Life in a year full of Saturdays

Saturday, March 9, 2013

It's a wrap - Argentina/Uruguay

Argentina/Uruguay
18 August 2012 - 29 August 2012

The two-timer tour - WRAP

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina (2010)

As has become standard for me when I've ended a trip I've taken to doing a last summary or a 'greatest hits' review whenever I managed to complete the final entry on the 'how, why, when and whatever else may have been alcohol related' blog series of my most recent escapades. Sticking with tradition and therefore adopting the same template that I've used in the past, see also;

[Morocco - Europe wrap - June/July 2008]

[Laos wrap - April 2009]

[Vietnam-Malaysia wrap - December/January 2009/10]

[Europe - Morocco - South America wrap 2010]

[USA - Mexico wrap - February/March 2011]

[Brazil/U.A.E wrap - December/January 2011/12]

I therefore bring you the close out of the Argentina/Uruguay experience which now continues within the new life of my blog, known by the name, Life in a Year Full of Saturdays. In actual fact the two-timer final cut is more of a tale of two cities than two countries, that being Buenos Aires and Montevideo, but I'm sticking with tradition in terms of delivery for this final entry. So lets do it, lets check out the highs, lows, hits and misses of the two-timer tour!

Argentina-Uruguay - 'The Final'

Favourite places

Usually my 'favourite places' are a city based list but as I didn't hop around from city to city on this tour this list is going to be more about places within the cities themselves.

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - Oh the irony! Actually, may I make the point of re-stating that by saying, 'oh, the dramatic irony!', because in that sense what I now say about Montevideo and it's relation to my ironic conidtion is in actual fact correct and hence I need 'no lecture or tickets to a disco!' regarding the use of irony and its context! Just to advise,when the character or shall we say main protagonist in a movie or play does something out of ignorance or that which is contrary to the truth that the audience is already well aware, then that my friends is known as dramatic irony. For example, it's like that time I got married... (...ummm, ok, lets leave that story for another day also!). Anyway, many of my friends would have known that I should not have returned to Montevideo, we don't really gel all that well, and low and behold I got kicked in the teeth for tempting fate in any case. Broadcasting the fact that I think she, Montevideo, sucks sweet juicy balls, may not have done my cause any good at all, BUT...

..........then there came the Mercado del Puerto (sound the trumpets, or at the very least just imagine them being sounded!)

How is it that a place like Montevideo, a place so bland, so boring, so uninspiring, has a space that is a shrine to all things grilled meat related! If you were making a sauce from all things meat inspired then this place would be the exquisite reduction of all things good, and wholesome, and just and honourable about meat.

Prior to making my way to Montevideo I read somewhere that the Uruguayan love for meat makes Argentinians look like vegetarians! If you know anything about how Argentinians roll then that is a MASSIVE statement to be throwing out into the wind. The mercado however is literally just jammed with parillas, their wood fires churning out lomo, morcillas, chorizos, pollo, asado...just keep talking. It's smokey, it's intoxicating, it's got my stamp of approval! Montevideo, you may not like me but I can almost forgive you for providing me with the Mercado del Puerto. I'm happy to call it even!

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

C'mon, give me more jamon (yeah, I said that!)
...how about this then, 'I was jamon a good time!?'
Didn't Bob Marley have a song called jamon? I'm sure he did!

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

2. La Bombonera - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I sometimes wonder how it is that places just take up residence in your head and constantly nag you to hunt them down, ex-girlfiends aside. South America managed to somehow draw me into its space even as a youngster. It was a dark, mysterious continent that had an edge about it, a pervasive edge that permeated into that impressionable young mind of mine and ballooned into an enigma by the fact that (I) didn't know a great deal about it. In the same fashion La Bombonera, the home ground of the legendary BA team Boca Juniors, existed in my mind in the very same fashion. As a kid I would watch grainy games replayed on World Soccer each Saturday afternoon and wondered where the hell it in this world that crowds would erupt into a wild frenzy just for the fact that their team turned up on the pitch! Down the tack I ended up finding out the answer to the question, and on this trip I ended up satisfying one of the many travel wants (....or is it needs)! La Bombonera is a cauldron, the fans are typically passionate and emotional. Designed by a Yugoslav, painted in Swedish colours and with the atmosphere that you can only get in Latin America, this was a great place to be!

La Bombonera - home of Boca Juniors - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Game time! It's time to 'set it off' in La Bombonera!!

3-2 with 10 mins to go. It was a cracking game but unfortunately for Boca and the home town faithful the game ended up in a 3-3 draw. Advertising boards were thrown!

3. San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Sometimes you learn by the process of osmosis, right? Isn't that when a liquid passes through a 'semi-permeable' membrane and then settles elsewhere? I don't know actually, I'm trying to recall facts from my Yr 8 science glass and I'm drawing blanks, but there's a point here. My first time in BA was in 2010 and I elected to stay in San Telmo for that initial stop. Why? Because somehow, from somewhere by some fanciful process that I haven't as yet figured out I made the assessment that San Telmo was the 'cool part' of Buenos Aires. In actual fact it's not - Palermo Soho is the 'cool part' BUT San Telmo is my style cool. Cobble stoned streets, old classical style architecture, the aroma of charred meat filling the air from the parillas that inhabit every corner, establishments that exude the charm of those old world speakeasy's...it just suits me down to the ground, and I have to say that if I was to ever live in Buenos Aires or stay here for any 'real' amount of time then this barrio would certainly be my home.

San Telmo street art - near the corner of calle Peru y Chile -San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Calle Chile, San Telmo, on a brisk Sunday morning

On La calle Defensa, Bernabe Ferreya, aka 'Gardelito' - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Bernabe has been peforming the songs of Carlos Gardel since 1972

Gente caminando por San Telmo

4. La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is the 'working class' barrio of Buenos Aires and is the cities true cultural melting pot. It has a strong Italian influence but also has pockets of Spanish, Germans, French, Arabs and Basque. It's kind of gritty in that true working class manner but also colourful, has soul and is full of life. Apparently it's not the 'safest' barrio to just wonder around but since when have I taken notice of 'safety measures' outlined in any notable travel guide - please see the entry on a puma tried to rip my nuts off for proof of that! It's right here if you're interested - The 3:10 express from Yuma

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Puerto La Boca Riachuelo Transbordador - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Calle Caminito - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Backstreets of La Boca near La Bombonera

5. Panamericano hotel - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I'd seen many photos taken of the famous Avenida 9 de Julio and the Obelisk but had not quite figured out from where they were taken , that was until I zeroed in on the top floor of the Panamericano hotel. What the top floor of this hotel should be is a bar, perhaps one that opens out magnificently onto the BA skyline for all to enjoy. What it is however is some type of ordinary observation deck that backs off a pool that can only be utilised by hotel guests.I was not a hotel guest. I did however try my luck and took a ride to the top floor. I managed to time my run so perfectly that the gentleman attending the service desk just stepped aside for the briefest of moments as I took my first steps onto the floor - nice timing dude!

