We arrive in Buenos Aires bleary eyed from another overnight bus journey to discover that the first two hostels we fancied were full. Fortunately the third had a free double room and actually looked nicer than the other two anyway! Our "double" room actually turned out to have a triple bunk bed as well as a double bed, which was rather strange, but we werent complaining. We were determined not to succumb to sleep and head out for a walking tour of the city. Well, we really like BA. It reminded us a lot of Paris and a little of London too with its grand buildings and wide streets. The other advantage was that the weather felt decidedly warmer than it had done further south and we were finally able to go out without coats on! That evening we try out another Parrilla and have the best steak yet! The evening was topped off with this amazing guy who came round to each table and, for us, cut out the shape of a Gaucho on a horse in the minutest detail, and using only one cut! We were very impressed, and are hoping that the paper man will last until we get home...! Decide that we deserve a bit of a lie in in the morning after all those overnighters, but we make it out in time to find a table in a bar for the Argentina vs Germany game. Good job we got their early as they were turning people away before the game has even kicked off. It was great to be in a local bar to watch the game, but a great shame about the result. That afternoon we head off for our first spanish lesson with Laura. Unfortunately she is a bit depressed after the football result but we had a good lesson all the same. The bits and pieces we had picked up until now had certainly helped, but it was good to learn some of the basics so that we could put our own sentence together, rather than having to just use the ones from our phrasebook! That night we find a great Thai restaurant near the hostel and reminisce about our time in South East Asia.. Get up early the next morning for our second Spanish lesson, which was to be with Cesar. It was a bit trickier than the first, but still good fun. At least it managed to take our minds away from the footie. We finished the lesson in time to race to find a bar showing the England vs Portugal game. The bar was unfortunately pretty quiet and it got worse when a couple of Portuguese supporters arrived and sat right by our table. Fortunately it was all good natured and we all shook hands before the penalties. After it was all over we managed not to be too rude to them, and they managed not to look too pleased with themselves.. We dejectedly walked back to the hostel and tried to look forward to the 2008 European Cup... Decided to treat ourselves that night and found one of only two curry houses in the whole country and enjoyed a very delicious meal (with a bottle of red wine, of course). The next day we decide to brave the famous district of La Boca. We got directions from the lady in the hostel, who was very clear in telling us not to stray out of the area she circled on our map - we therefore had to bus in and bus out. La Boca is home to the famous Boca Juniors and is also the area in which Maradona grew up. The houses there are painted a multitude of colours and there is also great local Artisan market and several tango displays. Outside this tourist trap however, are some very poor areas and we did as we were told and didnt stray into those. After a good wander around we bought a few souvenirs at the markets and then caught the bus to San Telmo. Sunday in San Telmo is market day and was absolutely choka block with people and antique sellers. We had a bit of a wander around before heading off to Puerto Madero, which is BAs equivalent to the London Docklands, but with more green areas. Head back to the hostel in the evening and meet a few more english & irish folk. We arrange to go to a local tango show with them in the evening. Really enjoyed the show and enjoyed even more the three bottles of wine that we shared with our new Irish friend, Aidan. At the end of the show we were somehow persuaded to go back to another hostel for more drinks. The other hostel was a very strange place. It was full of english and irish people who seemed to live in the hostel bar and never seemed to leave the place. Still it had cheap drinks. We were persuaded to enter the killer pool competition which (we are convinced) turned out to be a fix by the guy running the competition. Was quite funny really. After a couple more bottles of wine we finally left the place at about 5am, laughing at Aidan as he was planing to get up at 8am for a day trip to Colonia, Uruguay! Well, needless to say that the next day was a complete write off and we only really surfaced from our room in the evening. Managed to order a pizza to the hostel and stayed in watching a few dvds. The following day we head over to the Recoletta district to experience the famous cemetery where, amongst others, Evita is buried. The cemetery was actually pretty impressive and all the mausoleums there we like mini churches, complete with altars and statues. Never seen anything like it before. Another spanish lesson in the afternoon before heading back to the hostel. That evening we decide to sample the local nightlife and head out to the casino (housed on a huge ship in Puerto Madero) with some guys from the hostel. Try our luck at the roulette table, and have none, so decide to try a bit of Black Jack. Fortunately we have a bit more luck here and so when we left (at 2 am) we were only about a tenner down. When you consider the free drinks we got at the table, it wasnt bad for a fun night out! The following day we sample the underground system and head to a huge shopping plaza where we do a bit of window shopping before heading back to the centre for another Spanish lesson. Head out for dinner and find a great restaurant offering a set menu (selection of grilled meat with chips and salad, pudding & wine) for about 5 quid each! Bargain! Our last day in BA was spent in our final spanish lesson before heading across the Rio Plato on the boat to Colonia, Uruguay.