Chinese Giant

Strange, but true and we thought this was worth a mention. In our local laundry shop, there is a Chinese giant. She's well over six foot and has fangs. I think she has a bit of a thing for Stuart as she's always smiling at him. The funny thing is, she keep on shrinking Stu's t-shirts on the boil wash!

Damn and Blast!

I've had my bag stolen, right from under my desk! Tapping away at the computer the light fingered thieves took my bag. The most annoying thing was that I had two pairs of beautiful dance shoes in it! So now I have no shoes to dance in! Damn!

Two good things though. First, I'm not hurt and didn't even notice it (rather that than be attacked) and second, I get to buy some more shoes!

Other than that we're well.

Back To The Grind

Now that Stu's family have gone, we're back to the endless tango and Spanish lessons. You could say it's not really a grind as we thoroughly enjoy it, although, most days the tango lessons are really hard, both mentally and physically.

In between, we're playing around with the internet. In particular I've been building a site about cheap weddings and reminiscing about my wedding last year. Arh. Stu's just surfing at the moment, until inspiration strikes.

Wandering Around Buenos Aires

Here´s some photos from our walks around Buenos Aires.

Recoleta Cemetery

One sunny afternoon we went to Recoleta Cemetery. We had been doing a city tour and this was where the tour ended. The cemetery itself is very small, but the headstones and crypts are huge, with each competing against the next to be the most grandiose, most sculpted, have the most adornments or simply, just be the biggest.

This graveyard is home to past generations of rich and famous Argentinians. From generals, actors, presidents to the elite - they're all here with their families.

Some of the crypts are huge with up to 50 people buried beneath the ground. It's strange, because from street level all you see is the doorway and a small stairwell going down, covered in cobwebs and dust.

Those that don't have the chambers beneath, often have the coffins clearly on display with photographs, flowers and gifts littered around the small chamber. Iron bars protect the dead behind the glass doors, often stained or decorated glass, while stray cats lie out front to guard the dead.

The most famous person buried here has to be Eva Peron - Evita. Her body was moved from pillar to post before coming to rest in this cemetery and ironically, she is buried alongside the very people she fought against whilst living - the rich elite. The crypt she lies in is quite modest in comparison to most and doesn't bear her family name. A small plaque showing her name denotes her location and that's all.

Los Reyes Del Tango

One night we decided to take our visitors to experience a real milonga. We were very lucky to come across an advert for Los Reyes del Tango - a tradition tango band with four bandeleons and about 6 other members. They're renown for their energy and it's often quite difficult to see them.

They were on at the Confiteria Ideal, a famous dance hall in the centre of Buenos Aires. It's in a beautiful building that gives you a sense of the what a tango hall would have been like in its hayday. Now though, the hall needs some attention to the floors and ceilings. Regardless, it's still full every night with dancers, while tourists sit at the edge watching the dancers take to the floor.

Colonia del Sacramento

One of trips took us across the Rio de la Plata to the pretty colonial town of Colonia de Sacramento in Uraguay. Colonia was used as a battleground between the Portuguese and the Spanish for years, eventually ending up as a Spanish colony. Regardless of the fighting, the small port has kept many of its colonial buildings in tact and now exhibits a pretty charm that sends you back to days gone by.

We spent the night in Colonia on the advice that the town had a different feel at night and looked particularly pretty lit up by the traditional street lamps. The advice was right and we thoroughtly enjoyed ourselves in this pretty little town.

There are plenty of quality artisan shops with sculpture, art, jewellery and woodwork. The quality a step higher than much of the touristy tat seen in many of the South American cities. There is definitely an arty sense in the air and many of the restaurants take on this charm too. One little corner bistro bar called El Drugstore had kitch art inside and black, antique cars outside. One car was used as a plant pot, the other had it´s inside converted into a dining table and chairs - definitely one for the car lovers.

The port is also famed for it's beautiful sunsets and we were blessed with one as we whiled away the afternoon on the decking of a bar. Picture perfect and no wonder the town is a UNESCO site.

Tired and exhausted, we slept on the boat trip back to Buenos Aires.

Señor Tango!

In the evening of Stuart's birthday we went to the most glitzy, showy, extravagant tango show in Buenos Aires - Señor Tango! We were picked up from a hotel in town and then bused out to the theatre in La Boca (a little too unsafe for walking about). As we arrived we were shown to our seats - a private booth and then seats over the balcony for a birds eye view of the stage.