The view was spectacular, let me say that now.

View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Most Surprising

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - I had hoped that the Mercado del Puerto would be good, especially for the fact that I didn't make it there on my last visit to Montevideo, but man oh man, it exceeded all my expectations and then whilst in that process it also held court as my heart palpitated and the exhiliration brought on by the endorphin rush made me forget that I was actually in a town that I had quite some contempt for. Love is blind, it's a fact!

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

Coolest place for a night out

1. San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I know this isn't the 'cool bar' centre of Buenos Aires but that doesn't concern me, but it does have its fair share of cool bars let me just add that now. This barrio is vibrant, it's inviting, warm and like the rest of BA it only starts to think about turning in for the night when the colour of the dark sky starts to change. Heading our for dinner early here means that you're in a restaurant at 10:30pm, seriously, that's an early dinner and that in itself is the signature of a barrio that resides under the tag line that says 'Cool, yeah we invented it'.

2. Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Now this is the fashionable corner of BA. For those that are wondering the Palermo Soho cocktail is a shot of fashion, a shot of restaurants and a double shot of bars. It's hip (cliche), it's trendy (cliche), it strives to be hip and trendy in an alternative way (cliche squared) and it's where all the BA 'young guns' hang out.

Street art - Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - Argentina

3. Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is reclaimed territory of sorts. An area that used to be a land of forgotten and worn docks and warehouses has in the last 20 yrs been revitalised and is filled with restaurants and bars that are more than happy to satisfy both the carnivorous and alcoholics amongst us, or if you're like me, then the carniholics amongst us.

Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Best accommodation

1. Ayres Portenos hostel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This place takes out the honour by default as I only stayed in one other place for a night and there's just no way that anything from Montevideo was going to take out a title, well other then the Mercado del Puerto but I think it claimed sovereign rights from Montevideo long ago under the 'We're not accepting responsibility for a crappy city like you' Act.

Ayres Portenos hostel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Best place to get lost

1. Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This may appear to be an odd choice in that my track record suggests that usually the best place to get lost would be in a specific town or suburb of a town, but the crown has to go to the reserve. Fronting the Rio de la Plata and acting as the 'intermediary' between the city of BA and the Rio de la Plata, this 3.5km2 tract of lowland is just the tonic for those jaded Portenos and tourists alike who just need to drop out and lose themselves in nature for a little while.

Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Best drink

1. Malbec - (pick your restaurant or bar) - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Its ubiquitous, it has become the national varietal style of wine and considering that the Argentinians predominantly drink red the odds are that if you're wanting a glass of red then you're going to be having a malbec, in all likelihood, from Mendoza...and who the hell is going to complain about that? It's freakin' glorious! It's absoutely my favourite grape variety and it flows in the streets as easily as the dulcet tones of Barry White will put you in the mood for some afternoon delight. It's partnership with Argentinian beef is what Serbian dreams are made of!

My malbec from Mendoza, my beef in Argentina!

(Apologies to E.Hemingway for bastardising his line)

2. Pisco sour - Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - So this isn't Pisco sour heartland, in fact I'm having this drink a long way from Peru, the place where it originated...but....I haven't been to Peru, nor have I been to Chile where they have their own style of sours, and of the ones that I have had thus far the several in Buenos Aires were so far ahead of their predecessors that I had to honour it with a place on the roll of achievement.

Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires - Argentina

3. Cortado - Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - So this is just an expresso cut with a little bit of warm milk but that's the way I like my coffee these days, I think the location, Cafe Tortoni, had a lot to do with the sell of this caffeine hit. How could Jorge Luis Borges have been wrong? He couldn't! Don't think about it because I've provided you with the answer!

Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Best meals

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - it was just THAT good! The morcillas were the best I had ever had! Some would say 'delicious', I would say delectable, and of course I could wax lyrical about the mecado but it still pains me that a place so exquisite, a place so in tune with my needs is located in THAT city! Damn you Mercado del Puerto, just move already!

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

2. Brasas Argentinas Buffet and Grill - Avenida Alicia Moreau - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Some may not rank this the culinary experience as one that epicureans may strive for because a buffet by definition is more based on quantity that quality, but man alive, the meat! Of course, right!? Blood sausage, chorizos, beef, lamb, ribs! It's all that I wanted and as much as I wanted! It was bliss!

Make no mistake, I was in heaven!

3. El Desvivel - calle Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I love this place, it's what 'tourists' would call 'authentic', whatever the hell that means. By the looks of it though its where the locals like to eat too. The decor isn't spectacular but it doesn't have to be, if I wanted to pay to sit in a place that likes nice then I would have gone to a day spa (or something like that). This place did a mean bife de chorizo and I know for a fact also created magical morcipans, choripans and all else meat related. It was also a 5 min walk from where my hostel was located, it was an easy choice.

El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Honorary mention - La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is on the higher end of the scale in terms of expense but it's well worth it, for the meal and for the service. I made it there one lazy mid afternoon and had a fantastic experience. It has been noted in my future to do list and I will return, with reinforcements!

My meal! La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Dedication to the cow - La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Best Bars

1. Pool bar - Faena Universe - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I might have to spend a couple of nights in the Faena Universe, it's a world unto itself, suprise, suprise. The pool bar is the place to be seen and leans a greadt distance to having a type of Moroccan feel to it without going the full Moroccan monty.

2. La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This place was located one block down from where I was staying. From what I know it had only opened up in the last several years but felt as though it had been there from the turn of last century. Pleasant vibe, great service and its proximity to where I was staying made it an absolute favourite.

La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

3. Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - this place IS genuinely old school and you can feel it the moment you enter. I love the warmth, charm and character that wood gives to an old style bar. San Telmo has plenty of them and this place for me was one of the best.

Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)

My guilty pleasure

1. The morcipan or choripan - El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I've got a thing for blood sausage, and chorizo's for that matter, go figure. At El Desvivel they throw them onto the grill, with the wood fire flaming away and the smell of charred meat fills not just your nostrils but washes over your skin, seeping through your pores as you wait...And the reality of it is that it's very, very basic fair, it gets thrown onto a bun and then it's your decision as to what you'll utilise in order to construct your masterpiece. My masterpiece would include a little bit of salsa and then I'd flood the market with turbo charged chimichurri! Perfection!

