Thoughts of home.

We have made it to Cordoba. The bus journey was a little strange and went surprisingly well considering how travel sick I usually get. Ten hours did not actually feel that bad. We opted for an over night journey to save ourselves the cost of a night's accommodation and a 'cama ejecutivo' which meant our seats were massive and reclined right down. I slept on and off for about 4 hours of the journey and Jim only managed a couple so by the time we arrived we were ready to spend the day relaxing at our hostel. We did venture into the city centre for a quick look and the impression we got was that Cordoba has a lot of shops and a lot of people! So, we hid from the world for the rest of the day and caught up on some sleep.
This morning I woke up to an email from home and it is the first time I have really wished I was there instead of the other side of the world. My two beautiful dogs are having to be re-homed and although I already knew this and I had said goodbye to them when I left England I had not really prepared myself for how I would feel when they were really going. It has upset me a huge amount and I guess that is one of the draw backs to travelling. We haven't even been gone that long and I already want to be back home. I know the feeling will not last but I am sure there will be a fair amount of times ahead when I will feel this way. Hopefully I will get better at dealing with the idea that I will miss things, good things and bad things.
So much love being sent over the internet to Molly and Dylan. And a huge hug for my mum.
xxxxxxx

Happy to leave, sad to be going.

We've had our last day in Buenos Aires. It has been a lovely ten days but I am definitely feeling ready to leave now. To be honest, it has felt a little bit more like a holiday than the beginning of a long adventure as we have been acting as tourists, doing touristy things and have only had enough time to observe our surroundings and culture instead of getting really stuck in. We have seen all the things we have wanted to and, although I am sure Buenos Aires has plenty more to offer, I am ready to discover new places, new people and soak in a new atmosphere.
I haven't gone into much detail about everything we've seen and done here and they say a picture says a thousand words so here are some photos of some of the things we discovered...

Tango!!!

Panic over. Found some tango.....

Cheap as 'Churros'

We have been in Buenos Aires for about a week now and have been pretty busy. Having set ourselves quite a strict budget we have been forced to find free and cheap things to do and see. I have been really pleasantly surprised that you don't have to spend a fortune to have a great time.

I would be lying if I said it is easy all the time as there have been some draw backs... 

We have been walking so much our feet are definitely feeling it; no money means no taxis and it's easy to forget that when you have explored for 4 hours you still have to find your way home! 

Our hostel, although lovely and authentic, is pretty basic, not amazingly comfortable and unfortunately we have a very noisy German couple next door to us who play 80s pop on very loud speakers quite late at night; no money in this case means a lack of sleep and Aha's 'Take on me' stuck in our heads!

So, draw backs aside, having no money to waste has been an adventure in itself. Buenos Aires can actually be done pretty cheaply. All that we have had to spend money on is drinks (maybe 50pesos/day), food  (from supermarkets and local street vendors about 80pesos/day) and the occasional underground ride (only 2.50pesos for any journey). That comes to less than £20/day for 2 people. Not bad. 

There are some things I have really  enjoyed doing that don't cost a penny... taking some eerie looking photos and getting lost in the maze of the Recoleta Cemetery, wandering the streets of Palermo being inspired by the street art, relaxing in the shade of one of the many parks and maybe practising some of the new Spanish words we've picked up, browsing the books in the gorgeous Ateneo bookshop and happening upon whatever music or dance the city has to offer us that day. Who needs to be rich?!

When we have been feeling particularly tired or fed up and in need of a treat we have been able to have a 'Plato del Dia' at lunch times for 35pesos each (about £6 for a 3 course meal, including drinks) sit in an air conditioned restaurant and eat enough to fill us up for the rest of the day. Lovely.

...still not seen any tango.

Dia de los Enamorados, Nasty Pickpockets and the Factory of Tacos...

It has been quite an eventful start.

view from our hostel

how to tango

We have been here for 2 days and I am already struggling to remember everything that has happened and what we have been doing with ourselves. The exhaustion I felt after our nasty journey has been replaced with excitement, awe and an over whelming desire to photograph everything I see!

Yesterday was Valentines day - dia de los enamorados - and, although I'm not normally a fan, Buenos Aires is a pretty nice place to be when you are feeling soppy... the usual things; walking hand in hand, romantic meals for two and being filmed for a Sprite Zero advert graffiti-ing a heart on a wall.

my little love note to jim

Bit of an odd experience but they got a lovely close up shot of Jim drinking, I got to put my not-so-artistic mark on the streets of Buenos Aires and then we got a free refreshing beverage each. Not bad!

We have done a fair bit of walking around and, for me, one of the best things we have come across was a contemporary dance class being taught outside on a hidden back street. I think I was asked if I would like to join in but unfortunately the Argentinian people speak very fast with a hard to understand, but lovely, accent so by the time I had worked out what she was saying we had settled for watching. Really lovely experience though.

One not so nice thing has already happened... a nasty man on the Subte (underground) pick pocketed Jim's camera from his pocket. Put a real dampener on an otherwise great day :-( it is not at all the end of the world but it is quite a rubbish thing to happen to Jim on his first day. Made me very angry. Nasty man. Anyway... lesson learned. Don't put anything in your pockets. Not in Velcro ones and not even in zip ones.

On a better note to finish. We ate some great Tacos in a fab place. Yum.

Other things...

It's very hot day and night.

It is very noisy just outside out window.

It is a very large city.

Some of the people are pretty rude.

Most of the people are lovely.

We haven't seen any Tango.

;-)

The Journey...

Just a quick one to say that we have arrived in Buenos Aires safe and sound.... The 13 hour journey from Madrid was just horrid, horrible, exhausting and a little more horrid!!!

...did enjoy drawing the contents of my hand luggage though...except when there was turbulence, that was not so fun ;-)

But we are here now and after 36 hours with no sleep we have arrived at our hostel and completely crashed. Will explore tomorrow, but sleep is the only thing I want right now. zzzzzzzzz

¡hasta luego!

We are ready to go.
Got our passports, tickets, money and ridiculously heavy backpacks. I have ticked off or put a line through everything on all my lists. We are ready to start our very long journey...

my last month... lots of lists!

It's a strange feeling, after months of planning and years of thinking about it, that we are finally going to be on our way. My expectations are so big and at the same time I haven't a clue what to expect! I am pretty nervous and very excited, hopefully I will be able to look back on all my worries at the end of our trip and realise how silly they were.

Wish us luck for the horrible plane journey... actually wish Jim luck as he will be having to put up with me!

First stop... Buenos Aires.