Boca Locura!

So my first foray into the world of Blogging! Boca vs Independiente,  the Sunday i had been waiting for (and somehow managed to get Fran on board!). The day couldn't have started any better.... On our walk to catch the bus to the big game a rather large tree fell inadvertently onto my wonderful girlfriends head, she was fine, so i was allowed to feel the comic glow as we walked in the sunshine. Due to  changes at Boca Juniors, only members can get tickets to home games, meaning the only way we could go was to join a guide and go with them. It was expensive, but in the end money well spent. After chatting to the other members of our group, assembled from all corners of the world, our guide Artur  finally arrived and we hopped onto our bus and headed towards the Bombanera. On the way Artur gave use some background to Argentina and Boca juniors, asking questions about the football club, annoying I expect for the rest of the group, I answered the majority! 

With an hour or so to go before the game started, all the tourist were herded into what i can only describe as a small stable in the rather colourful barrio of Boca about 200metres away from the stadium. Here we were given a tasty Choripan and given beer to help get us in the mood for the main event! We were also unsurprisingly  given the opportunity to buy a plethora of knock-off memorabilia, which most took advantage of. In fact after Fran purchased a shirt and scarf, i had to put my foot down, if I hadn't I think she would have entered the stadium in the full replica kit, including shin pads and boots!

Us in the waiting stable:

Our walk to the stadium itself was only short, however security was high, three police searches before we even used our loaned 'members cards' to get through the gates ( I think i was called Frederico Finocchetti and Fran was Jonathan Carlos Lopez, a rather large individual!) 

Jonathan Carlos Lopez:

Walking up to the terraced stand behind the goal at La Bombonera (the 'candy box') our excitement grew with every step. As we got up to the top, we pushed our way down into the terrace and, remembering the advice of Artur, made sure we were not below the away fans in the stand above us. Apparently they liked to throw an array of "liquids" down during the match and as we later found out programmes set on fire!

La Bombonera:

Now it may sound like i have clubbed together a group of football clichés which of course comes pretty easy for me, but I don't know how else to describe it. The sound really was deafening, we were really greeted by a sea of blue and yellow and there was great excitement in the air! Opposite us was the section where the famous 12th man sat - La 12 (the name of the Boca hardcore fans). With five minutes to go before the kick-off a gang of blue and yellow clad flag wavers rush out and at this point the drummers and the fans hanging from the side of the stands start orchestrating the stadium and cajoling the rest of the crowd to jump up and down and join the chants. The hand flicking started, the confetti started flying around the stadium and from that moment on, the noise didn't stop, it just got louder and more passionate. 

La 12 arriving:

The game itself, while exciting, was not a great standard. It could have been 10-10 by the end mainly due to defensive mistakes, but to be honest, i spent most of the match watching the fans and trying to work out the Spanish chants that got me jumping up and down. After the ref gave a Boca player his first yellow - i think i learnt at least 3 or 4 rather extreme Spanish profanities which should keep me in good stead for watching future games in south america!  The game finished 2-1 to Boca, and as the final whistle went the chanting and bouncing got to its crescendo!  The home fans attention turned to the away support as they rather impolitely wished them as cheerio. The experience was amazing, the colour, the noise and the passion I've never seen anything like it - not even at Carrow road! 

Oh and I forgot to mention the half time entertainment:

A hop to Uruguay - Colonia & Montevideo

We decided to take a little mini break over to Uruguay as it is only about an hour away from Argentina by boat. We ended up getting the ridiculously early 7.30am fast boat to make the most of our time there as we were only going to spend one night. At 8.30am we arrived at a little place called Colonia del Sacramento. We walked up the hill and into the quaint little village - it was beautiful - made even better by the fact that there were only about 2 other people walking about. The village itself is on the sea and really small with a beautiful lighthouse to the left of it. We found out about it from our Spanish teacher Pau who said it's great but after 20 times he's a bit fed up of it! After checking out the sights, gawping at all the 'vintage' cars about and grabbing a beer in the sun, the tourists started to really arrive for lunch and we decided it was time to get out of there. We grabbed some empanadas and ate them on what was truely the wrong side of the tracks (an abandoned railway line with just a doggy for company) and then headed off to catch a four hour bus to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay and where we were staying for the night. 