A typical Sunday afternoon on Defensa - chorizo's anyone? San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Self acknowledgment that I'm a 'World Cup tragic'

Even on the day that Montevideo beat the fun and mischief out of me I still had to make my way to the Estadio Centenario. It's where the the final of the very first football World Cup was played and the pilgrimage paid homage to the years of legendary World Cup football that has shaped many elements of my life (in odd ways of course).

Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay

Favourite photos

1. 'Gardelito', aka, Bernabe Ferreya - calle Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

I've got a black and white photo of this guy (actually the one at the top of this entry) framed and hanging on my wall at home. I walked down to see if this guy was still plying his trade on Sunday afternoons, of course he was. He's an institution and can be found on too many postcards to count. I'm not sure if he's impressed by the fact that I stole his image, he looks as though he could go all Mike Tyson mafiosa on me if he wanted to.

2. Mural - backstreets of La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

I like the intensity of this mural. Part of the reason that I included the edge of the wall on the left hand side of the phoot was to create strong lines and angles which were meant to add to the character of what was painted. I did take another photo of the mural, as below, in order to capture it in its entirety but the photo doesn't have the same feel to me as the first.

3. Window frame - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)

There are places where taking photos are just so easy, you point and shoot, everyone's a winner baby. La Boca is one of those places. This shot just has the character that typifies the colour, atmosphere and attitude of this barrio.

4. Rio de la Plata - Montevideo - (Uruguay)

There's nothing fancy or pretty about this end of town in Montevideo. They (the Montevideans) kind of shun the river, turning their back on it in very much the same manner that the folk from Buenos Aires do. Still, I like this photo.

5. Obelisco - Avenida Presidente Roque Saenz Pena - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

This is just a typical BA shot to me. Can't beat a city that looks good in black and white now can you?

Coolest moments

1. La Bombonera - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - For the simple passion and atmosphere of the game there wasn't anything else that could go past the experience.

2. Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - For the fact that I slipped past security with the skill and dexterity of a Romanian pickpocket.

3. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - It was the realisation that there was a small area of ground in this world that had invaded my dreams, taken out an element and created a reality that only ever existed in my imagination.

4. Calle Defensa on a Sunday - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - There's nothing better to do on a Sunday in BA than to cruise Defensa, check out the markets, check out the food, listen to the music and just get caught up in the sweet vibe of the barrio.

5. Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - With next to no pesos in my pocket and lamenting the fact that I wasn't on a flight to Puerto Iguazu that morning this reserve proved to be the perfect foil for that wave of loss that came with the realisation that I was getting jipped on seeing one of the natural wonders of the world for the second time in 18 months!!

Un-coolest moment

1. ATM fail - Ciudad Vieja - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - This was Montevideo getting me back for telling all and sundry that the Big M sucks balls! Well you know what, it does, and now even harder than it did previously! Fair enough, it was my ignorance or perhaps absent mindedness that led to the situation but that's simply because the Latin American process is different to that which I've experienced everywhere else in the world. The ATM's here keep your card in the machine after your money has already been dispensed, asking you 'whether you would like to undertake another transaction', in other places you receive your card first prior to the cash being dispensed. For some reason my mind interpreted this process as - 'cash in my hand = transaction complete = you can walk way now'. Sure I could walk away, but I would also be leaving my card in the machine! Oh well, Montevideo!!! You've screwed me again!!!

Most Random but still cool moment

1. Running into Jorge - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Running into people you know quite by chance in a completely foreign place is also known as complete randomness. Literally running into them however is complete randomness with a dose of bizarre. So the story goes like this. Coming back from my night out at La Bombonera my ride drops me off near the Ayres Portenos hostel on calle Chile. As I step off the bus I jink inside a man that's walking up the street and he quickly steps the other way and then just as quickly spins on his heel, 'Hey Henry' he calls out..................'Ahh what now!?' is the way my mind summed up the situation. I realised in just a second that it was Jorge, a guy that I got to know on my last stay in Buenos Aires whilst hanging out in Boedo. He was now living in San Telmo on calle Chile about a 40 second walk from the front door of where I was staying. Random and cool all at once.

Best comeback

1. There's nothing like a free meal, or is there? H. Elisher dining out with no $ to his name - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - To say that I took advantage of Mike would be to do me an injustice. I will admit to playing up to the good nature of my room-mate and betting that he would take the bait. In all honesty if someone had told me the same story I would have done the same thing, so I guess in a way good 'ole Mike was paying it forward by taking me out for a cracking meal and somewhere down the track I might just be able to do the same, but please make my recipient Spanish, female, with long dark hair and....well you can guess the rest!

Travel breakdown

Total number of flights - 2

Total flying hours - 28hrs

Total time spent in airports - 'Not many, if any...' - All recognition and rights to that line go to Scribe, not may people can roll like him!

Total number of bus rides - 1

Total number of ferry rides - 2

Total distance travelled - 23906kms

Total bottles of Malbec that I downed - 22 (give or take)

...and there we have it, that's a wrap of the Argentina/Uruguay 'two-timer tour'. Now that was a hell of a lot of fun and totally unexpected. I thank Aerolineas Argentinas for adding on a new service from BA to Sydney and considering promotional offers as the way to increase patronage! Under $1000 return was just a ridiculous bargain, and like that offer was ever going to get past this Wile E Coyote!?

So where to now? Well I have plans of course! The idea of Cuba has been gently simmering for a while and is now coming to the boil, it's definitely the front runner, but there's a dark horse in Nicaragua and Costa Rica that's just hit the turn and full speed. So thanks for hanging out with me here and look for me somewhere far, far away in the near future, relatively speaking.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Buenos Aires - la noche está en pañales

Buenos Aires (Argentina)
26-29 of August 2012

'It's a Sunday morning and I'm standing out on the Reserva Ecológica Costenera Sur' I literally say that line in my head as I'm standing there, in fact I remember the time when I first wrote it, where I was when I wrote it and how I was feeling at the time. The reserve is a low lying area of land on the eastern border of the city and it fronts the mighty murk of the Rio de la Plata. It's quite a large area that is criss-crossed by a myriad of nature trails more than are suitable for cycling, running or just strolling in the BA sunshine ever so casually, as is the Porteno way. It also allows a person to quite easily lose themselves from the movement,beat and eternal hum of this city. I know this place, where I'm standing right now, I know it. In in a different guise and in a different time, but it's emblazoned in the timeline of my mind. I carry a piece of Costenera Sur with me always, I carry an event of something that happened two years earlier and one that in my mind will never 'unhappen', or so I hope. For right now however I'm going to quote my own words that are taken from the evening that I'm referring to just so that you know where it is, that on this glorious Sunday morning in Buenos Aires, with only 20 pesos in my pocket, my mind took me, a moment of my life in two separate times. One in the present, one of the present remembered:

