Hi everyone, another little up date from Argentina, I think when I last wrote we were in Auckland, New Zealand…

Spent our last few days in New Zealand in Auckland, wishing we didn't have to leave this beautiful country! Some nice sight seeing in Auckland, and randomly bumped into some friends we had made in the Whitsunday Islands in Australia. Was really nice to catch up over some dinner and drinks (free at the hostel - bonus!)...you have to love that about traveling. Being in a city, literally as far away from home as you can get, and bumping into someone you have met in another country.

Travelled to Chile - Feeling a little disorientated after having gone back in time 16 hours…mixed with a twelve hour sleepless flight and arriving in a new continent where no one speaks your language, it leaves you feeling a little confused, and TIRED! But…we were very excited to be in Latin America, and already, had an amazing feel from the locals and atmosphere!

Santiago was a good introduction to South America - not too much of a party city, and with Chile being one of the most developed countries in Latin America, it made it easy to get around and a friendly place…what we needed after seriously lacking sleep with jet lag. The climate is a bit bizarre, the days get pretty warm, almost reaching 20 degrees (its winter!) but then the nights drop crazily to minus figures - very weird! Took the metro and walked around the city exploring the usual sights and 'Plazas' with lots of grand architecture left over from its colonial days. In the main square, Plaza de Armas, we arrived to a political demonstration at one end of the cathedral, and in true Latino style, a carnival at the over - mix in all the stray dogs wandering around the place and it makes for a good atmosphere! An atmosphere that peaks at its markets - I could have spent hours in the fish market watching all the men scream at customers! A highlight was definitely the Barrio of Bellaviste - the bohemian quarter, with streets of brightly coloured houses, and some fantastic street markets with artisanea from local Chilean villages (already bought an 'Alpaca' wool jumper - so fluffy!) We treated ourselves to a great lunch in a popular restaurant serving Chilean fare - it was packed with locals, and the portions were huge! Chile doesn't really have any interesting native food (Latin American food isn´t the ost exciting food in the world, a lot of potatoes and meat until you start hitting the fruit isles…) but we tried some local dishes - steak with fried eggs on top, and beans mixed with mashed corn, pumpkin and red pepper - surprisingly tasty when washed down with a local beer! The rest of our time in Santiago was spent people watching in street-side cafes sipping on a pisco sour or two - their local alcohol of choice - and the best way to experience local life in a city on a Sunday! Sean was quite happy with the 1L bottles of beer they do - Chile is by far the most expensive country in South America…for everything except alcohol! It was also 'Ninos (Children's) Day' and so the city had an amazing atmosphere to it, with parks filled with kids, entertainers and families spending time together - think the UK could do with a few reasons for the kind of focused attention we saw, families seem to spend so much time together over here.

Took our first bus trip over to Mendoza in Argentina - an amazing trip straight through the Andes. Some of the roads were pretty steep and narrow, a little scary in a speeding bus, but the sights more than made up for the fear, cutting straight through ski resorts, the Aconcagua Peak, and some crazy rugged mountains. (The buses here are so luxury compared to Asia as well - spacious seats, free cookies and juice, movies playing…me like!). Arrived to Mendoza, a town with a really quaint, relaxed and Argentine feel to it, full of tiled plazas and Argentine men singing traditional songs in the street…I knew instantly I was going to love Argentina!

I was extra excited as mum and dad arrived the next day - surprised them by turning up at the airport (I think the long travel had taken its toll, we were stood right in front of them and they didn't see us…either that or we really have morphed into smelly backpackers!). Was so fantastic to see them, and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up over a bottle of wine and a few more of beer in a street café. It almost felt completely surreal - just seeing mum and dad, but then seeing them in Argentina, mixed with being in a hotel room (AMAZING) and having a mini-'holiday' in the middle of traveling, all added up was quite overwhelming and surreal! Such a change from our lifestyle for the past 6 months…It might sound weird saying a 'holiday' in the middle of traveling, but travel really does become a lifestyle and you do get used to living off not very much, having very little time, and living in rooms of ten or more people with very little privacy, so it took me a while to adjust to a different way of life…not that I was complaining, it was fantastic to be in hotels and so amazing to see mum and dad (and get a proper feed!!). Truly blessed.

