Hey Guys and Girls!

Sorry not update in a while, had no access to a computer really!

Friday 18th June

Anyway we live to tell the story of our 12 hour bus journey! Waited around Mercedes, feeling like death due to a major lack of sleep! Wandered around and got some food, all the Argentinians were in high spirits as they thrashed South Korea 4 - 1, we witnessed a old lady running out in the streets! Very entertaining. Anyway finally was time to get our bus and we were ready to crash for the night, but has to change buses at Curuzu. Waited there for an hour, where we had a drink, bought some funky Gaucho shoes (which are not very comfortable) and got harrassed by a man who stank of booze asking us to buy long thick socks! Kept touching our heads and grabbing our hands! Weirdo! The bus arrived late, but we settled in and got to watch, ´From Paris with Love´ with Jonathan Rhys Myers and John Travolta, bit of an odd storyline but were thankful to watch something in English. Managed to sleep most of the way, even though Tiff has had what seems to be an allergic reaction to insect bites which made the journey very uncomfortable and Beth was up feeling travel sick! We made it through and finally arrived in Cordoba at 9am.

Walked to the hostel, but when we arrived, couldnt check in until 12, so had to leave our bags. Found a little cafe and filled ourselves with coffee to keep us awake and watched more football (getting to be quite the experts)! Checked in at the hostel, the staff who worked there were really nice and although we were actually sharing with 4 other girls it was quite nice to have some company. We did our usual settling in routine and just chilled out for a while, thinking it would be better to stay awake than nap.

Got chatting to another English girl Lucy, who said she was going to go find a place to watch England against Algeria with her friend, so we joined them. Having no clue about the area we walked through the busy streets surrounded by bars and shops trying to find a bar, Cordoba is a nice City very cosmopolitan and you could feel the Italian influence it also reminded us of New York slightly, may have been the yellow cabs! Finally found a small cafe, got some beer and watched England like true Brits! However in conclusion England are useless so we were highly dissapointed and embarrased at the 0-0 result! A very dull and boring game! Had a rip off version of McDonalds to celebrate.

Later we went back to the hostel where the BBQ we had planned to go to had been cancelled, we were quite glad as we were still full and shattered. We chilled at the hostel, ate the most random packet noodle soup which was the best alternative Argentinians have to Pot Noodle (they are missing out lol ). Went to bed early as we were both knackered from the last few days, felt very nice to get under our duvets in our comfy beds, just missing the loved ones in our lives !

Saturday 19th June

Woke up feeling refreshed and enjoyed our hostel breakfast which included Medialuna´s (Half moon - Crossaints) and more Dulce de leche!! Headed out into the streets of Cordoba, saw lots of nice buildings on the way in, then we hit the shopping area where it was jammed packed with people, quite daunting actually with lots of market stalls trying to sell you shoe cleaner? Odd! Arrived at the main square where we saw the City Hall, Main Cathedral and Jesuit ruins, all of which were very pretty. We took in the atmosphere and people watched in the square for a while, then decided to walk to the University disctrict and a big park at the opposite end of Cordoba. It feels much colder here even though the sun is shining, but its better than our winter by far. Sat in the park and got some lunch before heading back into the centre to the Artist Market. We are getting quite fond of these little markets but dont actually purchase much due to our baggage situation, a bit of shame really as some nice stuff. Bought some roasted praline peanuts and wandered around, found a few little cute shops down backstreets, very boutique-esq and slightly reminded us of Harry Potters Diagon Alley.

Argentinians only go out to party very very late about 1am, as in this is the time they leave the house! So we decided we would embrace this and attempt to go out as we were in need of a party! This meant we had to arrange our plans accordingly, due to the ´dont eat too early and get drunk quick´ situation we decided to grab a drink at an opentop terrace bar and then head back to the hostel to get ready. We had a couple of drinks at the hostel and went out for some Mexican food at about 11pm, was a nice meal despite asking for chicken and getting beef. Met up with the other people from the hostel and went out as a group to the club! We were a bit dubious about what the club would be like as were told it was rock and regaetton music!! Not really our scene. But when we arrived we were pleasantly suprised, the club was massive and like an old converted theater, got a drink which were very strong and headed for the dancefloor, the music was old 80´s classics (Depeche Mode,????) but at least it was in English. Had a bit of a dance and then went out for a fag, where we were handed free chips!! We both couldnt believe our luck, the club was now probably the best we had ever been to! Back inside they started to play some good music, Daddy Yankee, Pink and Redman and Lady Gaga so we were happy! Us being us we danced away and chatted to a few random guys in broken English then took the opportunity to make fun of them between ourselves and get a few photos.
Listed Below are some of our favourite characters from the night out - see if you can guess who is who from the pic´s.
- Superbad Boy (and his friend McLovin), Jesus x 2 (One who looks like Mradonna with glass eye), Argentinian Peter Crouch, Carlos Tevez.... and various other randoms!

