Sunday, February 13, 2011
Mar del Plata - 06/02/2011
We thought a couple of days relaxing on a nice sunny ohot beach would be a perfect way to spend a part of our last week in south America. We heard mar del plata was the place to go and where all argentinians spend their summer months on the beach. This sounded like what we were after so after our slow and frustrating morning we caught a 5 hour bus to mar del plata. We arrived at about 930pm and were extremely shocked at how cold it was (15o). After being in at least 30o heat for 6weeks it was a shock to the system. We didn't muck around and quickly caught a taxi to a hostel, luckily enough they had room for us. We were extremely tired so we got a quick bite to eat then headed straight to bed. We got the giggles as a guy in our dorm had an extremely funny snore, but we quickly fell asleep. After a good nights sleep, (catching up on some from the lack of from the night before), we woke up eager to get to the beach. We stepped outside and were completely shocked how cold (22o), windy and overcast it was but yet everyone was still heading to the beach like it was Copacabana in rio! A bit confused and extremely cold we just couldn't bring ourselves to go to the beach so we explored the city centre in hope the weather would warm up a bit. We really enjoyed the relaxed feel of the place with everyone in holiday mode. However we decided to move on in search for the heat.
Last night in Buenos Aires - 05/02/2011
After a jam-packed few days in Buenos Aires we had managed to see almost everything we want to. We spent the Saturday exploring a couple of parts of central city we missed along with a bit of shopping and relaxing in a few of Buenos Aires many parks, partly in preparation for the sure to be massive Sarurday night in Buenos Aires. By now we had learnt that Argentineans are very late starters when it comes to going out so we didn't even start our night off until 11 or so. We drank Stella Artois from litre bottles which was a strange concept for us and met several others from the hostel to hit the town with. Two o'clock rolled around which meant it was time to make our way to Polermo, the party district. Unfortunately for us everywhere has door charges which made it hard to see what Buenos Aires had to offer so we spent our evening in the one club. We really enjoyed the club and were with a cool bunch of people so partied away until 7 having no idea what time it was, until we went to get some fresh air outside when we realised the sun was up.
We taxied home and went straight to bed forgetting our plans. Necane woke up around 1pm realising we were supposed to checkout of the hostel two hours ago.
We taxied home and went straight to bed forgetting our plans. Necane woke up around 1pm realising we were supposed to checkout of the hostel two hours ago.
Tigre - 04/02/2011
After a busy few days in the middle of Buenos Aires, we decided to head out of the city for the day. We took a train to a small district called Tigre, an hour out of the city. We didn't feel like doing much, so after a nice lunch we spent the day chilling out in this beautiful relaxed town, walking along the river and sitting in the sun.
We headed back into the busy Buenos Aires that afternoon and found a massive street Market so we spent the evening exploring that and buying a few bits and bobs. We got back to the hostel later on to find a sneaky Argentinian had helped themselves into Necane's bag. Luckily they missed her iPhone but her wallet had been taken. Probably to the thief's disappointment they didn't get a big score in terms of cash but we had to spend the evening trying to contact people to cancel the cards and found they had already cracked the visa for a couple of hundy. Very disappointing to happen after a completely trouble-free trip but it was far from the worst thing that could have happened.
We headed back into the busy Buenos Aires that afternoon and found a massive street Market so we spent the evening exploring that and buying a few bits and bobs. We got back to the hostel later on to find a sneaky Argentinian had helped themselves into Necane's bag. Luckily they missed her iPhone but her wallet had been taken. Probably to the thief's disappointment they didn't get a big score in terms of cash but we had to spend the evening trying to contact people to cancel the cards and found they had already cracked the visa for a couple of hundy. Very disappointing to happen after a completely trouble-free trip but it was far from the worst thing that could have happened.
La Boca - 03/02/2011
We had a slow start from the night before but after a late breakfast we got on our way to La Boca. From what we had heard and from the photos we had seen, La Boca looked like a cool neighbourhood that characterised Buenos Aires. Old colonial houses all painted crazy bright colours. Once we arrived we were overwhelmed by all the stereotypical tourists, who had just hopped straight off the tour bus. The crowds of people made it an extremely unauthentic experience along with the locals exploiting it touristically for all it's worth, dressing up for photos and selling souvenirs. We tried to see it for what it used to be but the crowds got to us so we escaped to a restaurant for an amazing Argentinian steak. After our delicious feed we headed back to the central city to explore down by the waterfront. Along with the grand government buildings there is a modern iconic bridge that crosses the cannel. While it was cool during the day, we knew from photos it was much more impressive at night, so we returned later on and spent the evening down there.
La Recoleta Cemetery - 02/02/2011
02/02/2011
We woke up the following day ready to explore this cemetery for the rich and famous. We had heard so much about it but yet we had no idea what to expect. As soon as we entered the cemetery we were instantly amazed. Unlike anything else we had seen, graves and tombstones were inexistent. Instead, these excessively grand tombs replaced them. At first we were so amazed just by these grand and intricately decorated structures that mark the life of these once famous people. Then we had a closer look. Expecting the doors of the tomb to conceal some kind of shrine or altar, we got the fright of our life when we peered in and saw the coffins just sitting there. An arms length away. They were literally modern-day mummies.