13 October 2010

'I'm standing out on the grounds of Castenera Sur, an ecological park on the eastern border of Buenos Aires which fronts the Rio de la Plata. Rage Against The Machine have for over the last hour delivered a ferocious, brutal set that has lit the fuse of testosterone amongst a predominantly male audience. The intensity of the performance, the power of the delivery and the common themes within the lyrics of their songs of raging against the establishment, fighting oppression and standing up for ones rights are not lost amongst the Argentinian faithful. The tumultuous political history of this country and some of the horrors suffered by its people fits the message that Rage delivers like a glove. As if by design the rain increases in intensity during their set, assisting in the transference of an invisible electric current through a 50,000 strong audience so that at the point where they drop the bomb of 'Killing in the name of', the charge is released, lifting the crowd off their feet in unison, bouncing bodies off one another like protons in a nuclear reaction.....

For this last hour I've been carried along by both a wave of emotion and the immovable force which is the vast sea of people around me. This moment and this particular time however, for me, has been more than just the music, more than the energy, even more than the sum total of the individual components of the event. Drifting in and out of my own thoughts whilst relinquishing myself to the ebb and flow off the human tide that has consumed my being has strangely enough given me the opportunity of being able to connect with myself without distraction. As strange as that may sound, the unanswered questions that have been rolling around my head for some months, those of which I really hadn't attacked, for some reason at this point in time and in this space required a little attention'

Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Puerto Madero skyline from Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Puerto Madero tramway - Buenos Aires - Argentina

If you feel like reading the entry from where those paragraphs are taken then it can be located here - Buenos Aires - The Quickening. I also recall that I wrote half that entry on an overnight bus ride out of Buenos Aires to Mendoza and finished it off in a small hostel in that city working on a PC that was so slow that it took me all night to upload the photos, (seriously I saw the sun come up that morning), to finish it off. To quote one Mr Oscar Wilde, 'Memory...is the diary that we all carry around with us'. As I've mentioned quite a few times in my entries over the years, I feel more than fortunate to have the memories that I've had in the places that I've had them in. I like the idea that for me there are many places around the world where I can return to, stand, drift off and remember another time in the very same space whilst simultaneously appreciating the moment that I'm currently in. Looking at the backdrop of thehigh rise buildings of Puerto Madero on this morning I recall the very same scene of that evening, I also remember the incessant rain that came down during the set, the lights of the buildings refracted and magnified through the drops of water falling from the blackness of the sky and I remember Rage Against the Machine grabbing the crowd by their collective collar, lifting them up off their feet and then triggering the reaction that released an explosion of pure energy and fury. It was a violent assault, an unforgettable moment...and so far removed in time from where I was on this Sunday morning. Still, it made me smile now, as it did then.

I didn't have the opportunity to wander through the ecological reserve on my last occasion in BA, and now, well it was about the only thing I could afford to do until my funds became available the next day, but truth be told I had set aside a day to do this in any case so it kind of worked out perfectly. Also it just so happens that on Sundays there is an outdoor street fair on the main promenade of the Castanera Sur. Apparently more 'authentic' and more of a 'tourist free' environment than the Sunday markets in San Telmo, although in all honesty I didn't notice the difference other than one being more crowded than the other. What I did appreciate however were all the food stands, unlike the fair weathered 'fair crowd' that habitate the promenade only on Sundays these food stands are ever present and their culinary angle made it feel as though they had been built specifically to cater for my carnivorous cravings! It's meat a meat haven! Morcillas, morzipans, choripans, bondiolas, hamburguesas, vacipans - it's like Buenos Aires sourced Henry Elisher for culinary guidance then just went 'Yup, that's what we're gonna go with!'.

Did someone say meat? Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

It was only 10am when I hit the boardwalk of the Castanera Sur but the smells from the grills were so intoxicating that I commenced mentally reconstructing the manner in which I would need to divide and utilise my bountiful sum of 28 pesos that I had for the day until I made the pick up from Western Union. Those damn choripans were looking so good and for just 8 pesos where worthwhile investment in satisfying the small screaming Argentinian 'meatavore' inside me! I loaded it with chimmichurri and then drifted of into my culinary nirvana, floating contentedly into the wilds of the reserve.

Reserva Ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Losing yourself within the space of the reserve doesn't take a fist full of IQ points. Buenos Aires is to your back as you enter and drops so quickly from sight that you really feel as though you could anywhere else. It's quiet. It's peaceful. And under the warming high noon sun of a South American Winter the rays sing their own sweet silent lullaby, cajoling the willing participant to partition off their own piece of Rio de la Plata real estate and drift away on the currents of their day dreams for an hour or so. The sultry seductress can be persuasive and who was I to deny an hour in bed with Buenos Aires?

Reserva Ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Rio de la Plata - Reserva Ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Feeling refreshed after my little tryst I spent the next 2hrs meandering on the most eastern border of the reserve, contemplating, reflecting, appreciating, throw in any other adverb and currency based activity restriction here and you've pretty much got where my head space was. I'd say it was definitely in tranquillo territory, although with that said, my internal Argentinian was starting to feeling hungry once again and was screaming out for another choripan - 'Una mas chori mi amigo, por favor...vamos muchachos!'. Mathematically I knew it could be done, I could take out another chori and still have a whole 12 pesos for an evening take away munch from El Desvivel on Defensa. Internally I was satisfied with that result and that's the way I decided to play it out. Convinced and content once more I headed back to Defensa in San Telmo. It was Sunday after all and that meant the Sunday markets were going to be in full swing. I love the San Telmo markets, it's a stage of petty commerce, trade, sights, sounds and smells. It activates all your senses, and even though I had only a couple of dollars in my pocket it felt as though the day was turning into an unplanned win, almost as if BA was attempting to make up for what it had unintentionally put me through the day before.

