We arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday 29th September to resplendent sunshine (This would be the last sun that we would see until our final two days in the Argentine capital a week later)!

*A small health warning for this particular blog…it is going to be hefty…*

Having arrived a Jorge Newbury airport our plan was to grab a 10 minute uber to our accommodation. It did not quite go according to plan as we had to walk the entire length of the terminal in search of the uber pick up point – and then when we reached it our uber driver refused to believe we were who we said we were…

He drove off and a minute later a message arrived on my phone asking where we were, ‘I just spoke to you’ was my reply…so back he came tail between his legs.

We used uber a lot in Brazil as it was very efficient but Argentina is a different story. The government have been fighting hard to ban it all together so it does not quite run as well here. We did manage to use it on a few occasions though.

We arrived at our home for the next week which was a very pleasant apartment situated in the Montserrat area of the city:

Abi’s Rating: 8/10 – “Breakfast. Cosy.”

Mike’s Rating: 6/10 – In hindsight it wasn’t the best pick in terms of area. We probably should have stayed in Palermo. However the breakfast was fantastic and the apartment was nice enough. We had to pay in cash which was a disaster because it costs £8.50 per withdrawl on an international card in Argentina so we racked up some additional costs (booking graciously agreed to refund us some of the fees).

Breakfast was a real treat: Ample fruit, medialunas, Scrambled egg and a jar filled with dulce de leche.

Being Tourists

We had a whole week of sightseeing and managed to fit in most of the major attractions. However there is so much to do in this wonderful city that we still have a few things saved for our next visit!

We went to the Evita museum and were slightly disappointed by its size although it was quite interesting. This was followed by a trip to the infamous Recoleta cemetery, a place that starts off as being quite daunting but slowly grows on you as you make your way through the mausoleums of the city’s most famous sons and daughters.

We passed through the Plaza de Mayo on a number of occasions but we made a special effort to be there on a Thursday afternoon at 3.30 so we could watch the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo march as they have done for over 40 years.

There appeared to be two different factions with one group intent on calling out the names of the disappeared as they did a circuit of the central plaza. The other group chanted songs of defiance but also seemed to focus upon domestic and international political issues.

Abi and I had studied the argentine Dirty War in detail at University so it was fascinating to see that, in spite of the passing of time, this still has a very real impact on the people of Argentina and in particular the families of the disappeared.

The Plaza de Mayo is also home to the Casa Rosada – the presidential palace.

We had a brief walk in Puerto Madero (principally so I could show Abi the Freddo ice cream shop where I had devoured 1kg of ice cream 7 years previously in a hard fought contest with a handful of my school friends). Unfortunately we joined the port too far down although I did point it out when we were driving by a few days later.

One overcast afternoon we went out in search of Cafe Tortoni, one of Buenos Aires’ most famous places. I might have got us a little lost but we got there in the end and after a queue outside of the door (I had tried to push my way through in the slipstream of a charging Argentine woman but we were sadly both repelled) we were seated.

I had a very rich but tasty chocolate mousse and Abi had a ‘cheesecake’ (made with sponge). She enjoyed the coffee and I had a submarino (you plunge a stick of chocolate into a warm glass of milk and swirl it around).

We managed to negotiate the city using the bus and metro system. The buses are excellent and run through the night while the subte is much improved from 4 years ago. We (I) made a small error with regard to accommodation location and we had a fair walk to negotiate in order to reach our closest metro station. The walk was livened up somewhat by passing a University which had a bizarre ritual of showing graduates with powder paint. They were all dressed in their finery too so it made no sense.

Speaking of oddities, we also found ourselves in an enormous shopping mall that housed its own mini theme park. It was called Neverland which left me wondering whether or not the owners were Peter Pan or Michael Jackson fans…we hope it was the former.

Housekeeping

Everyone will be delighted to know that the Buenos Aires clothes washing experience was a wonderfully straight forward affair. Drop off 2 baskets of clothes. Return 5 hours later. Pay £3. Pick up washed, dried and folded clothes. A much needed laundry win.

In Brazil, Abi had said an emotional goodbye to her much loved (and well worn…literally as she had sewed them on at least two occasions) Adidas trainers and so we were on the lookout for a new pair.

All in all a fairly painless shopping trip on Avenue Florida as we located a sports shop with a massive collection of trainers. We did spend a good half an hour in there…but a purchase was made and we all left happy.