As we explored the streets of the dead, it took us a few hours to even begin to get used to what we were seeing.
While we found it an extremely weird and exhibitionist way of burial, it did have a nice family aspect to it. Each tomb was designed to house a whole family. You could look down and and see endless racks for coffins going deeper and deeper into the ground. A lot of them were still well maintained, but lots had been forgotten about and had fallen into disrepair. The windows had smashed and fallen in on the coffins and water had got in and started to rot things away. Some coffins had fallen down and the lids were prying open. Extremely creepy. We spent the whole day exploring these streets, so amazed but so creeped out at the same time.
After we had had enough in the cemetery, we moved onto this floral sculpture nearby. It was a massive, mechanical flower. It's steel petals open with sunlight and close when the sun goes down. Very cool.
That evening we went on a pub-crawl through buenos aires nightclub district that the hostel organised. Thinking it would be a small group of people from our hostel, we weren't entirely impressed when we realised there were 100 odd people on it. It took away from the legitimacy of the clubs because everyone was tourists so we decided to split our ways from the group.
We woke up the following day ready to explore this cemetery for the rich and famous. We had heard so much about it but yet we had no idea what to expect. As soon as we entered the cemetery we were instantly amazed. Unlike anything else we had seen, graves and tombstones were inexistent. Instead, these excessively grand tombs replaced them. At first we were so amazed just by these grand and intricately decorated structures that mark the life of these once famous people. Then we had a closer look. Expecting the doors of the tomb to conceal some kind of shrine or altar, we got the fright of our life when we peered in and saw the coffins just sitting there. An arms length away. They were literally modern-day mummies.
As we explored the streets of the dead, it took us a few hours to even begin to get used to what we were seeing.
While we found it an extremely weird and exhibitionist way of burial, it did have a nice family aspect to it. Each tomb was designed to house a whole family. You could look down and and see endless racks for coffins going deeper and deeper into the ground. A lot of them were still well maintained, but lots had been forgotten about and had fallen into disrepair. The windows had smashed and fallen in on the coffins and water had got in and started to rot things away. Some coffins had fallen down and the lids were prying open. Extremely creepy. We spent the whole day exploring these streets, so amazed but so creeped out at the same time.
After we had had enough in the cemetery, we moved onto this floral sculpture nearby. It was a massive, mechanical flower. It's steel petals open with sunlight and close when the sun goes down. Very cool.
That evening we went on a pub-crawl through buenos aires nightclub district that the hostel organised. Thinking it would be a small group of people from our hostel, we weren't entirely impressed when we realised there were 100 odd people on it. It took away from the legitimacy of the clubs because everyone was tourists so we decided to split our ways from the group.
Buenos Aires - 01/02/2011
We arrived into buenos aires after the most amazing night bus. Our seats were like first class on a plane, personal tvs, seats that recline flat, and meals served with a vino. We navigated the subway and made our way from the bus terminal to our hostel. After we had settled in, we set for the streets just exploring the busy city centre and admiring the grand colonial buildings that line the streets. That night we decided to go a tango show as everyone said it was a must do. We arrived at the venue and were escorted down to this amazing basement theatre. The beautiful brick work was decorated with wine bottles. Included in the show was a three-course meal, so we sat down and ordered. Being in Argentina we had to go for a steak. Soon after we finished our incredible meal the show started. The show had live singers, a traditional band, as well as an indigenous band, this amazing guy who swung ropes and of course tango dancers. Never having seen tango before we were amazed at the intricate and sometimes dangerous (on the males behalf) footwork as the girls flick their legs so quickly between their partners legs, putting their manhood on the line. There were also lots of daredevil lifts that had the audience really applauding. It was quite serious and intense but so beautiful and amazing to watch. Although it wasn't quite Frano's cup of tea the overall show was a great experience, and the show definitely had it's highlights.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
San Ignacio 31/01/2011
The following morning after visiting the falls we hopped on a bus south. We decided to make a stop at San Ignacio instead of going direct to Buenos Aries. At San Ignacio there are a series of ruins from the Jesuits misionareis. We got off the bus, paid a guy to look after our bags and navigated our way to this abandoned civilisation. The roofs of all the structures had rotted away and fallen in so only the stonework wall remain in a similar way to Machu Picchu. The majority of the ruins were modest houses but the church and monumental buildings were really impressive. We walked around the ruins exploring all the overgrown parts with roots and vines climbing over them. It was a nice change as they were so un-commercialised and there wasn't a whole lot of tourists wondering about.
After we had finished we picked our bags up and got on a bus towards Posadas where we could get a bus to Buenos Aires from. A few hours later we were well on our way to the city that never sleeps.
After we had finished we picked our bags up and got on a bus towards Posadas where we could get a bus to Buenos Aires from. A few hours later we were well on our way to the city that never sleeps.
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