Hola, hola, hola!
Am sat on a plane to El Calafate now. We returned from Puerto Iguazu on Monday and have just had an amazing 5 days in Buenos Aires. The place is incredible. Everyone should visit at some point in there lives. I loved it and am seriously considering a small change of route and heading back there before flying home.
Very excited about Patagonia - the trekking, camping, glaciers, mountains, wilderness, awesome scenery and the cold, (it was so hot it was incredibly irritating and whilst sad to leave BA, I'm not sad to leave the heat behind). However, Buenos Aires was a truly special place. The vibe, the atmosphere, the people, the music, the dancing, the buildings, the food, the drink the everything.
We've been to La Boca which is a Barrio in the South, where the Docks are and which is a traditional working class area. During the day, the Caminito and 2 or 3 other streets are alive with cafes, bars, artists, Tango dancers, painters, tourists, strange live size cartoon statues and music. At 7pm when the local police end their shifts, the place becomes one of the worst areas to hang about in so nobdy does which makes the day time even more special. And the colours! Every ramshackle building is a different colour and the local artists all open there doors for you to wander around and check out their wares. We spent the day just wandering around, watching the Tango dancers and local Gaucho dancers with there strange feet stamping and hankercheif waving! I had a go at Tango but just looked like an uncomfortable tourist holding onto a beautiful Argentinian Tango dancer......
La Boca is also the home to Boca Juniors and the Chocolate Box - unfortunately they didn't play at home whilst I was there which is another reason for my wanting to return. It's supposed to be one of the most incredible football experiences.
We met some cool people in our hostel, so after a very lazy Wednesday, (we did make it to the South American Explorers Club Clubhouse for a Spanish lesson), and headed to Asia De Cuba - one of the main Clubs in BA in Puerto Madero - the renovated Docklands area). It was a very cool night but nobody remembers very much since Chris decided it was cheaper in the long run to buy a bottle of Tequila from the bar between us, (6 of us since Jess doesn't drink Tequila). I can only apologize to those expecting me to look after Jess in this foreign land since she had to very much look after me and get me home safely.......
Two more days of sightseeing took us to Palermo, Recoleta, the Cemetary, (Evita is buried there along with anybody who is anybody in Argentinian culture - a very eerie, weird and beautiful place consisting of many many rows of tombs built to house the coffins and remains of entire families; you can see the stairs leading into the tombs and the coffins themselves simply by looking through the doors / grates), the parks and the Lakes. Everything just confirming our opinion that BA is a very very cool place to live.
I topped off my time in BA on our last night with the best steak I have ever eaten in my life. It was amazing and together with a gorgeous bottle of red and various sides, came to less than a tenner! Argentina is not as cheap as I had expected but it's still bloody great value compared to back home and if you like steak then my earlier statement is even more true - get yourself a flight to BA, (I'll be here again around late April / early May!), nothing compares; and this is not just from me but also from Chris, a Canadian who lives in Alberta where they pride themselves on pretty good steak too and even he said it was his best! This was after a very cool couple of hours in Plaza Dorrego watching the local street performers and listening to the local bands playing Jazz and Samba......
So, we're now descending into El Calafate and I have no idea when the next blog will be, ("phew" I hear you all say) - rest assured it will most likely be epic as I tell of hiking, camping, amazing scenery and glaciers.

Until then, I hope everybody has a fantastic weekend and that you are all being good and staying safe.
Catch up next time......
Matt.