Our first sight of Buenos Aires from the bus were of the shanty towns on the outskirts and a strange mist over the city, which we guessed was pollution. These first impressions didnt last long though and it turned out to be a great city where we spent a fun week. On our 1st night we decided we'd better lighten the load in Nikkis backpack by cracking open a bottle of our wine from Mendoza, and after that we fancied a few more so we headed out to see what Buenos Aires had to offer. Turns out not a lot on a Sunday night as everything was closed!

Monday was spent making plans for the week ahead and after booking a night at the theatre Leanna decided her denim hotpants might not be suitable and she better buy some warmer going out clothes! We were treated to a unique shopping experience, stopping every now and again to watch the tango dancers and painters in the street.

Next day we headed over to the Recoleta district where Nikki could pick up her new bank card from the British embassy (kindly sent by her mum!). After 5 minutes in her possession she was back at square one as the first machine we used decided to swallow it up! We visited the cemetry, where we were pleased to find an English speaking tour guide just starting her next tour. Shespoke proper queens english with a spanish twang which although funny at first turned out to be quite irritating. She clearly enjoyed practicing though as after 15 minutes standing in the entrance chatting we'd got no closer to the main attraction. Breaking off from the rest of the group we wandered around the tombs, some of which were the size of small houses and came complete with glass doors so you could see the residents inside! Getting a bit spooked we hurried on to 'Familia Duarte' the tomb where Evitas body rests, and then sneaked out past our group who were still at the start. Next we went to the museum of fine arts. While some of it was 'fine' a lot of it was pretty pointless, we failed to see how a rip in a piece of cloth can be stapled to the wall and called art! Was quite funny though and we did appreciate getting to have our photos taken with a Monet and Van Gogh painting.

That evening we went to the theatre to see a tango show. We had prime seats, a table close to the stage with wine & nibbles and a perfect view of the show. The dancing was spectacular and we both left wishing we could flick our legs about in the same way!

Wednesday was spent visiting the main attractions and districts of the city. We started at Plaza de Mayo where we went to the Metropolitan cathedral and were surprised to see a huddle of men praying around the same statue. Turns out he was Santo Cristo, holy christ of football players, and as Boca juniors had a game that night we soon understood the relevance! Next stop was the casa rosada, the pick government house, where we looked around the museum about argentinas presidential history. We walked down to the water to Puerto Madero to see the womens bridge, a strange construction that twists 90 degrees to let boats past. We didnt spend long here after we realised the waterside restaurants were a bit out our price range. That afternoon we walked over to San Telmo, the tango district, a beautiful area with cobbled streets and victorian style houses, one of which was just 2m wide! We watched some more tango in Dorrego square and the first half of the football. After hearing the 1st goal celebrations which included the commentator shouting ´gooaall´for about 5 minutes we felt we'd experienced the best bit so we left in search of dinner. We came across the best buffet ever with a traditional Parilla, all the meats you can imagine cooked on a grill in front of you. Not very exciting for Leanna but she didnt go hungry, with a huge salad bar, main dishes and puddings all for just 3 pounds. Feeling pretty stuffed we rolled back to the hostel and into bed.

Thursday we went to the Boca district, home of the Boca Juniors and the very colourful Camarito. We had a tour of the stadium, including pitch, changing rooms and press room realising how basic it was compared to what the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal must be used to! Us being the only 2 english people in a group of 20 we were treated to our own personal translation where we learnt about the clubs history from the colour of their shirts down to the unfair treatment of the away team, which included cold water in the changing rooms and a small underground tunnel onto the pitch right amongst the 47000 home fans. The 3000 away fans are at the other end and are treated to a 3rd tier section of a decrepit stand, exposed to all the elements! Over the half way line we could see a special yellow box amongst all the normal blue executive boxes, belonging to Maradona who goes to every home game. After a look around the museum we went to the famous Camarito street in Boca which is lined with houses painted all different colours and has strange cartoon clay people hanging out of the windows and positioned around the streets. We walked around the markets and were treated to yet another tango show with our lunch.

Next day we had to change hostels and ended up wasting a morning walking across the city to be met by a very rude south american hostel manager. Not wanting to stay in his company a minute longer we headed right back to the other end of the city and found a friendlier hostel. We visited the last district on our list, Palermo, that afternoon but with no time to explore the parks and gardens there we went straight to the Evita museum. Another well spoken english guide offered us an informative insight into Evitas life and the conflicting opinions of her amongst argentinians. Back to the hostel to drink our 2nd Mendoza souvenir in preparation for Nikkis birthday night out. Although refusing at first, after 4 glasses she was wearing a birthday princess crown and badge and we headed out to Kilkennys irish bar. Here we met the most English speaking south americans so far so we enjoyed finally being able to communicate (or flirt!) with a few. We had a few cocktails courtesy of Lucas and a guy called Mattea who soon became matthew when we had difficulty pronouncing his name! Intending to move on we were shocked at 530am when the barman told us to leave so we went home not knowing where the time had gone.

After very little sleep we were woken at 1pm the next day to move rooms. Leanna had got there first and laid out card and pressies for Nikki and then we spent a very lazy afternoon getting over out hangovers. We went out for an early birthday dinner and then joined a few thousand screaming young spanish girls in the queue to see Enrique Iglesias at the Luna park stadium. Although we only paid 10 pounds for the tickets we still had a great view, perfect for perving at enrique from! We had a lot of competition though from obsessed fans who kept jumping over the barriers to the stage so they could grope their idol. It was a brilliant concert and despite most of the songs being in spanish it was amazing to experience the volume of the crowd singing along with him. It did have its cheesy moments with a guy proposing to his girlfriend on stage and enrique serenading a hysterical girl with 'hero.' She melted and we reached for the sick bucket as he ended giving her a sloppy kiss, and the other girls in the crowd made their plans to hunt her down after the show! With hangovers fading Nikki felt ready to go out again and continue celebrating her birthday, although not quite ready to drink again so she just spent a sober night in the company of people we met the night before.

Next day we hung around recovering and waiting for our 18 hour bus journey to Iguazu falls, sad to leave a really great city but excited about what our last 4 weeks will bring...