We all enjoyed touring Mendoza city together - it is very laid back, so we spent a lot of time enjoying the mid-day sun having drinks in street cafes - very Latino lifestyle we feel! We walked around all the cute plazas, with Argentinean tiles, little mobile libraries, school classes playing in the sun and fountains with mosaic benches - it had a kind of run down charm to it! Dad was the first to make a purchase (some pretty cool trainers actually, impressed!) and we walked to central market which was fantastic - filled with drying meats, cheap wine and locals eating at the cafes. We joined them for lunch (empanadas (pasties) and chopp (draught beer) - cost for all four of us less then 4 pounds, so dad was pretty impressed with the bill!). It was by far the cleanest Mercado Central me and Sean have ever been to, and I think even mum and dad were pretty impressed! Its true when they say Latin Americans are passionate people - everyone puts a lot of effort into their families, lovers and children and you always see romantic couples wandering through the city - they seem to live with their heart and are not afraid to show emotion - its very endearing and quite relaxing to be around!

We then booked to do a wine tour, as Mendoza is the prime Argentinean wine-producing region. We took a tour for a full day (9am-6pm, so pretty good value for money as far as drinking time is concerned!). Our trip was really interesting and very unique to Argentina…there were only about 9 of us, a really nice couple from Puerto Rica and an Italian couple, with a Canadian lad, was nice company. Went around 4 very different Bodegas, from the traditional and family run, to the modern and organic, and got tours of all the processes and cavas which was really fun. The wine was a bit of a surprise, not the Argentinean wine they export to Europe, and to a completely different taste - more traditional, rich, and sweet, which didn't necessarily suit us, but it was really good to see proper Mendozan and traditional processes. We also got taken to an olive oil factory (the olives were delicious and so so cheap) and a man's house who makes chocolate, flavoured liquors (which we then tried…phew, lots of alcohol in one day!) and different chutneys which was really sweet. The whole area was unusually built up, not like the wine areas of New Zealand or France in the countryside, but it gave us a unique experience and threw us straight into their local culture. No more so than with the traditional Mendozan lunch in this great old café, where they fed us empanadas and more meat than you could have ever imagined - ribs, beef, chorizo, all cooked on a wood-fired oven…very interesting and good to soak up all the alcohol! Topped off with some amazing dinners we have had in Mendoza, we went to a fantastic atmospheric bistro, so 'atmospheric' with the flickering candles, we had to use a torch to read the menu, but had amazing food accompanied by an Argentine playing guitar. We found a favourite in Casa 3, just by our hotel, which had fantastic tapas and a great selection of wine…when we asked for a gin for mum and vodka for me, you get an entire tall glass of spirit, and a can, and a separate glass to mix the two in - the strongest drinks we've ever had, but pretty good getting 3 drinks for the price of one!!! We've also been to a really cute little bar on the 10th floor of an apartment block, with great views of the city lights at night - once again, some great tapas and a few cocktails and the usual good Argentine wine! All in all, a bit of an indulgent start to Argentina but good all round and it's been so nice to spend some time with mum and dad.

We then took an 12 hour bus in the day (mum wanted to see the scenery) to Cordoba, North and between Mendoza and BA. The buses were simply out of this world, sleeper seats comfier than business class seats on planes, and movies playing the whole time (much to mum's distress!) but it was a pretty luxury trip compared to what we're used to. The scenery was a bit bizarre - really arid and flat planes (the pampas), with no greenery…it was so dry and windy in some parts that we drove through a sand storm, almost like in the desert, but we went through some really interesting little towns with horse & carts. We got our first glimpse of some local estancias (ranches with the 'gaucho' cowboys) before arriving in Cordoba, Argentina's second largest city, full of life, students and lots of bars!

Cordoba is a really interesting city, with some amazing Architecture From the Jesuit churches to the old mansions. We took a city bus tour all around the central city, past all the main sights (the cathedral and Plaza San Martin), past the Monastry Santa Teresa, the Jesuit mission houses, Nueva Cordoba (the new area filled with old mansions that are now funky resto-bars) and even out to the zoos and the 'parks' (if you can call them that as they look more like dust-bowls or fields of sand!). We saw quite a few beautiful old Baroque churches, and stopped off at the old women's prison ( its easy to forget how much dictatorship and injustice there was in this country), which has now been turned into an area with good cocktail bars and art galleries. The highlight was a great little area in Nueva Cordoba, with all the antiques shops and the antiques market (you can actually see the old 'Argentine men' with beards, drinking mate out of their pots (a weird bitter tea that comes with a ritual)), where we ended up going for a great traditional dinner - they served everything from goat to typical 'lomos' (steaks) in a really fun and authentic atmosphere. It was a fantastic night, from the pre-dinner cosmo (me and mum were pretty happy) in the women's prison, to the amazing restaurant. The area was buzzing with the antiques market and local 'boho' culture, and the restaurant was packed out, and rightly so! I had goat (surprisingly nice) and Sean and dad had 'the best steaks they had ever eaten', all with some great wine…the place had such character it was definitely one of the best meals we'd all ever had, and for the price of a McDonalds meal!