We're here!

I want this car!

The beautiful lighthouse:

We arrived at Montevideo and checked in to our hostel - not bad but not great! After chilling out for a bit we were ready for dinner but turns out 7.30pm is way to early and the restaurant we chose wasn't open yet (just chefs having a chat) so we headed to a little place next door for a litre of pilsen. An hour later the restaurant was open and we were glad we waited. We had an asado - a traditional dish of Uruguay (which also means bbq in Argentina) and a pizza but I think we'd ordered enough food for four people - oops! The food was excellent and we went home with full bellies. The next day we ventured out to explore Montevideo - turns out there isn't really much to do. Sorry to anyone who is Uruguayan or a fan of Montevideo but we really found it a poor man's buenos aires. The best thing we did, however, was find an amazing little lunch place called Estrecho. It was basically a long bar that you sit along to eat right in front of all the chefs cooking for you - amazing to see! We shared a caesar salad and the special of the day which was this chicken and mushroom roulade wrapped in parma ham with pimento - mmmmmm! 

Estrecho:

Montevideo:

Later that day we got the bus back to Colonia and we had first class tickets on the fast boat home which meant a couple of glasses of champagne - travelling in style. When we got back to our apartment in BA we were so happy - we were home! 

Exciting news - the next blog post is by Joel...

Tigre

Visiting Tigre for a day was like a mini holiday from the bustling city of Buenos Aires. Tigre is a little town in the North of Buenos Aires about 50 minutes train ride outside of the main capital, its main attraction being the deltas that you can take scenic boat rides on. At first, however, our day didn't get off to a good start. The plan was to spend a nice relaxing train journey up there and arrived refreshed. The train turned out to be very run down and very busy - to which we did not get a seat - this makes sense as to why it was 30p then! 

Tigre train station:

When we got there it was a different story, the sun was shining and the town was really pretty and peaceful. We booked a boat trip for later that afternoon and set off to explore. We wandered down some back streets and along the river noting a place to come back and have lunch later before we began our boat trip. Turns out our boat trip was also so cheap because the entire commentary was in Spanish - doh! We tried to use our limited Spanish to understand but also it was just nice to look out of the window and see why the portenos of BA come here at weekends and for holidays. 

The delta:

After our boat ride we went for another yummy steak before setting off back home to BA.

Dinner in the sunshine:

La Bomba de Tiempo & Cacerolazo

Monday night rolled around and this meant only one thing - bomba de tiempo! We were excited to find out if the time bomb could be as good as everyone claimed. Walking to the venue we were filled with nervous anticipation and after an extortionate 50 peso entry fee we were in. The venue was a large concrete konex with both indoor and outdoor standing areas and a stage at the front. 

The venue:

We heard the banging of the drums but decided to head to the bar first for a much needed drink - bottle of red and a beer (pretty standard drinks for us these days). Turns out a bottle of wine means a huge plastic cup full of wine and a litre of beer, about the same size - a good start to the night then! We went inside and were greeted with people bouncing up and down and a drumming band making its way through the crowd. The drumming and dancing was infectious and it was only 7.30pm (an early night for BA), the night was already getting going and this was just the warm up act. 

The warm-up:

Later in the night the main act were to come. This was a bunch of seriously talented musicians - the group take in turns for one member to go at the front to lead the drumming based on more than a hundred different hand and body signals that they've created to enable them to conduct the music - amazing! In the second hour of the concert they also have a special guest come which when we went was some jazz musicians and a singer, however we preferred the beginning when it was just the raw drum music.

The musicians: 

Fun times:

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As the concert finished we made our way out, grabbed a pizza from a street seller and started the walk home. As we were on route, however, we started to hear some more drumming but this time on pots and pans and coming from balconies all around us. It seemed to get louder as we got closer to the apartment. Once we got to our flat we got out on the balcony and the banging was so loud, even our neighbours were taking part so not to be out done we decided to get out on the balcony and get stuck in! After a bit of searching it turned out this was a form of protest in Argentina called Cacerolazo which consists in a group of people creating noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils from their own homes. The protests at the moment seem to be about the restrictions put on Argentinians to purchase foreign currency (impossible with pesos) and the way the economy seems to be going (massive inflation of over 25%) which does make it pretty expensive here which must massively impact upon the portenos of BA's cost of living - a lot of things are more expensive than London!

