we could find, and for this, La Cabrera had been the countlessly recommended restaurant that seemed to fit the bill. joined by Emily and her new found American friend Anna, we took a rather scary taxi ride to the renound Parilla. bookings were not possible, and so to ease the wait for a table we were handed free champagne - a very welcomed touch. as we were being seated, the main aim was to avoid being sat opposite Anna, for the simple reason that she was a well fed girl who had decided that a suitable dress for dinner was one that could not contain her chubby cans. unfortunately i drew the short straw, but nothing could have taken away from the meal that was served up. the steaks were incredible and served with an aray of side dishes and various sauces, the red wine was delicious, and the steak knives were beastly. as we were all well into the gorgeous meat, Carly decided that she wasn´t too keen on the rug under our table and so by way of protest, she emptied a tray of sauces onto it. literally can´t take her anywhere.
day three - The Game
along with a big group from our hostel, we boarded a bus and headed for La Bombanera to see Boca Juniors´local derby (not the main one, think Villa Baggies as opposed to Villa Blues) against Racing. with huge expectations for some top level football and mental atmosphere, i was initially a bit disappointed. we were sat in the end opposite the main Boca stand underneath the Racing fans, and in the build up to the game the away fans seemed to be in far better voice. for the first few minutes of the game, the standard of football was similar to that of sunday league, with defending that would have made that big vein on Alan Hansen´s forehead burst. fortunately, the football and the atmosphere drastically improved as the game went on. the Boca stand at the far end was more reminant of something that we had seen at Rio carnival than it was a football stand. the fans, drums, and huge flags did not stop beating throuhgout the game. even when Racing scored it took the Boca fans a good couple of minutes to realise, causing a moments pause that actually seemed to be just to change the hymn sheets and start a new song. it was once the final whistle blew however that the party really began. even though Boca had lost 2-1, the fans did not stop singing, chanting, and having ´friendly´ banter with the away supporters for a good fourty minutes after the game. Clam has since purchased River Plate shorts (Boca´s main rivals) and so Ste and myself will be knocking him out.
after this pretty intense daytime activity, we headed back to the hostel for a much needed power nap before a big night at Pacha.
day four - The Market
expectations for sunday had been limited to little more than sleeping after the night before. however with all of us rising mid afternoon, we decided to visit the local sunday market along the streets of San Telmo. some absolutely amazing street stalls, along with a ridiculously talented and painfully cool street artist named Malcolm Roxs made for an absolutely perfect hangover day. for the evening´s events we felt it was about time for another steak, and so had a bit of a stroll to a small local parilla. this steak, a 16oz fillet costing the equivallent of around seven quid, out did La Cabrera´s offering with ease. absolute rare perfection. the star of the night however was not the meat but our waiter, a fifty year old nutcase called Mariano. he had been a photographer around the nightclubs and gigs during the seventies, and told of how he was on the weed at the age of thirteen. he spent the evening recommending albums and songs from various bands from his era, as well as some good pills that cure a hangover - he even wrote his recommendatons down for us and gave us his business card. i will definitely be emailing him to encourage him to get his snaps onto a website as i imagine they would be quite interesting. it transpired at the end of the meal that the big M had been sneaking drinks throughout his shift and was absolutely smashed, what a legend.
day five - The Bikes and Drums
we decided a good way to get our bearings and see more BA would be to get pedalling and so took a bike tour. after the usual initial amusement of how ridiculous we all looked in the helmets (especially Clam as his head was too big meaning the helmet sat quite high, a la Sanka "coach, coach"), we headed off. the traffic in BA is ridiculous and so there were a few hairy roads crossings along the way, but we safely made it to the beautiful and very expensive Puerto Madero, and the amazingly colourful streets of La Boca.
that evening, we saw the incredible drum band La Bomba at the Konex theatre. this was one of the best nights of the trip so far. the drummers were amazing and the night felt very local and authentic, although the drinks offerings of litre bottles of Stella in double pint glasses were slightly less so. after a couple of these, the usual post drink munchies kicked in. maccies? no. kebab? no. back to Marianos for another sixteen ounce fillet steak? when in Rome.
day six - The Shopping Trip and Drum´n´Bass
having a chica now on board and with the three chicos in desperate need of some new (clean) threads a trip to the shops was never going to be far away, and there are definitely worse places to shop than the Palermo Viejo district of BA. the stylish streets are lined with boutiques, bars and coffee shops, and the prices make the thought of shopping at home quite upsetting. carly got the ball rolling purchasing a lovely little tshirt, quickly followed by Ste and Clam who each bought full new outfits. time was ticking away and i hadn´t found anything and like a child, was getting stroppy. however i was saved by a lovely little outlet called Garcon Garcia, and bought myself a cracking pair of slim navy slacks. nice.
to top off our Sex and The City day, us three stopped for a cappuccino and a gossip while Carly carried on pottering. the evening brought us lots of drinks and some very fast Drum´n´Bass at a club called Barhein, whos decks had been graced by the likes of Sigma in the past. before we headed out, Ste popped over to the cashpoint to withdraw some drink funds. as he was doing so he was approached by a local lady of the night, who simply pointed at her boobs with a raised eyebrow. "no gracias" was his polite reply, sending the working girl tottering off shaking her bum for his enjoyment.
day seven - The Picnic and the Tango Show
after yet another long lie in, the four of us joined by a top Essex lad named Danny, popped along to the heavenly bakery on the corner to grab some butties and cakes for a nice little picnic in the park. the Tango show that was to be our evening´s entertainment was spectacular. perfromed in the basement of the oldest cafe in Argentina, Cafe Tortoni, it was a real spectacle. the dancers, the band, and two incredible tap dancers with drums were amazing, and it gave us the real feel of being in Argentina. amidst the dancing and loose story line that accompanied it, one of the male dancers even managed to fit in a little motorboat on his female dance partner. what more could you ask for from a Tango show?!
our remaining days in BA involved a visit to the remarkable Recoletta cemetery, where huge lavish tombs are constructed for the welathy corpses of the city. it was more like a small village than a cemetery, quite spooky but nontheless very special. we also had a great night at a transvestite night put on at Club 69. a drunken Clam at one point declared that he definitely "would", gazing across at a rather striking blond on the stage. strikingly male anyway. the week ended just as it had begun, with a visit to La Cabrera. no better way to round off a week in BA than with a couple of bottles of red and a Kobe steak eh.
sad to see Carly head off to the airport, we got cracking and bussed across to Rosario, getting our first taste of an Argentinian bus...
14.03.10
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