Puerto Madero from the Reserva Ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Welcome to San Telmo

Samba crew - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Che Guevara mural - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Streetscape - Sant Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Old school cool - Bar El Federal - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Late in the afternoon I cruised back to the Ayres Portenos and crashed out on my bed for a while. It was during that time that I met Mike from Mendoza. Mike was an older American guy, I'd say in his late 60's, and was on his way to Colonia de Sacramento, a short ferry ride across the Rio de la Plata. He kind of had an odd presence about him but we started chatting never the less. That's the cool thing about hostels, they kind of force you to engage in conversation, a particularly great thing for me because I'm not naturally an instigator at all, I need to be pulled into a conversation. Mike explained that this was his first real stay of any length in Buenos Aires and mentioned that just in the surrounding blocks he thought that he'd been lined up for the old Bird poo on the jacket scam (look it up, it's well known). I dropped to Mike that I'd read of the scame but never encountered it and thought it to be an urban myth. I then went on to induldge Mike in my own tales of woe that originated in Montevideo a couple of days earlier. As I reflect on the ecounter now I think there was a small part of me that was testing Mike out so as to see how nice he was, actually I was kind of banking on it. After I led Mike into the details of my misfortune the conversation continued like this:

'Well, how about I just give you 100 pesos until tomorrow' - Mike

'Oh no, thanks for the offer Mike but I'm ok' - Henry

'Are you sure now?' - Mike

'Absolutely, it's very generous of you but I'm fine' - Henry

I was slow playing Mike like a champ. Although if nothing came up it then it really wouldn't have bothered me either, I mean the offer genuinely was nice. Still, we remained quite for a few mins and then it came...

'You're going to make me do it aren't you?' - Mike

'What's that?' - Henry

'You're going to make me take you to dinner! C'mon, the place on the corner does a great steak and their Malbecs are fantastic' - Mike

'Why thank you Mike, ok, lets do that then' - Henry

So we walked the 20 paces out of the Ayres Portenos to the restaurant door, a place called Parilla del Plata. Now it was sweet Malbec and bife de chorizo time, oh yeah! Mike and I chatted for quite some time. I discovered that he had purchased himself an estancia in Mendoza when he had retired and that was now his gig. He had lived in Canada previously and was US born, from Texas, but America and American ideology, specifically that of the South, was just not his deal. His life in Argentina was just the way he wanted it. Comfortable, relaxing and entertaining. Without question Mike appeared to be interesting character and with each passing glass of wine quite the conversationalist, but each passing glass also brought out the sleaze in Mike. It wasn't something that I was expecting and certainly not something that I really wanted to hear from this silver topped old timer, but there I was, caught in my service of gratitude, indebted to Mike for shouting me dinner, and thus there I remained. I was Mikes' guest for the evening and now I had to listen to him wax lyrical about his 'love' of younger girls, particularly those from Eastern Europe - ewwww dude, I wasn't mentally prepared to hear any of that! I mean I could retell the tales but they're not anything that I really want to be reading now or any other day in my future. On the whole Mikey boy was still OK and we sat it out at the restaurant until closing, which in Buenos Aires on any day of the week is late!

Plaza de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Punta de la mujer - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

27 August 2012

Monday morning, time to get some cash from Western Union. This time the transaction occurred without alarm. Two days earlier would have been nicer but OK, was the hand that I had to play with. This day was an absolute cruise with no real agenda. I strolled through Centro and took down the necessary souvenirs for family and friends and generally wandered aimlessly. Somehow I made nightfall without really knowing how time had passed me by.

In the evening I headed down to Puerto Madero and tried to locate a restaurant that I had been to two years previously. A place that has greatest meat buffet you could imagine. A smorgasbord of every meat you could possibly desire all washed down with an imperious and I must say requisite Mendozan malbec! Like c'mon people, how smokin' was my life for this evening!?

28 August 2012

My final day in BA took place in the barrio of Recoleta. One of the most stylish and most European of the city. I had the aim of visiting Recoleta cemetery and seeing the final resting place of Eva Peron, which I did. A totally unremarkable burial plot in convesely an absolutely remarkable cemetry. It holds pride of place in Recoleta and is probably some of the most expensive real estate in Buenos Aires. The cemetery itself is intriguing and kind of oddly beautiful in a macabre type of way. Well worth the time I dedicated that to make my way through the 'little city of the dead'.

Recoleta cemetery - Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Walking back to Centro I headed down Avenida Sante Fe and stopped in at the most incredible bookstore that I'd ever seen anywhere in the world. This place is built on the site of an old theatre. It's three stories high, spectacular and dramatic, and quite the display for a dedication to the written word. Obviously 90% of the texts were in Spanish but that didn't bother me at all. I was more than happy to spend quite sometime walking around and mentally spending my pesos on items that I would have dearly loved to have taken back to Australia.

Family tomb of Durante, the burial spot of Evita Peron - Recoleta cemetery - Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Recoleta cemetery - Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina

The EPIC bookstore on Avenida Santa Fe - Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La noche está en pañales - it's Argentinian slang for the night is still young. As I walked back down Avenida Santa Fe I convinced myself that as the saying suggests, the night was still in diapers. Like Madrid and San Sebastian, this town and I just have a magical fit. I don't quite understand how it works, I don't know how it is that there are some places in this world where I don't have family or friends but am still able to feel right at home. Buenos Aires me is that type of town to me. Perhaps to a certain extent it's because the language is not completely foreign, I have an intermediate grasp of Spanish and it's improving all the time, but it's more than that. BA has a feel that inspires me, it's a sense of excitement, anticipation and comfort all rolled into one. I gain pleasure from her, enjoy her company and perhaps those are the more pertinent aspects of our 'relationship'.

Band practice! SanTelmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Malbec from Mendoza, what could be better!?!? Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

As the evening settled in I headed back down to the restaurant that I had occupied in Puerto Madero the previous evening. The food was magnificent and the malbec was just the tonic to sooth those pangs of loss that I was already feeling for having to leave once again. In those moments it didn't take me a long time to realise that very soon I would be making plans to come back once again, creating more of those evenings in Buenos Aires that would once more be young and full of promise!

29 August 2012

I dozed prior to my flight from Ezeiza back home. One of those rare peaceful sleeps that you somehow manage to have in public places. Odd but enjoyable, althoughI think in airports it's acceptable to sprawl out whenever required and where space can be found. My time in Buenos Aires on this occasion was short, but the tme spent won't be my last. I'll be back, that you can count on!

Time to head for home - Ezeiza airport - Buenos Aires - Argentina

'Gracias Buenos Aires por una bien tiempo. Debo irme ahora pero voy a volver pronto.

Hasta luego hermosa!'

Aerolineas Argentina flight - Buenos Aires to Sydney

Icebergs in Antarctica! Taken from 40,000 feet!