Some guests had been there all evening and were finishing off their dinner when we arrived at 9.30pm. By 10pm everything was cleared away, the dry ice was filling the air and the orchestra were setting up. The lights went down and then the stage in the centre of the room was filled with Indians on (real) horseback, fighting against the Spanish invaders. This was the start of the show - certainly setting the tone for the rest of the spectacular we were about to enjoy.

The show had a similar feel to Moulin Rouge, especially as they had one of the main dancers come down from the ceiling a la Nicole Kidman for a rendition of 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend', this was later added to by the Rozanne Tango, again danced in a similar way to the Moulin Rouge. The show was just as spectacular and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The show ended with a glass of champagne and a toast to Argentina as the cast sang 'Don't Cry For Me' and flags and glitter fell from the rafters. A little much for me, but the locals loved it!

Stuart´s 30th Birthday

The poor fella turns 30 today. Bless. No longer a wipper snapper, but now a man looking forward to middle-aged spread and nights in. So, to celebrate we went out in style by stuffing ourselves silly with steak (well, pasta for me the vegetarian) and then the mother of all tango shows in the evening - Senor Tango.

Lunch was great (for the meat eaters). Steaks all round at La Cabrera, a restaurant that is one of Palmero's best guarded secrets. This time the steaks were different. Instead of the usual mannar of simply grilling the steaks on the parilla, they came with different flavours. Cooked with thyme, crushed black pepper or a variety of other subtle flavours really enhanced the meat. Then the waiter just kept on coming with the accompaniments, dips and relishes. 24 in all. 6 each for each meat dish. Some where repeated, but in total there were 17 different condiments or relishes on the table. Lush.

Since the pasta was really bad (not suprising since this is a parilla) I happily nibbled on the accompaniments, salad and bread. We washed down the meal with a lovely Malbec and thoroughly enjoyed the ambience. An hour or two later, we agreed that that was probably on the best restaurants we've been too so far. I would certainly go back and happily nibble on accompaniments to the boys steaks. Yum.

La Boca

On our return to Buenos Aires we did a tour of La Boca, an area of Buenos Aires Capital which is notorious for football, tango, coloured corrogated iron houses and street crime!

Firstly, La Boca is home to the Boca Juniors, the team made famous by Diego Maradona as it was where he played. The stadium is a few blocks into the neighborhood and is not the most pleasant of walks. They say it´s perfectly safe, but some of the looks from the locals and the lack of other tourists around the stadium made me feel quite unsafe. We spent a quick five minutes around the outside of the stadium (to satisfy the boys) and quickly returned to the busy touristy streets of the main drag.

La Boca is also famous for the painted corrogated iron houses that line the streets. La Boca is a very poor area, inhabited by the first imigrants to the city. They found a lively hood working in the docks and with the left over paint from the ships they painted their houses. Hence the coloured houses that line the streets. Now the two main streets near the docks are filled with tourists every day and the locals, dressed up as tango dancers, tout to have their picture taken for small change.

The real Boca lies beyond the stadium and closer into the center and is certainly not a place for tourists.

A Brazilian Side To The Falls

On the second day, I awoke feeling much better and Keith was up and eating breakfast too. So we set off to the Brazilian side to see what was on offer from a different point of view. We also got another stamp in the passport, which we were all pleased with.

As to be expected, we were blessed with even more spectacular views of the falls, and since Keith and I hadn´t seen the Argentinian panoramic views, we were blown away. After walking along the walkway to settle in the restaurant (where you view the water just going over the edge) we all agreed that the Brazilian side was better.

The two sides were both fantastic with different experiences to be had. But the Brazilian side allowed you to see the full 2.7km width of the falls allowing you to appreciate the magnificence of them.



The Brazilian side packed a punch and were done with the Falls fairly early that morning. Across from the park in which the falls lie, there is a bird park, so we went around and viewed all the birds. Most are in aviaries, which you can actually walk through, so it´s possible to get really close to the birds as well. There was also a butterfly house which you could also walk through. This also housed humming birds which were truly beautiful.

Since Iguazu is in the rain forest, the number of butterflies is immense. The lick the salts off your skins, which means at times you could easily have several beautiful butterflies on you. Quite a treat.

