After our over night bus from Mendoza we arrived in Buenos Aires at around 11am and headed to our hostel, The Milhouse Avenue in central BA. The hostel itself was amazing, it was a huge town house with over 5 floors including a basement, big rooms, nice hot showers and a bar which served tasty food and thirst quenching drinks! Not only that, they showed Premiership football on a big screen in the bar area, so Lee was a happy chappy!! He even met another QPR fan in the hostel... a new friend for life!

Once we had settled in and met our 2 dutch roomies, Lee, Steve and Jess went to the hospital to try and get a diagnosis for Steve´s illness and get some medication to clear it up. The doctor said it was most likely food poisoning, and to take antibiotics and milk of magnesium, until he felt better. We then went and explored the shops along Avenue Santa Fe while Elle had a nap! Most of the shops were selling shoes so Lee and Steve found themselves traipsing in and out of one after another while Jess hunted for a cheap pair of pumps... and ended up buying nothing! Typical! That evening we all (minus Steve who sadly was still not feeling very well) drank in the bar at the hostel until about 1am, then went out to Pacha nightclub. It was a good night out, although the club was rammed with people and the music was kind of repetative, we all had lots of fun and got in to bed at around 6am!

After only a few hours sleep, we got up and headed out to explore the city! We started off in Plaza Dorrego, then walked along the antique shop lined streets and market stalls of San Telmo. The streets were buzzing with lots of people and entertainers, and felt similar to a Sunday afternoon spent in London at Portobello market. After reaching the end of the market stalls we walked on to Plaza de Mayo and then around Reserva Ecológica in Puerto Madero, a massive park at the edge of the city, bordering the sea and surrounding two big lakes.The walk was very relaxing and the scenery was gorgeous, especially as the sun was setting.

The following day we got a train to Retiro and went for a walk around Plaza Libertador General San Martin which was surrounded by large trees and old statues. After that we headed to Recoleta, a neighbourhood in BA known for its squares, parks, cafes and galleries, as well as the La Recoleta Cemetery! After a walk around the neighbourhood we visited the cemetery, which felt more like a small village than a graveyard! The tombs were very impressive and defintely showed off the wealth of the deceased who were buried there. You could see the coffins and pictures of the deceased inside the tombs, and the whole place had a slightly eerie feel to it, but it was definitely a very interesting visit!

On Tuesday we headed to Palmero to visit the Jardin Zoologico, which was huge and contained a ridiculous amount of animals, including polar bears, grizzly bears, panthers, pumas, lions, rhinos and monkeys... to name just a few! After the zoo we walked through Parque 3 de Febrero and surrounding parkland, then back through the botanical gardens before returning back to the hostel. That evening we went out for a very nice meal at a rather posh restaurant (in flipflops!)... fortunately Steve was better by this point and had defintely regained his apetite!

The next day we walked from our hostel to Plaza del Congreso, to see the palace and monument, then on to Plaza Lavalle which was surrounded by impressive buildings. We had lunch in Palermo (similar to Soho in London with numerous cafes and restaurants lining the streets), and then walked around some of the boutique shops. That evening we had a delicious meal at a Vietnames restaurant, then went to see a tango show, which was brilliant. The dancing was incredible and because it was all singing and dancing, it didn´t really matter that we couldn´t understand what the performers were saying!!

Thursday we decided to walk to La Boca, the neighbourhood renowned for Boca Juniors football team. It wasn´t a particularly nice area and we didn´t feel very safe walking around until we reached the Boca Juniors football stadium and Caminito Street where all the tourists seemed to be. We had a quick cheeky look inside the stadium as it just so happened a delivery was being made to the grounds as we were walking past and the boys got to poke their heads in and take some piccys. We then had lunch in Caminito Street which was lined with bright multicoloured houses, stalls selling paintings and shops selling souvenirs, as well as numerous restaurants with outdoor seating and mini stages displaying tango shows whilst you ate. After catching a cab back to central BA, we visited the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (a fine arts museum) and ended the day with a final farewell meal at La Cabrera, a steak restaurant we had been recommended to go to on numerous occasions. The food was delicious, and there was plenty of it, as well as a nice bottle of red and yummy desserts!! The food in BA was absolutely amazing... have never eaten so much good food, and the city itself was lovely... it was a shame we had to leave it all behind. But after a final night out that night and a sleepy farewell in the morning, we had to say goodbye to Steve and Elle :o(

They left for their airport transfer at lunch time, and we caught our overnight bus a few hours later to the north of Argentina for the next stage of our adventure!!