After everyone's slightly tipsy walk home, it was an early start to get the hire car from the airport for a beautiful day driving around the Sierras. We drove through some really interesting towns in the hills and mountains, and past some beautiful lakes. We stopped off at Alta Gracia, with its fantastically preserved Jesuit houses, and a really interesting Che Guevara museum. It was based in the house he was brought up in (he was Argentinean and moved to the town at the age of 4 as his parents felt the dry climate would help cure his asthma!). We also stopped off at a mountain town, Le Cumbre, the capital for paragliding, with a really relaxed atmosphere and a bakery named after my brother, so a few cakes and tea were obviously a must…?! A fantastic day and we got to get out of the city, into the countryside and experienced some real Argentine culture, right down to the cowboys riding along side us! Mum was very excited! The day was topped off with our first try at Mate, the local herbal drink popular with all the old men and boho youth…even Che used to drink it whilst playing chess (see…very educational!). It was seriously bitter, but actually an acquired taste I could easily get used to, the learning to prepare it (and drinking it out the pot/special straw) was all part of the fun. Before we moved on from Cordoba, we eventually managed to get inside the Jesuit Manzana, and it was so impressive, a hugely ornate alter, massive domes in the ceiling and a smaller room off the side with a traditional Argentine (and catholic) service going on. Then we took mum and dad on an overnight bus to Buenos Aires - a bus that me and Sean thought was luxury (but then we are used to goats as pillows). Still - it has spacious seats, they gave us hot food and sandwiches, even whiskey after (which pleased dad no end), and we slept pretty well…except on the bumpy sections of the road, of which there were many!

Got to BA about 7am, and wandered around to see our first few sights - its an amazing city, so much more cosmopolitan than anywhere else in Argentina, and you wouldn't think it was in the same country. There's absolutely loads to see, and so we walked from our district to Recoletta where the famous cemetery is. It was unbelievable, like a mini city of tombs and crypts, all massively lavish and huge, with most of the famous Argentines buried inside. We really went to find Eva Peron (Evita's) crypt and it was still covered in flowers and plaques that people bring to her. The cemetery is where the orchard was for the adjoining basilica and church, again, a stunning and lavish church with a beautiful interior, and locals coming in and out to give confessions. From there we saw the Recoletta Cultural Centre, filled with galleries, cafes and art spaces before wandering through some beautiful shopping streets (stopping as you can imagine in as many as dad would let us!). As mum and dad rested off the overnight trip, me and Sean made use of every service we could in the hotel, the gym, sauna, Jacuzzi, swimming pool…if its free, we'll use it whilst we can, its not going to be easy going back from this lifestyle to hostels so make the most of it whilst we can!

I am in love with Buenos Aires - officially. It's up there with my favourite cities, Shanghai, New York, Saigon. Its buzzing everywhere, and there are amazing barrios - we went to San Telmo, the oldest area and full of cobbled streets with antique shops and markets that look like they haven't changed in years. There are thousands of shopping streets, and the Plaza de Mayo was really impressive, lots of imposing government buildings (where Evita sings from!) and all the protest banners from the Madres of Mayo - the mothers of the 'lost children' (now adults…people that went missing as children during the 'dirty war' and the dictatorship in Argentina) who protest there every Thursday for their cause. We had coffee in the oldest café in Argentina, this famous little place popular with artists and now tourists who want a piece of the action (and the cake)! But dinner, once again, was the highlight, in another amazing district, 'Palermo' (the Soho of BA), where we went to this amazing local joint. Sean and dad, once again, drooled over the 'best steaks they have ever eaten' - to be fair, I'm not the best fan of meat and it was amazing, the thickest cuts, yet you can slice through it like butter...mmm. Such a fantastic city and I recommend it to anyone.

Anyway, we're off to go explore Palermo, the best area of Buenos Aires today, and to book a Tango show, so its all very exciting! Will write soon with the rest of the update from Argentina before we head into Bolivia.