The rain is following us…

9 de Julio is a humungous road. 16 lanes across, and sight to behold inits own right, as the traffic of a city that is home to in excess of 4 million people streams down it.

Although it was crazy, the thrill of tearing across this road in a cataclysmically torrential downpour of rain was truly something. We really should have got a taxi as Abi was sporting her new trainers but it was great fun and 15 minutes of hair dying ensured that they returned to normal in no time!

We had an overcast week but the nature of Buenos Aires means that the weather is not too important. Although I will tell you for free that it was cold. I never really feel the cold but it was very chilly in the middle of the week and I had to resort to multiple layers (including a vest).

La comida

Argentina really has it all in terms of natural phenomenon and the people make it a truly magical country. But it doesn’t half help that the food is so far up my street that it has its own space on the driveway.

The empanadas. Where do I start? We made sure that we tried a fair few (spoiler alert the best ones are in Salta but that is the next blog) and were not disappointed. How these aren’t a thing in the homeland is beyond me… might bring them over (along with Mr Cheney from Brazil).

The beef. It is first class. My darling wife does not eat red meat. She had two steaks here. Don’t really need to say much more.

We had an especially good steak at Las Nazarenas where they also served us a high class complimentary empanada so extra points for that.

One evening we went full Argentine and had dinner at 11.30…absolute madness. I had Bondiola de cerdo (Pork shoulder) and it was delicious but we did not try the late dinner again (apart from the forced asado) as it is quite ludicrous really.

The ice cream. It is sensational. Freddo is my personal favourite, followed closely by Persicco but Grido (more of that in Salta) is a dark horse as it is much cheaper and still very good. Abi has enjoyed coconut and mint choc chip while I am a chocolate (white and mousse) and dulce de leche kind of guy.

Dulce de Leche. They get a bit offended when I compare it to caramel so I will call it condensed milk. I think everyone in the world should carry a tub of it in their pocket…that way, any distasteful food could be transformed with a dollop of this heavenly concoction.

La Bomba del tiempo

For an evening of entertainment we went to an event at one of the Cultural Centres in Buenos Aires. La Bomba del tiempo is a long running percussion band and they perform every Monday.

We positioned ourself close to the wall outside and took a couple of selfies before waiting patiently. As the start time approached we realised that everyone else had headed elsewhere and we discovered that the impending rain had meant that it was moved indoors.

Not to worry, we still had a decent enough view and it was exhilarating to watch the speed at which some of the drummers managed to move their hands!

Hessie Hay

With the small matter of a Copa Libertadores Semi Final Superclassico between RIver Plate and Boca Juniors taking place during our stay, I put out some feelers in a desperate attempt to obtain tickets.

Alas a combination of cost and limited availability ensured that particular bucket list item will have to wait for another day. Not to worry…we went to see Jessie J instead!

Abi had seen online that she was performing at Luna Park and we went along to the box office to try and secure tickets. Their card machine was broken so we had to take out more money (we also unsuccessfully tried to get them online in a metro station while leaching off the wifi) but it was deemed a worthwhile cause.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed this rather surreal experience and our dear friend Jessie is a talented singer (She does however need to reassess her between song chat as the poor Argentine crowd were subjected to convoluted and ‘deep’ explanations as to how she lives her life and how we should all strive to live in a similar way). She also came across very arrogant (this must stem from extended time in the Sates!)

Family Reunion

Rooftop Family – to help Abi distinguish families this family was known as rooftop family because of the time I spent FaceTiming/writing blogs/pondering life on their rooftop.

One of the parts of the trip I was most excited about was catching up with the three families that made my 6 months living in Argentina so wonderful.

Our first port of call was Villa Ballestar and a breathtaking Asado that included no fewer than 31 members of family/ family friends.

We had arrived in the late afternoon to a much quieter house and we enjoyed maté (while I did…Abi didn’t really like it) and medialunas. It had been nearly 4 years since I last walked the streets so my radar was a tad off and it involved a walk through a slightly dodgy area which Abi was understandably not best pleased about! No harm done as they say.

It was great to see Mama Claudia, little brother Juli, little sister Martu and grandparents Cacho and Rosa who had looked after me so well 4 years ago.

As the evening wore on more and more people began arriving it was brilliant to see them all again as they had played such an important part in my 2015 experience.

