Tuesday 9 October 2012

Fred's world tour week 1 - Buenos Aires

27th of September until 5th of October 2012

In brief:
1) Sightseeing all over Buenos Aires
2) Partied until 5am three times with the crazy locals.
3) Eaten more meat than I could have imagined possible.
4) Played polo on an Argentinian horse & watch a pro's polo match
5) Took two tango lesson and watched a tango show
6) I decided I might be willing to shave my head for charity if I can get enough sponsorship. www.justgiving.com/fredcj

The last week has absolutely flown by. I've had so much fun and feel I've really sampled what BA (Buenos Aires) has to offer.
The year out of specialist training that I’ve imagined doing for so long had finally arrived. Departing was very emotionally charged! Saying goodbye to family and friend with the thought that I wouldn't see them again for 12months was pretty intense. What's more is that I would be missing Christmas with family for the first time in 27 years. The mix of emotions was bizarre. Nevertheless I was excited and raring to go.

My flight landed on Friday the 28th of September which was intentional as I figured what better way to get stuck-in than to go and party on the first night! I prepared myself by having a kip and headed to the best place rated online. To my surprise entry was 9 British pounds and all you can drink from a list of BA's best cocktails. I was on to a winner ;-) . Travelling alone is not for everyone you need to be willing to chat to random people. I sparked conversation with some Argentinians and once they realised I could speak Spanish we had a great time. Its always fun. They educated me on local lingo, traditions and gave me advice on the best places to visit. After chatting we hit the dance floor to a crazy mix of current mainstream music and Latino beats. A 5am end to the night out was unexpected but the club didn't really get busy until 2am. Crazy latinos! :-)

The next day the hostel suggested I do a bike tour of the city. It was a great way to see cool places of the city such as iconic old town of San Telmo and the picturesque colourful streets of la Boca where live tango and handicrafts where a plenty. The tour also took us to the new part of town where land reclamation occurred years ago from the rubble left over after large parts of the city were demolished to give way to the new motorway. The idea was to move the business district to this new piece of land but finances limited this migration. Instead nature came and made the most of it. vegetation arrived, birds followed and then this was later declared a natural reserve. The tour then moved through the port and the heart of the city, the plaza de Mayo. Back at the hostel I chilled with some other residents, got to know them, went to dinner with them and then naturally I had to sample a second night of night life. Saturday nights also are not to be missed in BA :-)

The next day I went to large expanses of parks near the palermo district, where the hostel was, to try and see the sights that the bike tour missed out. A chap from prague, Veet and Louise a swiss girl joined me. We chilled out in the parks and took in the sights. To conclude this walk I went to the Evita monument and to the Recoleta cementery where her body is buried with the rest of her family. Not as 'prominent' nor extravagant as I would have expected.

Tango and polo lessons were the next thing on my agenda. Rain delayed the latter by a few days which wasn't a problem other than I just needed to extended my stay in BA. Tango lesson was interesting. I went to one class first where roles were switched every now and then. This made for an interesting class where I had to learn both steps required by either party. It really enables you to appreciate the other's role. At the end of the class the venue became a 'milonga' otherwise known as a tango dancing venue. Here is when locals and people in the know come in and danced. So passionate, so sensual and co-ordinated. Very impressive to watch. My second lesson focused very much on one role and certain combo of steps to learn rather than ad-lib dancing like the day before. Having grown more confident in the moves the second class was easier and really fun. Soon after this I had to dash across town to La Ventana a sort of Moulin Rouge for Tango but smaller. The tango on show here was very impressive and a cross with gymnastics! Plenty of outfit changes, singers, good live music and impressive display of fine skill with small plastic balls at end of ropes.... google 'boleadora show' to see what I mean. Impressive stuff.

Polo would have to have been my highlight of the stay so far. We drove to an authentic hacienda 1hr outside BA where a polo player showed us the basics of polo and gave us plenty of opportunity to practice. It was great fun and satisfying when you successfully hit the ball on the move. Seems pretty impossible at first but you soon get the hang of it. After the riding we went off to a local hacienda where a practice match between two teams was happening. We got front row seats. Literally sitting on the pitch boundary and moving when horses came close! It was more entertaining because the polo instructor was also playing in this match and so came over to us between each 7minute round to talk to us or explain certain things. Each horse would only get used for max 14mins as they work up quite the sweat in the intense 14mins that they play. Apparently top polo players have up to 20horses each! This enables them to play every weekend in tournaments during the season. Our instructor has 6 so only plays every other weekend on his own horses.

Well that wraps up my first 7days of my world tour. Some very memorable moments.
Next stop Uruguay – Colonia de Sacramento by boat tomorrow, then Montevideo the capital followed by Punta del este.





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