One big blur...

Buenos Aires has absolutely, positively, definitely, 100% NOT disappointed! It is a fantastically vibrant city that stretches for miles. We arrived at around 10am after an overnight bus from Mendoza and checked into 'Hostel Fiesta' and at a cost of £6 per night and upon reflection i'm not really sure what we were expecting...but we were disappointed. I think it was the 24 hour breakfast that lured us in- to be let down by cornflakes, bread and dulce de leche...obviously! We did have a stroke of luck, as in the evening before pampering began for Daisy's birthday (following day), we were told we were moving from the hotbox, dingy room with no ventilation on the top floor, to our own room with an en-suite on the bottom- a girl had decided to just take Daisy's bed for the night, so a slight upgrade and for the same price were taken with pleasure! The next day rung in 23 years for Miss Daisy Rebecca Dyke and it also happened to be pouring with rain- the first downpour all season, but being the positive, optimistic llamas that we are, it didn't dampen our spirits. We sat down to a bucks-fizz birthday breakfast and soon after checked out of Hostel Fiesta (up there as one of the worst hostels) and checked into Milhouse Hostel, just around the corner. We'd heard it was party vibes and for £10 a night we were expecting big things. From the moment we checked in the atmosphere was worlds apart from Hostel Fiesta- the staff were warm and friendly and sang happy birthday to an already pissed, swigging out a champagne bottle Dais! The hostel had an open bar/diner area with a pool table and sofas and above was a balcony with computers. We had a rather leisurely check in as the rain was coming down pretty hard outside. We did eventually brave it outside and headed straight to Daisy's birthday lunch at Don Julio's, a quaint restaurant only a short metro ride away to a stop called 'Plaza Italia'. We shared a bottle of Malbec, toasted Miss Dyke and tucked into rear melt in the mouth steaks (Lou and I sirloin, Daisy rump), a fresh salad tossed in front of us and the most perfectly golden chips with all the right crisp. The restaurant was very traditional; infused with authentic dim lighting and extremely attentive staff and the grill where all the meat was being cooked was visible just behind the bar, flooding my nostrils with the most incredible smells. Its' intimate premises were almost full and radiated a sociable atmosphere. I would say this is another one of my favourite meals, yet with that said, we haven't eaten out enough for me to forget ANY of the swanky meals we've had- but this was without question another winner! We went for a coffee after; I had a dulce de leche expresso, and Lou and Dais opted for a coffee liqueur. As it turns out I still don't like expressos, but I do LOVE dulce, although for breakfast every morning it's definitely too indulgent...but being on a 2 1/2 month 'holiday' is a valid excuse right? We headed back to Milhouse and started to get our bling on for what was to be a big one! The party was in the other Milhouse (there are two Milhouse hostels and the parties switch between them). We had a cracking night and after losing and finding the birthday girl, or the police finding her and safely returning her to the hostel, we concluded the night with empanadas...there was no other way. The following day was an absolute write off, we surfaced at around 1 o'clock, showered and ventured out of our hang hole and into the sunshine (typical). Lucy from London, a girl in our room joined and we all dined in a very average cafe/restaurant and headed back to the hostel to nap before getting back on it- successful day! The party on the Thursday (30th) was in our hostel, so we pushed through the hang and ended up going out to a club called 'Club 69'- free entry of course. The club was unbelievably jammy- dancers made their way on a podium through the crowd, the music was amazing and just generally great vibes all round! I made sure not to buy any drinks- Friday was to be productive! I absolutely loved Club 69 and I would go as far to say that it is for sure up there as one of the coolest clubs I've ever graced with my poppin and lockin- the lingering stench of cigarette smoke the next day is pretty off putting however, praise the heavens that smoking inside is no longer legal back home. We all rose for breakfast which was a positive start and in the afternoon we made our way to La Recoleta Cemetery. It took us about 40 minutes to walk and not only did the fresh air energise our little tired llama selves, the cemetery was truly fascinating. It contains the graves of notable historical people and has been hailed as one of the world's best cemeteries. Some of the graves have become extremely derelict and overrun with weeds- some of the dusty coffins piled one on top of the other were in touching distance through the broken glass which was very creepy. On reflection I wish we had taken an English speaking tour as I imagine the stories behind some of the graves would have every hair stand up on my body. We decided to stay in to recharge after two nights partying, although some noises in our room would disturb our quality of sleep- make of that what you will! The following morning we got the bus with Zara and Lucy (two lovely London gals in our room), and another duo, a kiwi and an English girl, to La Boca. We were advised to be extremely careful here as it is one of the poorer 'barrios' of Buenos Aires- we made sure not to carry any valuables on us (apart from our phones for pictures...obviously). La Boca is renowned for its colourful