Admittedly I couldn´t do anything about the plane being delayed by two and a half hours in Toronto, but I still got the day wrong.
The original plan was for me to set up a Forward Operating Base in Buenos Aires the day before Maho turned up. About four days beforehand I realised that I´d actually screwed up and bought a ticket for the day the day Maho arrived. So, I got there about five and a half hours _after_ Maho.
You know I wrote that Canada was cold?
Well, BA is really hot!
Someone should tell me these things. It´s especially hot when you´re trying to get into town as fast as possible worried that you´d abandoned your friend to robbery, rape and being sold into slavery.
But it all turned out alright. Ironically we´d got hostels a block and a half apart. We met up for dinner and agreed to meet at hers at 10am the next day.
My hostel sucked, so did hers so we hoofed it to CheLagarto a bit off the beaten track, via the world´s oldest prostitute who waved me off. Not that I was asking. Although I was tempting to turn to my gorgeous 21year friend and say ¨Corr! Now there´s a woman!"
We got a twin room at CheLagarto and it all looked pretty damned good. We did a walking tour of central BA, as suggested by Lonely Planet, and went to a Lagoon park thingo to wilt in the sun and look at birds.
Lunch for Maho was, quite accidently, beetroot salad. Not, beetroot WITH salad, but chopped up beetroot in a bowl. I was far more sensible in having jamon y queso tortes because I actually knew what they were. However, as later events were to transpire I shall swear off them for a year and a day. I swapped half a sanger for some beetroot.
Returned to the hostel for showers.
The evening we walked back to the market-fair that we encountered being set up on our way back from the lagoon park thingo. Lots of very cool jewellery at the market. Maho´s way of dealing with Spanish (ie smile and nod) meant that she ordered a roast beef sandwich for me as well.
Sunday the somethingth. 25th. That´s it.
We went to the Retiro to book dos boletos por Colon, and wandered back through town looking at neo-colonial and colonial archeticturetitecture.
"Get on dwon! You can be the fnukiest won in twon" lyrics by Mike Hughes
Barrio San Telmo is a trendy boho part of town with Sunday street markets to augment the permanent antique markets. Dorrengo square is famous for it´s tango demonstrations. We had showers and got on dwon. The street markets started several blocks before San Telmo proper, with merchandise (again, mostly jewellery) displayed on blankets on both sides of the street. There were street musicians a bungo from twelve pieces bands to single dudes with a guitar, and various other street performers.
The tango demo was awesome. I really, really like the whole tango aesthetic. It´s so powerful and sexy and glamourous and passionate!
Although the dancers were sweating like pigs. Someone should tell them that Buenos Aires is really hot.
In the evening we wandered down Avenida de Mayo and then Florida to get some modern architecthuretichure to contrast the colonial lined cobbled streets of San Telmo. We unexpectedly bumped into a whole string of performers and blanket displayed jewellery in this long pedestrian mall that is Florida.
I had to buy the CD from this three piece band. They were extremely moving musicians. If I had to sum up BA after two days, I simply play you this music.
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