Buenos Aires

Hi Guys,

I'm in Buenos Aires. Capital of Argentina and home to Tango and Maradona's legendary soccer team Bocas Junior.. Its hard not to fall in love with this city. From the point I asked a man at the airport 'Como se coge el bus' which prompted instant laughter, its been one happy surprise after another.

This city is as European as you get outside of Europe, with 97% of population claiming direct European descent (mostly descendents of Spanish and Italian migrants in the 1800s) there is a distinctly cosmopolitan feel to the city. This could very well be Madrid, or Paris or Rome. The tall majestic buildings that line the Avenidas with their high ceilings and domed or tiled roofs are fine examples of french, spanish and italian architecture. There is some but relatively little disrepair, certainly a lot less than I expected after visiting other cities such as Sao Paulo or even Santiago. This city is vibrant, full of well-dressed Argentinians going about their business or sipping their 'cafe cortados' and 'media lunas' (croissants) at the cafes and restaurants along the streets. Its the middle of summer and the only people I see wearing shorts are the tourists and backpackers that are coming to this city in droves because of the low prices that make it such a special place to visit right now.

The food is absolutely amazing. As a Spaniard accustomed to good spanish food and who also loves italian cuisine I have to say that picking up a menu in a restaurant is like christmas has come every day. Not only the Parridas (Grilled Steak) that make Argentian beef famous are sensational. There is every type of less well known regional spanish cuisines represented (basque, catalonian, valencian and asturian to name a few), as well as all the italian favourites: pizza, raviolli, fettucine, lasagne, caneloni, milanese steak etc etc.. Or if you are into obscure dishes such as lamb kidneys, sweet-meats or calamari cooked in their own ink then they have those too.

The people are lovely as well. They are proud, yes. But so friendly as well that they wear their pride very endearingly. Ask an Argentinian man how they commit suicide and they'll say 'jumping off their own ego', laughing as they do it. Argentinan language is incredibly cute, so easy and fascinating to listent to.. It doesnt take long for the locals to work out I am from Spain when I speak to them, and as soon as they know they are very welcoming.

Anyway. I'm off, will write a bit more sometime later..