Protesting with the portenos:

Feria de San Telmo & La Boca

Since our course finished last week we've been really getting in to the spirit of buenos aires - siestas at 4pm, dinner at 10pm and the manana attitude. Weekends here are great, we were really lucky on Sunday to get 24 degree sunshine (and it's winter!!) for our visit to San Telmo market and La Boca. San Telmo is a barrio (neighbourhood) in BA that has an amazing Sunday market with antiques, vintage clothes, jewellery and other nick nacks. I really wanted a vintage camera (and loads of other tat) but Joel reminded me that whatever we buy we have to carry so less is more!

Feria de San Telmo:

Mate cups for sale:

We spent a few hours wandering around and we found an amazing little choripan cafe (basically bbq'd chorizo in bread - yuumm) for lunch with live music. 

Choripan lunch:

After lunch it was off to La Boca to take in some of the colourful buildings and lively atmosphere - we had to get there before 4pm though as after that the police disappear and it becomes quite a shady neighbourhood but during the day it seems like a tourist haven. After having a look around it was time for a quick cerveza before heading back to San Telmo to finish off our shopping trip.

Hand of God:

Caminito La Boca:

 La Boca:

In the evening we went to see some street artists perform tango music in a little bar in San Telmo where we drank lots of vino tinto giving us the confidence to have a good natter with the taxi driver in Spanish on the way home!

Tango musicians:

Me gusta lomo de bife

Joel and I are currently sitting at our breakfast bar trying to do our homework (well I'm taking a break to blog) - it's been a while since we've had homework and it's not easy but we're really trying to throw ourselves in to it (writing about our families). It's been three days now since we started our Spanish classes and things are really moving fast. We finally feel confident ordering empanadas and beers, we know how to ask for places, directions, tickets etc.and we can hold a basic conversation with someone Spanish in a bar (our other piece of homework for tonight). We've tried to use our Spanish as much as we can but it's still tricky when, after we've practiced and practiced what we're about to say, the checkout girl asks us an imprompto question - we just look at eachother with fear in our eyes "errr... err... Si" - we really need to start using our frases utiles! 

Since I last wrote we've been trying to do some sight seeing and sampling the delights that Buenos Aires has to offer. We visited Evita's grave in Recoleta cemetery, the museum of beautiful art and the infamous floralis generalis (an impressive sculpture in the park). 

Evita's grave:

We've taken the opportunity to go to a parilla to get the biggest and most tasty steak you've ever seen and drink lots of vino tinto (Malbec is cheaper than water here!) for a very reasonable price.

Mmmm steak:

And finally, we've also managed to master the Subte in rush hour, not too different from the London underground - feels like home already!

Empanadas - a staple diet!

Having got settled in to our new apartment yesterday, we decided to go for an explore around the local area. It works out that if we walk 10 minutes from our apartment we are in the Palermo Soho area with its trendy boutiques and creative cafes and this is where we discovered our new love - empanadas with cervezas - YUM! If you've not tried empanadas before, I would describe them as little parcels of deliciousness which contain either carne (meat) or such delights as spinach and mozarella and, at £2 each in even the nicest bar, I think we're going to be eating a lot of these bad boys.

Palermo Soho:

Empanadas:

 

Having got our fill, we decided to head off in the direction of the local supermarket to stock up on supplies. Turns out supermarkets here aren't as cheap as we expected, most items are of similar prices to the UK. In fact the cheapest things to buy are steak (any cut you can think of in abundance), beer and red wine - hmm, I think I know what we'll be eating for the next month at least then... 

Steak Shelf:

Our only problem now is that we're getting by on just 5 words of Spanish - hola, gracias, por favor, dos and cervezas and it doesn't seem to be going very far, next stop Spanish lessons...