Tango in the Night

We rocked up to Hotel Splendid, Buenos Aires a bit before lunch in the end. I got totally busted buying a (tremendously girly) hairbrush as I'd lost mine. Naturally I found it again when packing to leave Buenos. So now I'm a tart with 2 hairbrushes.

Buenos was the end of Argentina-I wish we'd had more time. I never got to mention the war.

I'm writing this sat on the helipad of the ferry that's about to take us to Uruguay.

We ended up with about 2 and a half days in Buenos, which was just right. After a large buffet lunch I did tour guide Barbie round the microcentre of Buenos. The 'Paris of the South' has clearly had plenty of European influence-the cathedral was one of the nicest I've seen in ages



and the feel was very different to the other cities we've been to. Basically Buenos wins.

The parliament is based on the US capitol



While the presidential palace is pink.



There are 2 theories on this: pink is the combination of the colours of the 2 main political parties; they painted the building with pig's blood and it faded in the sun. Which do you prefer?

Nighttime was Tango time. Having painted myself orange, we headed off. The evening went tango lesson, dinner and tango show to finish. Laura and I dancing? Not the best thing. We were shit, crashed into a lot of people and feet were stamped. Not sure either of us will be tangoing again, tho I'm glad to have given it a go. It was very wise to give us a lesson before the show, as we'd have been totally depressed by how good the pros are-we probably wouldn't have even done enough to earn our certificates. I shall not become a regular watcher of dance and while the show's 'plot' was risible, the dancing was impressive. Well amazing really.

Next day I headed off to Recoleta, a wealthy district with some of the major attractions. The cemetery of the rich and famous is regarded as a must see. It's quite odd. People have spent a fortune (that could have been put to better use) on tombs, statues and mausolea. One family built a small church



While others appeared desperate not to be forgotten



The effect and impression that so much effort has tried to create was quite undone for me by how busy the place was



It was massive and really crowded-there's been some serious money in this city and there are so many ornate tombs, it's hard to consider them individually-the place comes across as a whole.

Apart from this one



I need to find out who the boxer is. The most famous resident is Evita.



I liked that her's was a 'regular' tomb, down a 'street' of 40 or so others. It's an odd place.

I wanted to go to the main art gallery and on the way was a massive flower



It closes up at night and everything. The art gallery didn't bother opening so I managed a very quick spin yesterday when I went to Palermo with the girls. It was excellent in my opinion, an opinion that I suspect was mainly shaped by the presence of major European artists.

Holly and I somehow ended up having a tree climbing contest in the Botanic gardens. I won, but at what cost?



Getting down was a struggle. From there we walked past the zoo, down a street of dogshit. Cross the park and we're in the Japanese garden, where you have to have this photo



I'd heard that there were 'I love BA' t-shirts were to be had in BA and was massively excited by the retail opportunity (if you're not an A-team fan, you're not going to understand). I calculated I needed 7. So, disappointment can't begin to describe how I felt when I saw they'd subtitled the key phrase with 'y amo Buenos Aires'. I bought nothing and pouted. So no presents then-I was only going to get something ace.

Wes and I finished the day watching England beat Tonga. I think the proximity of my return to the UK is upping my sporting interest. I thought England improved considerably as the contest progressed. I've not seen the Aussies play, but Laura's a lot more confident about next weekend's quarter final. On the last 2 occasions England have met Australia in the RWC, the defending champions have lost.

I fly in 14 days.

Uruguay
We took the ferry to Colonia-crossing the Rio de la Plata for 3 hours to reach Uruguay from Argentina.



Colonia was another lovely stop, without having anything massive to do. We climbed up a lighthouse,



went to Uruguay's oldest church and saw the sun set




(you need the rear view here-it would show the 15 foot drop on my side of the wall, my feet resting on a couple of small bricks that jut out and give a great view of my arse.)

In Uruguay the 29th of each month is gnocchi day. This is a tradition which comes from people having to eat cheaply when they were skint at month end. It was Wes' birthday and when I found gnocchi, my choice was made-both Lor and I found it rather disappointing tho.

Monty Video
Just the one night in Colonia, then onto Montevideo. I'm so easily amused-I'm loving we're staying in the hotel Iguassu, 5 days before arriving at the falls, which are in a whole other country. We guess the first world cup final was held here, there's not too much to see, and there was a game on, so we went to the football.

For about £2.50 we got super keen fans and an alright watch.




Just for the record-final score white (home) 1-1 reds.

Today we've done the walk round town. Without a late start, an hour drink stop and a 2 hour lunch I'd have needed a Monty Panesar video to fill up the day. Much of the city is quite run down



The odd square, statue, historical museum, church



and art gallery made for an enjoyable, untaxing day. I chose not to have lunch with the boys in the Mercardo del Puerto.



To round the day off I bumped into an old friend.