They began to play the Argentina world cup song which is actually quite good and gets all the locals cheering, however we did not expect foam to start streaming from the ceiling, was all good fun despite T having only just washed her hair. It was 4am, getting late in our eyes so decided to head back to the hostel, got a taxi to be on the safe side. All in all a great night and it fulfilled our very much needed dance time!

Sunday 20th June

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Woke up earlish due to the sunlight streaming through our window, both of us feeling worse for wear, decided to chill in for the day and catch up on some sleep. Read our books and wrote our journals, just lounged about till around four. Starving we decided to get up and go to find something to eat, stopped on route in an internet cafe to Skype the boys and then found Johnny Be Good a chain type of restaurant a bit like Hard Rock Cafe and enjoyed BBQ burgers to cure the hangovers.

Went back to the hostel, where we realised the night before we had agreed to have massages this evening by an Argentinian girl who was a masseus. We did our best to avoid the situation as just didnt feel like it, but she finally clocked us and had set up her little massage table and candles for us, so feeling guilty we said yes. It was actually delightful, although slightly odd to be touched by another human being after 7 weeks, in fact by a stranger at the hostel!!? It releaved the tensions in our backs and necks after carrying around those bloody backpacks and only cost 9 quid so was a nice treat.

Monday 21st June

Woke up early, packed up, had breakfast and checked out. They were nice enough to let us leave our bags at the hostel all day while we went to Alta Gracia before our overnight bus to Mendoza.

Walked up to the bus station, it was freezing today, Beth has invested in some gloves but think a thick jumper is in order. Bought our tickets to Mendoza and got the bus to Alta Gracia, its a small town outside of Cordoba and only takes 40 minutes to get to. The whole way we listened to cheesy 80´s songs on the radio, also noticed they love Madonna and Micheal Jackson over here.

Alta Gracia is where Che Guavara lived when he was growing up, so we decided to take a trip to his house which is now a musueum dedicated to him and his family. The musuem was only small but well set out and it was nice to get an English guide book so we could learn more about Che. Slightly confused regarding his hero status in light of his friendship with Fidal Castro because of Castro´s dictatorship in Cuba!?

Walked through Alta Gracia and could see the Andes in the background, it also was the first time we had realised it was Autumn here, lots of leaves all over the ground and bare trees. Stopped at a souvenir shop where we bought bags, then went to a nice restaurant for lunch. We saw the Jesuit Church and ruins but were not open to go inside. Walked up the main street, but everywhere was shut, it could have been siesta time but we thought it could be a holiday or something? With time to kill we went to a little cafe for coffee and cake and watched even more football, its playing non stop here.

We made it back from Alta Gracia after listening to other classics on the radio ´Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree´ and ´Love Shack´and went to collect our backpacks from the hostel, said goodbye to the staff who were all lovely, bar a strange Colombian boy who was very annoying and thought Beth said her name was Woggy, so we are not only Biff but Woggy and Waggy! Lol.

Walked back to the bus station with our bags which is not getting any easier, especially when it was rush hour at the bus station. Grabbed some food at the bus station, which is always below average but convenient, then got on the bus. Bus was probably had the biggest seats we have been on so it was much easier to recline without slipping down and being uncomfortable. They also gave us free food, but it consisted of Ham and cheese with an olive, ham and cheese on a burger bap and wait for it....HAM and CHEESE swiss roll! How disgusting, but amused us never the less.

Anyway, another overnight bus journey, managed to sleep most of the way despite the heat being unbareable. Arrived in Mendoza when it was just getting light, ready for a fun filled 3 nights and muchos Vino Tinto!! (Much red wine).

Sorry its a long one!

Love you and Miss you all Lots!

Cant believe how much we have done already, 27 days left to go, probably some of the best of our lives so we are going to embrace every moment!

Peace out
T&B xxxxxxx