houses, vibrant ambience and quaint cobbled streets- all of which were prominent from the moment we stepped off the bus. We strolled around and explored, followed by a quick lunch break at a local restaurant with Salsa partners lighting up the stage. However, be warned you will be charged not only service but also to just sit there and this we found out when the waiter chased after us threatening to call the police. It was lovely exploring the small perimeters of La Boca- there wasn't much beyond the colourful, corrugated-metal buildings, tree knitted jumpers and cobbled streets but still an adorable little place to check out for a morning/afternoon. In the afternoon we attempted to continue our productive day by getting the metro to Plaza Italia to visit the botanical gardens - but they were closed. Back to the hostel it was...to discover that around 1,500 pesos (160 US dollars) had been taken from Daisy's locked locker. This was money she had converted from her dollars only that morning from a classic 'cambio cambio' man. A little side note is that US dollars get you SO much more for your money- withdrawing gives you a rate of 8 pesos to 1 US dollar and money exchange or 'street cambio' can offer you a rate of anything up to 15 pesos to 1 US dollar. Withdrawing money is a major bummer and of course there is nowhere in Chile or Argentina to withdraw US dollars- back to the story! We reported it to the hostel who were extremely unhelpful and rude about it- it was a little questionable how somebody would know that THAT steel locker would open even when padlocked- it points the figure precariously to the staff. Daisy's incident was also to be the first of 2 others that evening- another guys money was taken from his bag and the last, was a girl who had 360 US dollars taken from her locker...in her locked room that she was sharing with 3 friends and whom at the time it was taken were all out exploring- extremely shady. I felt so bad for Dais- such a frustrating situation especially because it wasn't as though carelessness was to blame and the way in which Milhouse dealt with the situation was very suspicious and instantly plummeted their hospitality ratings. To be sure to take full advantage of the incident, the five of us (llamas plus Lucy and Zara) got ready for our third and final party and we were all fired up to share and warn fellow hostel backpackers about what had happened. Before arriving in Buenos Aires, we had heard many stories about unmarked taxis and had met travellers who fell victim to locals throwing paint or spitting on them and whilst removing their bags to brush it off, everything is gone before they could even blink. The worst story I heard came from a girl named Crystal from North America. She came and sat beside me on day 1 in Milhouse and recalled the awful moment locals targeted her and carried out the role play- disgusting smelly water came from nowhere and she took her bag off her back to wipe it off and whilst doing so a middle aged professional looking woman helped her to get to the pavement, meanwhile another middle aged women is shouting asking if she is okay, a man appears and begins to brush her down, whilst 2 others snatch the bag before she could even see where they'd gone with it. She said it happened so fast and every one of them ran off after, leaving poor Crystal crying and overwhelmed on the pavement- passport, phone, money, cards, you name it, all valuables and all sentiments, GONE! She had to turn her 4 night stay to almost 3 weeks to sort everything and she told me this so calmly, I just wanted to give her a gigantic bear hug. Slightly worrying was the fact she was about 6ft, with quite an intimidating presence and the incident occurred only 3 blocks from Milhouse. Fortunately Buenos Aires left us untouched outside the hostel, but ironically in Daisy's case, not inside! The nightlife in Buenos Aires starts at 2am and ends in the late hours of the morning, but on Saturday it was not to be another club night as after Dais's money incident, she managed to drink her way to not knowing who I actually was- bedtime it was!
We arose the next morning for breakfast and checked out by 11. Feeling a little fragile, Dais stayed at the hostel and later headed to the police station to get a report for her stolen money in order to claim it back on insurance. Lou, Zara, Lucy and I walked to San Telmo. It was a beautiful day and after an unexpected eatery find where we demolished the best choripan, we explored the antiques at the Sunday market. It was a spellbinding market dazzling with hundreds of historical artefacts- phones, cameras, jewellery, beautiful china, vintage clothes, handbags, pocket watches, the list goes on! From the extremely satisfactory choripan that we stumbled across when hang munchies were peaking, to the glorious weather and furthermore mesmerising array of antiques- this happened to actually be my favourite day in Buenos Aires. We concluded with a true holiday helado (ice-cream), banana split and dulce de leche brownie and that was the end to BA before boarding another expensive, 20 hour bus journey to Punto Iguazu. I must admit, we partied perhaps a little to hard, or in Dais's case, quite literally got lost to the city and I feel we didn't explore nearly enough of this electrifying capital. Graced with European architecture, eclectic neighbourhoods and bustling nightlife, Buenos Aires has an unmatchable atmosphere. There is so much more to see and do and I wish we had stayed a little longer in this buzzing capital. But theres always next time BA- for now, you've taken all of our money and destroyed us!