That's just a little bit massive! Somewhere over Antarctica!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Buenos Aires - Ramon Falcon and the 7155

Buenos Aires (Argentina)
25 August 2012

Until this day it had never occurred to me that I'd wanted to find the location of Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield, or even that I had a yearning, so deeply suppressed that it confounded even myself when it appeared, to venture to the periphery of the Argentinian capital on transporte publico. It was there in the carbon monoxide hazed flat lands of Liniers that I would inhale kilograms of dust kicked up by the incessant traffic, and also, stare confoundingly out onto the horizon, watching the sun drop on the western barrios of Buenos Aires in what was for me an arduous and demanding day. I would also stand end up standing on a lonely, beaten avenue half wondering if a stampede of gauchos would be making their way up the dust speckled Avenida Rivadavia anytime soon and questioning why it was that Wide World of Sports was axed from their four hour Saturday afternoon slot. I know, it doesn't make sense at all, right!? And even though that may be true I don't care, I'm telling the story here and my mind will wander wherever it pleases.

Whilst I was in Montevideo the day before, or perhaps more specifically, whilst on the bus from Montevideo to Colonia de Sacramento, I had visions of what this day may bring and what it would feel like. Of course there had been days like this previously. What did Van Morrison say now, 'When its not always raining there'll be days like this' - Perhaps that's right, but for right now I had a feeling it was going to very much be a day, not like this, but one of the same elk as Marrakech C.S.I, La Paz - You're worth what you've got , Mexico City - The Project and several others. They had already shaped my expectations and had given me an insight into the machinations of days gone wrong when travelling, because days not like this do happen and sometimes fighting the inevitable is a lesson in the serenity that can be achieved in managing the futility with as much reason as one can muster. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a fighter, I like making a mark in the small percentage boxes, the ones that people check for 'rarities', so I battle even when the outcome is inevitable. It can be a curse and failing. There is honour in being gracefully beaten but therein lies my problems, the very concept of being beaten.

I can't blame Buenos Aires for this day however, 'no,no no !'.She and I are more than 'just friends' and haven't even had so much as a tiff to with our relationship to date. Her ugly little tart of a cousin that lives just across the river from Buenos Aires, well, she has filled me with such bitterness and revulsion that upon her I seek to both meticulously plot and execute my revenge. It will take place on one fine sunny day, whilst she's basking in her pathetic glory of being a riverside town. You just stay where you are young lady, resting your head easy on the trashy side of the Rio de la Plata, I will return and when you least expect it I will pounce.

There's no need for me to recount the events of Montevideo for they have already been well chronicled in a previous entry. My ticket for this day was however purchased in a transaction across the river the day prior, and as I recall now, in the evening hours of that night the pain of what I was to experience during following day was somehow already abundantly clear and very tangible to me. This clarity was presented in the physical manifestation of the inevitability and manner of South American logistics and bureaucracy. It was the dread and understanding that comes from knowing that you should never underestimate the capacity of this continent to fail you, even when offered with the real likelihood of a positive result it will snap back with outcomes so ludicrous that your own belief remains suspended in a state of surreal oblivion.

So now, to get a feel of how my morning progressed I provide to you exhibit A (see below), the City map of Buenos Aires. This was the stage on which the path of my life was going play out for the first 3-4hrs of the day, but stay with me on this, my day was only to get better and far more eventful from this point.

The 'idea' I had or rather the 'concept' of the morning was to locate a Western Union office that was open on a Saturday. I anticipated a battle just to succeed with that and therefore took my first stride upon the streets of San Telmo at the stroke of 9 as I was unsure as to how many open offices Buenos Aires would offer me on one of the days of rest.

Now the red line that you see on the city map is my starting sequence. The one where I was still very much optimistic and held high hopes for a simple transaction, one which would allow me to take an early more stroll through Centro in the anticipation of flying out to Puerto Iguazu the following morning. The red path leads from the bohemian heart of the wonderful barrio of San Telmo, up Avenida 9 de Julio to a point on calle Sarmiento where that standing ground of the largest Western Union office was. A location that I had filed in my memory bank during earlier meanderings because my past experience suggest that I have a penchant for f**king up and utilising WU services! The largest office of WU that I had memorised was also and a very much non operational office, highlighted by the familiar sign cerrado (closed). Not unexpected for a Saturday I must say but a little disconcerting that the largest office was taking their weekend siesta quite seriously. No problemo though, time to walk up to another office that I recalled being located on Avenida Corrientes.

I located the office on Corrientes and it was opem - 'there we go, piece of cake' I thought, what in the world was I worrying about? I walked in, got down to business with a lady at the counter.Immediately I received the response;

'No, our office is not doing these types of transactions today, there is an office open on Avenida Cordoba, go there'.

If you're following the map then this is the mid blue part of the circuit.

Arriving on Cordoba my spirits were up. I had been told by office Corrientes that there was an office open and that it could undertake my transaction, should be pretty simple from here, right!? Oddly, on entry to the Avenida Cordoba office I found that the lights were dimmed, the door stood ajar and its office space felt entirely uninviting and unappealing even though the 'Abierto' sign was hung proudly in front of its closed Venetian blinds. I walked in. Two girls gazed at me in a challenging manner, almost amazed in their expectation and knowledge that I was going to ask them to undertake a task, actually making a request them to work that morning. I gave them my details, interacted in my best Spanish, smiled charmingly and then came their response;

'No, the amount you are requesting is too much, this office can't do anything for you'.

The girl turned and left the counter - 'Ah lady? Any advice on where I CAN get this done'.

I called her back and asked her that question. She told me that an office was definitely open on the corner of Corrientes and Florida, for the players at home that is now the mid blue line down Esmerelda and the orange line to the corner of Corrientes and Florida.

Feeling those familiar waves of frustration, anger and disappointment starting to surge with the high tide I made my way to this new 'guaranteed location'. I did pass another office on the way to my assured destination, inside a post office of all places (I say all places because it was a Saturday! Where the hell in South America are post offices open on a Saturday). Anyway, in this office I appeared to either be the bringer of mid morning entertainment, and/ or, the butt of someones joke because the guy at the counter continued to laugh whilst at the same time interacting with a woman in a manner that suggested I was the trigger for their inspired hilarity. As expected the $700 transfer value was too much for them to cope with and they suggested that I head back up Avenida Corrientes (from whence I had came)........'ahhh nuts'....still, I walked to the corner of Corrientes and Florida, and in an addition to my new list of things that will go wrong, no office was to be seen anywhere near the address I was provided. This is now the start of the Purple line. Walking back to the Cordoba office I asked the lackadaisical and disinterested vixens for additional assistance, confirming if the address that had provided me was indeed correct. They were adamant it was. In fact they called the office and confirmed it was open!

