Argentina

Look up cafe culture in the dictionary and you are sure to find a map of Argentina. This country rocked, and although I had a very short amount of time there, it was time spent in a passion fuelled frenzy and I loved every minute of it. The only way I can fathom that all Argentineans are not obsessed is because they party so hard. There are an absurd amount of sweet treats available and it is deemed perfectly acceptable to take time out and enjoy them! You can walk into pretty much any coffee shop and find it over flowing with people day or night, giving city streets a constant buzz of energy. This may be to do with the giving nature of the Argentineans, as similarly to tapas in Spain, pretty much every coffee I ordered came with a free brownie or cookie, a service I am definitely intending on campaigning for at home when I get back!

So despite me advocating that Argentina should be nominated for Miss South America 2009 I only actually made two stops in this fair land, the first being Salta. Salta boasts art museums, peddle boats, and all things pleasant! My time in the town was balanced perfectly between getting my culture fix, obeying my dancing needs and satisfying my desire for an adrenaline rush by bungee jumping for the first time. Admittedly it wasn't all rosy as while curing that itch to get back on the dance floor I foolishly got a bit too care free and, in my slightly inebriated state, left my wallet in the communal area of my hostel which not surprisingly had mysteriously vanished the next day. Stupid is as stupid does. Thankfully it didn't have any cards in it but it did have about £120 worth of cash and my rather expensive bus ticket in it... ooops!

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379055024561646834" />

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379055014003003874" />

From Salta I took a 24 hour bus journey down to Buenos Aires which believe it or not was actually quite agreeable due to the fact that the roads and buses are in such amazing conditions, in fact if you take the first class option they even provide you with a hot meal and champagne upon arrival! Unfortunately my funds do not permit such luxuries, but I did have the delightful experience of watching a variety of Jacky Chan movies dubbed in Spanish for the duration of the trip. Whilst in BA I tried my luck with couchsurfing once more, figuring no-one could be worse than the Frenchies. Thankfully Augustin was a fantastic host, mainly because he was such a funny, charismatic guy. He did however, manage to break his foot the day I arrived and therefore was unable to show me the bright lights of the city, but given my recent loss I was more than happy to do my own bit of exploring during the day and chill out with him and his friends during the evenings. It seems that out of all the South American nations, Argentinean men live up to the Latino stereotype the most when it comes to expressing themselves and it has to be said that as a British lady, the only form of public flattery I'm familiar with tends to come from a rather sweaty overweight builder as I wonder past his work site. I was therefore, understandably, quite baffled by the fact that several rather attractive young men referred to me as Linda whilst roaming the streets of down town BA. Initially I thought I must have a name tag stuck to me somewhere that had adhered itself to me from some corporate training day, but after thoroughly checking my clothing for sticky white labels, it dawned on me that Linda actually means pretty in Spanish. Now I'd love to claim I'm not a sucker for such nonsense, but that would clearly be a lie, as let’s be honest ladies we all love a bit of flattery every now and again, particularly when you've been carrying a giant back pack on your back for the last 10 months, and are limited to 3 clothing options, which more often than not have food stains down them and smell a wee bit funky.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379055006830247202" />



I have to say I think BA was the most developed place I'd been to since Honk Kong, not only because of its size and European architecture, but also because of its style and grace. Its residents, for the large part, are not solely focused on finding money for their next meal, and therefore this absence of poverty, in comparison to say Bolivia, brings with it a hunger to consume. Aesthetics are clearly important throughout the city, people are stylishly dressed, parks are immaculate and pedigree pups are well groomed. You could say this has been taken to excess when you notice most of the hand bag dogs really are carried in hand bags and those precious pups paws that dare touch the ground are usually protected by little booties! But this showy element of the city is no different from LA or even areas of London for that matter, and naturally it still has all the familiar grimier traits of a super city, even its tube smells like ours, and is host to just as many crazies and drunks. There’s no doubt in my mind that I have to return to this city some day, just perhaps with a little more money in the bank and in the summer time when the penalty for purchasing a dulce de leche ice cream isn't blue lips and an hour of the shivers! Yes one day I will be back.