The following day we flew back to Buenos Aires and back to our rigorous itinerary.

The Largest Dam In The World

One of the clever things the Brazilians have done is harness the power from all the water available around this area. In conjunction with Paraquay, they've created a hydro-electric plant which provides 20% of Brazil's energy needs and 90% of neighboroughing Paraquay's energy needs. It's the largest dam and hydro-electric energy plant in the world and it's pretty impressive.

Stu being an engineer thoroughly enjoyed the free tour, taking notes and lots of pictures. There are 18 turbines in total and the lake that sits on the other side of the dam is 8km long. The place is massive and geographically sits on the border between Paraquay and Brazil, so without knowing we visited another country - no stamp this time.

The Argentinian Side Of Iguazu Falls

We decided to fly to Iguazu Falls rather then take the 18 hour bus journey. When we arrived in Iguazu we were greeted with a wave of humid heat that hit us hard. This was broken by a thunder storm overhead. As we sipped our coffee in a small cafe in the town, the storm thundered around us. A bolt of lightening hit a pylon nearby sending an array of sparks into the sky whilst surging the electricity of the town and sending us back to a time of warm beer and no air conditioning. The lights were out for the next few hours, so we spent the time writing postcards and catching up with tails from home. Luckily we had nothing planned for our first afternoon in Iguazu, as it was literally a wash out.

By early evening the electricity was back on and we headed out for dinner to a lovely looking restaurant called AVQA (a little too similar in name and logo to my previous employer). We all had local fish with different sauces and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The following morning we met for breakfast in the hotel. Keith (Stuart´s father) had been ill all night and I wasn´t feeling too great either. Keith ended up staying in bed all day (and spent the next few days trying to build up his energy levels and recover) whilst the rest of us headed off to the Argentinian side of the falls.

Our first stop was to be the Devil´s Throat. A walkway meanders across the river for about one kilometre and you end up right at the top of the falls - literally looking down at the gushing water below and being soaked by the mist and spray being sent far into the sky. The sight was fairly amazing, but you only really got to see the top of the falls, and to be honest the movement of water was making me feel quite queasy. The best was yet to come with the panoramic views from below.


As we walked back along the walkway, my queasiness didn´t subside and by the time we reached the riverbank and I was straight to the loo. It seemed I had the same fate as Keith and I took myself back to the hotel and to bed for the rest of the day. The others went off to view the falls from below, take a boat trip into the gushing falls and generally be amazed by the awesome sight.



To give you an idea of the scale, the falls are split into two main sections. The first makes up the area of the Devil´s Throat and the second the rest of the falls. They´re 2.7km wide, which makes the panoramic views simply amazing. In places the falls are small, with a small trickle over the edge and others the water pounds down, creating a fine mist that soaks you to the sink. In certain sections again, the falls are stepped, so you get differing lengths of tumbling water. A real visual spectacular.

The River Delta of Tigre

One of the first trips out of Buenos Aires we did was to visit Tigre, a town about an hour out of the city. The town sits on a river delta with lots of small winding canals and riverways. You can catch a boat that will drop you off on many of the small islands littered with holiday homes and restaurants.

We only took a day trip up here to see a different side of life. As soon as we got of the train, the direty heat of BsAs had subsided and fresher air surrounded us. The pace of the people around us had also slowed down and you could feel that this was a place to relax.

The river waters are rich with sediment from the jungle creating a rich coffee coloured water. There are hundreds of barges and catamarans waiting to take tourists off to explore the waterways. They´re literally buses, which can be flagged down by passing residents and tourists to get back to the main town.

Each little island has it´s own petrol station (a waterside version for filling boats, not cars) and a few restaurants. The locals hang about lounging on the piers to their weekend houses, some with a fishing rod, hoping to catch to some dinner, others simply catching some rays.

We wandered about a little and then settled on a restaurant to eat some lunch. Lomo (tenderloin steak) for the boys and some salads for the girls. A very leisurely day.

Meet The Parents

Stuart´s parents and brother arrive later today and we´re both excited. We´ve been saving most of the touristy stuff in and around Buenos Aires to do with them over the next two weeks. We´ve got a packed itinerary of trips and restaurants to get through. Off to the airport to pick them up.