A special mention goes to Santi who’s binging of Peaky Blinders has left hime with a colourful English vocabulary but a wicked sense of humour.

The Asado was magnificent and Abi and I coped reasonably well with the onslaught of Spanish although some of the accents (particularly Grandad Cacho and Uncle Dani) were very difficult to understand.

The last train was at 10.30 and we only missed it by about 3 hours. Fortunately an uber was on hand to carry us the 40 minutes back to out apartment (he seemed a tad confused that we were going so far but did the business anyway!)

Sanduiche family – I had come home from working at the institute one day and discovered a sandwich in the fridge. I duly ate it and was confronted by a tearful Juancito when he returned from school “you ate my sanduicheeeee” he wailed…oooops.

Sadly the aforementioned Juancito (Basketball) and Lara (swanning around in Canada) where not home for the marvellous lunch the Abi and I shared with Juan and Alejandra. We had a variety of pizzas and some incredibly tasty mini alfajores while chatting away for a number of hours.

Tragically my tortoise friend had run away (I took him to the local bakery when I lived here and I fear that taste of freedom may have whet his travelling appetite…) but they had replaced it with a rather acrobatic cat. Lara was not too happy that I was seeing her cat, and trying to reclaim her room once again!

Juan kindly agreed to drive us from San Andres to San Isidro and Abi and I spent an hour wandering around the lovely little town while we waited for Martin and Benja to arrive. The Cathedral was a particular highlight.

Doggo family – the now infamous story of when I was attacked by three dogos argentinos on the 3rd day of my year abroad. This one will go down in history and this is its first blog appearance having been omitted last time out to protect my poor Mother.

Martin and Benja arrived in style in a white mini cooper. Abi and I squeezed into the back and we drove around for a bit, attempting to locate a nice spot for dinner. We settled upon a delightful restaurant/bar that was on the Rio de la Plata and allowed us wonderful views of the city of Buenos Aires.

After a whirlwind 24 hours of intense Spanish we enjoyed the fluidity between languages as Benja’s much improved English…coupled with Martin’s fluency…allowed us to switch between the two during our meal.

The Dogos are well and so is Ale who has opened a shop in some hours away and spends a certain amount of time per month away from the edge of the capital.

We were given a lift home which was very kind and incredibly welcome after the flurry of public transport over the last few weeks. As we said our goodbyes outside our flat…a band was playing loudly in the street…

The streets are alive

It was enjoyable for a short while as we listened out the window of our apartment but the last few days had taken the toll and we were rather tired. Unfortunately a Saturday night in the city that never sleeps was never going to show us much mercy and the show continued until about 4am…well that is what Abi told me anyway…I could sleep through a nuclear war.

We had some slightly more joyous street entertainment in San Telmo earlier in the week. First we wandered into a serious of drum performances…

And then we got to see a Milonga (Tango dancing on the street) in Plaza Dorrego which was a lot of fun!

Our final street experience came when a man stopped us outside of the cathedral to ask Abi if I was her boyfriend. When she replied that I was her husband he looked somewhat crestfallen before shaking my hand and congratulating me. We walked away confused and Abi playfully suggested that I had poo on my shoe (not this time). A quick pat of the pockets assured me that it was an emboldened weirdo and not a malicious one. Sill waiting for this to happen to me…

Cycling Sunday

Our last day in Buenos Aires was a good one as we were treated to some beautiful spring sunshine.

We had tried to leave our bags at the Retiro bus station, but a combination of a closed luggage storage and some lockers that looked about as secure as Mustafi and Luiz, meant that we instead opted to take the subte to Palermo and leave our bags in a shop there.

We rented some bicycles from a place opposite and spent the day cruising around the lush green parks of Palermo. There was plenty of time so we also took the opportunity to soak up the sunshine while watching a group of young men attempt various circus like activities.

A trip to the rose garden followed, but the highlight here was the queue for the women’s toilet…Abi waited 10 minutes before giving up!

We cycled back towards the bike shop and had some pizza before rounding off our stay in BA with a delightful ice cream from Persicco.

You should never have favourites but Buenos AIres holds a special place in my heart. For fear of going full Jessie I will just say that I had an amazing week introducing Abi to my favourite city and the people that make it so mesmerising.

Next stop: Northern Argentina and the culinary haven of Salta.