Following the green line now, trace it, if you will, down Esmerelda, taking a right (as you look at the map), onto Corrientes and to its meeting point with Florida.Of course...OF COURSE NOW...If you're amazed by my location then don't be, I arrived at exactly the same place that I had been 20 mins earlier, and guess what? There was no office to be seen! Following the green line back to Cordoba I told the girls in the office that there was in fact NO OFFICE and their customer service orientated response was to kind of shrug their shoulders and shrink away from the counter into the dark depths of the back office. Was they merely illusions?Apparitions conjured up in my mind?And if they were then why did I allow for my mind to conjure up beings that were not helpful or sympathetic to my cause? The programe in the matrix has a lot to answer for I say!

City Map of Buenos Aires - Now just follow the colours

Red = Start - Corner of Peru & Chile

Mid blue = my original circuit between Western Union on Avenida Corrientes and the next on Avenida Cordoba
Orange = The walk down to the corner of Corrientes and Florida

Green = my loop back from Corrientes and Florida to Cordoba

Purple = is my loop back to Corrientes and Florida

Light Blue = my walk back to the the hostel

It was at this point I that I was comfortably falling into the dejected category. Certainly not defeated but dejected never the less. Sometimes you just need to take a bit of time and think your way out of what may feel to be losing scenario. I strolled down Avenida 9 de Julio and thought that I might be able to obtain a cash advance from one of the hotels that I passed on the way whilst playing 'scenario bingo' in my mind. The staff however were not in the ball park when it came to execution of my solution. They were happy to advise me that the 'maximum' they were willing to provide for cash advances was 100 pesos ($20 AUD) and that in itself would only be allowed for hotel guests on 'special occasions' - oh yeah, is that like for birthdays, weddings and escort services? They did suggest that I contact Western Union directly as they were also CERTAIN that there would be an office open that could provide me with the funds I required. I took their advice. I called Western Union from the hotel, typically however their computers were down when I called. They asked that I call back in two hours.

Following the light blue line now you can see the route that I took back to the Ayres Portenos some 3-4hrs after my morning commenced. Slow and painful, my mind was fighting the idea of giving in and remaining busy in trying to come up with ingenious solutions. To give in right at this moment would be to give away the idea of seeing Iguazu falls and as luck would have it that would make it the second time in two years that my plans have to make it to Iguazu had been foiled.

If you've made it with me this then let me advise you, this was only to be the entree, just the first act in what would be a stellar performance chronicling the mental disintegration of one Senor Elisher on this day. Read on though, fun and games in Buenos Aires certainly still abound.

Back at the Ayres Portenos I told the staff 'my deal'. They advised that I contact Western Union also (I know dudes, tell them to get their system up and running hey). Anyway, after a couple of hours I was able to make the call. What then commenced was to be one of the most pointless and demented conversations that I ever had. The guy on the other end of the line just kept repeating and spellling out my name, over, and over, and over. It kind of went something like this;

Operator - 'Heeeenry'

Me - 'Yes'

Operator - 'Heeenry'

Me - 'Yes'

Operator - 'Heeenry Eeeelisher'

Me - 'YES!'

Operator - 'Heeeenry........what is your transfer reference'

Me - 'XXXX-XXX-XX-YYYY'

Operator - 'Heeeeenry.....'

Me - 'YES!!!!!!!'

Operator - 'Heeeenry...Elisher'

Me - 'YES!!!!!'

Operator - 'Heeenry....where are you now?'

This inane and idiotic question and answer fun time made me want to do damage to ducklings!! He kept repeating the facts of the scenario that led to me needing a transfer. He didn't even need to know that, I shouldn't have had to have told him a thing about me! All I really needed to find out from this guy was

1) If a branch was open, and if there was, one that could;
2) Allow me to obtain the sum of $700AUD that was transferred to me! T

That was all! I did manage to get one of the staff of the Ayres to painfully extract that very piece of information from the guy and the response, finally was this;
1) Yes there is, and;
2) It's located in a shopping centre in the suburb of Liniers, the address being Ramon Falcon, 7155. The time now was 2:15pm.

OK, lets jump a train and take a ride!

I love the character of these old wooden carriages, sadly they were taken off all lines this month (February 2013) - Buenos Aires - Argentina

The highlight of my day was travelling this line. One for the 'old school' carriages and two for the fact that on my very first stay in BA, I was located in Boedo which was a stop on this line - sweet memories.

My ride today took me to the end of the line at Plaza de los Virreyes station. From there I was advised by my helpful assistant at the hostel that it would be only be a two block walk to 7155 Ramon Falcon, he even outlined the streets on a map and showed me that it where it would reside. So I walked, thinking all the while that my little fight for the day would end up being successful and would certainly be worth the effort.

I walked the blocks, I made it to between the streets where this shopping centre should have been. What should have been there however was certainly not. I retraced my steps, in fact I walked all the way back to the station. I did the route again, same freakin' result! Where the HELL was this place!!? Then I noticed something, the location where I was now standing was something like 1500 Ramon Falcon, my destination was 7155 Ramon Falcon.....a-ha...locate the error in waiting! Mentally calculating the distance now, considering that each block jumps in 100 increments, I figured that I was about 60 BLOCKS from where I needed to be!! 60 BLOCKS MAN!!! Now that's not a problem if there's public transport that can be utilised withoout much though but I'm no local, don't know the bus system here, nor do I have money for a taxi because a Uruguayan ATM jacked my card from me the day before and I wouldn't be here if I had it! Only one option hombre, it was time to but my rubber soles to the pavement and move them muchos rapido.

60 blocks, piece of cake. I walked, then I jogged, then walked and jogged again. By this time it was close to 3:30pm and here I was cutting my way through the back blocks of BA in the middle of nowhere (for me) effectively. I had it in my mind that I wanted to make the shopping centre before sunset because as being out in 'da hood' in unfamiliar territory after dark was just not my thing and not BA streetsmart either.

Somewhere along my back block discovery I stopped to ask a guy as to the address of where I was heading, Donde esta Ramon Falcon numero 7155 por favor? He looked at me and immediately pointed me back in the direction from where I had just come!!! What the hell dude, are you serious! ¿Qué hombre? This stopped me in my tracks once again. I had been moving along Ramon Falcon for about 25 mins and was in the mid 3000 vicinity, now this guy was telling me that it was actually somewhere back there!? Back there ( I actually pointed).My internal dialogue at this moment was something akin to two men with turrets screaming at each other as to who owned the best swear word!

