Buenos Aires pt2

I´ve had 3 days here now, I think, I keep getting really confused?!

29/07/09

Right, the rest of the 29th, which was a long day! I went for a walk along the river front and into town. All of the warehouses on the front have been turned into flats and restaurants, including a Hooters...great...nothing like feeling your back at home eh! To be honest the rest of the day in BA didn´t overwhelm me, it´s very European - which according to some of the Brazilians that I´ve met is precisly why they´re here, so maybe I shouldn´t have expected any different. The main streets are crowded with shops, shoppers, and people trying to get you into their restaurant, I´ve found myself switching back into the mode in Santiago where you just tell eveyone to go away! It also has that big city feel where no-one really wants to talk to you, everyone rushes by, hands in pocket, head down, no time. A big change from Habana. There´s a huge amount of steel and glass here too, skyscrapers all over the place, and more being built, those and the countless McDonalds, Burger Kings and Starbucks.

In the evening I went down to the bar in the hostel and got chatting to a British guy called Joe from Wigan. Spent the night chatting, drinking beer and playing pool on possibly the worst pool table I have ever come across. The cue-ball has a chunk missing, and the table rises and falls all over the place, making it near-on impossible to tell where the balls will go!

30/07/09

First thing this morning I went to a camping store and got a good jacket and pair of gloves - it cost me 650pesos (GBP100), and I get 96pesos back in tax! Great! I think I might go back to the store to buy a tent and sleeping bag and then camp my way up to Northern Argentina in some of the massive and accessable National Parks, Bolivia and Peru have them too, so it should be good. I think both the tent and the sleeping bag will come to around 800pesos, so a rather small GBP125!

After getting wrapped up nice and warm I took a very long walk around the Ecological Reserve just over the river to BA. It was beautiful and peaceful, with nothing but a handful of runners and riders going past. There was a huge amount of birdlife, and I saw my first wild guinea pigs too! Can´t imagine eating one, but I´d like to try, you get them on sticks apparently?! After the walk was the best bit of the entire day...dinner. I went to a place that Joe had suggested, Sigu la Vaca, an all you can eat place. For 55pesos, GBP8.50, I got access to a 20foot salad bar, along with cold meats, cheese and bread, a ´free drink´, which turned out to be an entire bottle of wine! And the best bit, a 10foot grill (read BBQ) serving every cut of beef and pork you could possibly want, sausages, and chicken, it was amazing!! I ate like a king! I just chilled out last night at the hostel, I was all full of wine and beer.

I left my camera and cable upstairs, and one of the dorm-mates is sleeping now so I don´t want to go and disturb him. I´ll try and do some photos tomorrow.

Take care,