BsAs revisted

Back in the land where the moon´s face is upside down, the water goes the other way down the sink, summer is both hot and the rainy season and the nightlife only gets going around 2am. It´s great to be back.

The journey over was pretty stress free. Flying with the Brazilian airline TAM which was on time, half empty (so plenty of room to stretch out) and was sat next to a Porteña who´s been living in London the past few years so had good conversation as well - and a good omen of how easy it is to start random conversations with strangers when travelling solo. Connection via Sao Paulo and a few hours killing time in the airport amusing myself repeatedly listening to Arcade Fire singing `Brazil´ on the iPod before finally arriving in Buenos Aires.

From first glimpse through the plane window to the ride in the taxi to the hostel the sense of excitement mounted. The driver also gave me the chance to put my very rusty Spanish to use - and gave me my first insight into what´s happened to the economy since I was last here. Although the exchange rate seems better than it was (around 6 point something pesos to the pound) he told me that inflation has been running at a scary rate - so the money buys less. The days of buying a huge steak, chips, glass of wine and dessert for less tha 2 pounds may be over - but it´s still pretty cheap - especially by London standards. I reckon about half to a third of the price depending on what you buy which makes everything seem a bargain.

Anyway lugged my bulging suitcase (containing around 16 books!!!) into the hostel - Palermo House - and was greeted by friendly staff who apologised for the fact my room wasn´t ready as the current tenants hadn´t checked out on time and had disàppeared. No problem as I dumped the bag behind the desk, grabbed a quick shower and headed out to re-explore.

Exciting and slightly weird to be wandering around Plaza Serrano´s bars and boutiques. Lots of ghosts of memories from the past trip - and for the first couple of days I was quite happy to immerse myself amongst them and not make a huge effort to meet other travellers - plenty of time for that later. Instead lots of walking, photo taking and enjoying all the city´s quirkiness.

Buenos Aires doesn´t have the same show-stopping tourist sites like London, Paris or many of the other World´s great capitals. But what it may lack in must-see attractions it more than makes up for in character. The odd bit of stencilled graffiti, the plaque in the road marking the home of one of the desaparacidos - left wingers who ´disappeared´- murdered by the right wing government, dog walkers marching small armies of four-footed perros of varying sizes along the streets (or in one case simply taking them to the park and then taking a long sleep), weather faced men pulling carts full of rubbish along the roads and the huge number of one-off shops. The lack of many big chains makes window shopping a real pleasure with some great interior design shops making buying a flat in the city a real temptation. Within hours I had that feeling again - this would be a very easy city to live in.

Over the next 48hrs I spent a small fortune on new Spanish music (including the excellent recording of Sabina and Serrat´s concert), chomped down on some juicy steak and morcilla (blood sausage) and slurped up some of the world´s best ice-cream. Lots of artesanial heladeria´s which have perfected the art of Italain style ices. For anyone intending to visit a trip to Altra Volta on Avenida del Libertador 3060 for their orange flavour is a must!!!

http://www.unaltravolta.com.ar/

Walks lasted up to 5 hours and included a trip to Recoleta´s cemetary - something I´d missed out on before. Tomb after impressive tomb sandwiched together into a patch of land no bigger than the average city block. Once upon a time it was open to all - now buying a plot costs around 20-thousand dollars and that´s before the tenants-to-be´s familines invest in hugely ornate marble structures, decorated with angels and other figures. All this with stray cats slinking along the corridoes and tombs falling into disrepair cramped next to new minimalist designs. Evita´s buried somewhere in here although I didn´t spot her tomb. Atmospheric and slightly bizarre with huge city blocks poking above the walls around the cemetary´s edges. Half an hour was enough before the need to get back onto the city´s wide open lanes became overwhelming.

These days were the perfect detox from recent London life and left me eager to re-engage again and chat to other travellers. I´d picked the hostel as reviews on the internet suggested it was an easy place to meet other mochilladors (backpackers) and the posts proved accurate. The hostel has a huge living area with an open air balcony. Getting to know others is as easy as plonking yourself down next to a group, introducing yourself and swapping travellers´ tips. Really one of the best bits of travel. Many of the residents were staying at the hostel for extended stays - often for months at a time. That meant many stay in to eat but on my last night I headed out for dinner (finally a salad after all the meat) with two girls from the hostel. Tanya from Germany and Kavita from Australia. Then onto Green Bamboo (a fave from last time) for cocktails before back to the hostel.

Then one of the highlights of the trip so far. Tanya headed to bed but Kavita and I had one of those crazy rambling conversations that took in everything from past relationships to favourite books via innumerable other topics - each ricocheting into something else. It was after 6am before we were all talked out and ready to pass out. Except of course I had to pack and be ready to leave at 8am for the next bit of the trip.

Other memories of the four days -
Waking up to realise I´d been bitten on the eyelid by a mosquito and it had begun to swell. Reminded of looking like the elephant man when something similar happened in Mexico - the solution is to hold an ice cube on the spot to remove the swelling. Which in this case meant nearly freezing the eyeball beneath. yuck!

Standing on the street corner with the rest of the street watching a policeman chase a young thief up and down the road until he finally caught him

Noticing a big reduction in the number of locutorios (places where people go to make telephone calls) and internet salons. An effect of the rise of the mobile and the huge number of travellers who stick a laptop in their backpack.

Being one of many tourists to turn a group of riot police into a photo opportunity as they monitored one of the city´s many protest rallies next to the Casa Roja on the main square.

A major rainstorm that shut down the city and led to traffic jams all over once the clouds started to clear - everyone hooting hard but not getting anywhere fast.

Knocking back litres of Quilmes on Plaza Serrano, not-so-slowly getting sunburnt whilst developing a happy beer buzz.

Learning to look again with a soundtrack of Bajofondo Club´s electrotango, Amy Winehouse and Jack Johnson playing through my earphones.

All sheer bliss and I could have quite easily spent all five weeks in the city - but this had always been meant to be just a chance to acclimatise to being back in Latin America. The real adventure would start with new places and Salta...

(PS one tip - don´t bother buying a guide book before coming. Time Out have an excellent up to date half-yearly magazine on sale from all the city´s magazine stalls with all the best places to eat,drink and visit)