My rationale to return back down Ramon Falcon was, I felt, rational but not correct. My scizophrenic mind anticipated that it leant a lot further to not being correct but more hoped that my decision to run up Ramon Falcon was an the real error. I hoped that the random street guy was giving me the right advice and more than hoped that the guy that assisted me at the hostel was right to begin with when he marked out the location on the map, I mean their advice added up. So I turned and headed back to Plaza de los Virreyes.

Approximately at the 2000 mark on Ramon Falcon I cut across to Avenida Rivadavia, a main thoroughfare running parallel to Ramon. There I encountered a policeman and put to him the question of the where the hell it was that I should be going. He stopped and stared at me for a moment, turned his head slowly and then pointed back up Rivadavia, the exact direction from where I had just come!

'ARRGGGGH FUCKSICLE MELON POPS TARTILICIOUS MOULDY CHEESE FUCK BALLS!!!!' ...and feel free to quote me on that response by the way.

He suggested to me that I utilise a bus to cover the distance to Liniers (which has the nice little A marker on the map below) as the distance walking, about 8kms or so, would just be plain stupid to attempt. I suggested to myself that perhaps he was correct. So I camped on Rivadavia and awaited my ride. Not knowing terminate at Liniers or pass through the suburb. Ok no problems, 'because nobody else has given me a bum steer what number to take, the policeman just advised me that 'most buses' today!'.

City Map of Buenos Aires showing my quaint journey to Liniers

There I waited on Rivadavia. I tried waving down one bus but the little Mestizo bastard drove right on by, then another drove by, what was this? Bend over Elisher day!? Finally I got myself onto a ride that was heading in the right direction. I asked the bus driver to kindly advise me when we had reached Liniers as that was my stop. I asked him twice in fact and he nodded in acknowledgment on both occasions.

Heading west into the setting sun the outskirts of BA started looking a lot different from what I'd experienced of central BA. The faces changed, the make-up of the area was significantly different and there I was, riding off into the land of Punt. As we we merrily bounced along I sighted an area that could very well have been Liniers, in fact, many of the signs said 'Liniers', but surely my bus driver knew where it was that I should be getting off the bus more than I did, right!? YEAH - WRONG!!! In fact, not so much wrong but just that the oddball had forgotten my request, even though I was standing right next to him. When he finally asked me where I was going and I responded he hit his head and kind of rolled his eyes....we were a long past the drop of and now I had to go back....to get my hat.

I exited the bus, miles from anywhere. Waiting on the other side of Rivadavia I jumped the next ride going from whence I had just came, familiar plot the day really. At least now I knew where Liniers was. I got off the bus in the approximate location and blindly fumbled my way through what looked to be a Bolivian enclave to the Liniers shopping centre Valhalla on Ramon Falcon, number 7155, just in case anyone had forgotten that that's where I was heading. The shopping centre is located literally at the end of the road. Where the shopping centre resides is where Ramon Falcon terminates. At this point Ramon is no more and right now I knew that my chances for a departure the next day were vanishing like the Maldives at high did. I mean know my fate now! Even though I have the location, even though there have been confirmations as to the availability of money and the fact that Western Union office was openat this very location, I inherently know that my quest will end in one massive failure. Take a photo of me now ladies and gentleman, splash FAIL in bold across the image and put it up on Facebook, this is my lasting tribute to the 'FAIL epoch'.

I entered the centre and spotted the Western Union sign two floors above me. There was a queue on arrival but that was no issue, I'd been at this for nearing 9hrs now, 5 more minutes wasn't going to hurt nearly as much as the time that had already passed. Arriving at the counter I see my fate all in an instant, it's like a double tap to the head. The lady that is about to 'assist with my query' has years of boredom, disappointment and disillusionment etched across her 'I couldn't be f**ked' face. It's as plain as day and the outcome is blatantly obvious and yet I need to play this game out to the end, I need closure. I slip her through my identification and transfer references plus anything else that was required. She shakes her head in a sadistic manner, half smiles in that way that people do when they gain internal pleasure from f**king someone over and says 'No, no we can not do this today', immediately she looks over my shoulder and asks the next person to step forward.....................OH HANG THERE!!!!! I block the path of the other person and demand that she assists me. Again she says 'No, we cannot do this today, we have no systems to complete the transaction'. No systems! But of course, without systems this world has nothing, but in much the same fashion now I have nothing. My valiant attempt was now over.

Moments later I was bent over the third floor balustrade looking down on the activity taking place below me. I was exhausted, mentally beaten. I just wanted to head back to the hostel and drink, although I'm not sure how much 37 pesos was going to get me because that's all I have left on me until I could figure out a place on Monday where I could obtain my $$.

I'm dazed for most of the journey back but to Sant Telmo but it doesn't take nearly as long as anticipated, it just remains an uneventful passage in the way most things are when you couldn't really give a toss. Walking down calle Peru I managed to find a bottle shop that kindly sold 8 peso bottle of red win. Why the hell not I think? It was going to be my only win for the day and realistically was the only alcohol that I could afford at this point.

Lying on my bed in the hostel I received a message on Facebook from Jorge, a guy that I met two years prior on my very first visit to Buenos Aires when staying in Boedo.He's a cool guy and he literally lives one minute away, on foot, from the front door of the hostel. In fact a couple of nights earlier I had jumped of the bus from Boca stadium and heard someone yel out 'Hey Henry' as I got off the bus. I can't tell you how bizzarely awesome it is to be on the other side of the world and have someone recognised you, it's off the charts unexpected.I convinced myself to get up, get moving and walk the 100mtrs to his place. Thankfully it was the right decision. I spent the evening drinking beer and chatting in my broken Spanish with both Jorge and his sister. It was exactly the tonic that I required after the disaster of navigating the Ramon Falcon for the afternoon. Hours pass and my memories blur in those evening hours however. The beers take over and I start feeling much more at peace with my situation. Doing a quick sanity diagnoses I realise that I'm in one of my favourite cities in the world, drinking with a friend that I made on my previous stay in BA and when the sun peaked over the horizon tomorrow, well, it was going to be a brand new day. In those moments I convince myself that Puerto Iguazu could wait, I'll arrange a date with it yet. For this evening I have Quilmes, great conversation and Colombian coffee, and that ain't half bad either!

Colombian coffee on calle Chile - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Life in a year full of Saturdays

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Saturday, March 9, 2013

It's a wrap - Argentina/Uruguay

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Buenos Aires - la noche está en pañales

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Buenos Aires - Ramon Falcon and the 7155

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A year full of Saturdays