Every journey has its ups and downs. My down arrived when I woke up for my first day in Argentina - after not really having slept most of the night due to rain dripping in from the ceiling- to blaring club music still going from the night before, itching of chigger bites still not healed from the rainforest project, head clogged up with a cold and topped off with a with shower cap full of head lice medicine (the creatures having been contracted from Sam and Ben who unknowingly invited them in at the previous hostel). Grrrr.
OK, so we chose the wrong hostel for a relaxing visit to Buenos Aires. And when it comes to hostels, you definitely need to do a little homework before reserving ('fun atmosphere = we party like wild things with techno music all day and night'). But it was the perfect hostel for energetic 18-20 year olds looking to have a 24-hour club atmosphere ... and our boys totally grooved into it (they're growing up way to fast!!). In fact, we couldn't get Andy to leave the party at bedtime and Sam turns out to be a better dancer than any of us Hudds.
Sam shaking his bootie with the girls at the hostel
It was not the best introduction to the city of Buenos Aires, but I can hardly hold it against the city. The family set out to discover the city and it turns out we were in a slightly rougher area than we had known. I'm afraid the experience was tainted by the fact that 3 out of 5 of us had nasty head and chest colds, the skies were grey and few people were visible on the streets - it being Monday and some kind of holiday - giving the streets a depressingly gritty and dark feel.
By the next day, however, the entire downtown seemed to come to life, bristling with people and the previously grim looking, closed shops appeared brighter and cleaner. Or was it just a little sleep and improvement to the head colds?? No, it really was livelier and it made the world of a difference to have shop fronts open. Nicely dressed people heading to work or shopping. Fast paced inner city sort of feel - we were in the Microcentro area after all. And sunny day to boot.
Detouring coastwards to the Diques, the London Docklands equivalent in BA, we encountered a drastically different environment. Shiny, tall business buildings and solid red brick commercial areas are mixed in with trendy apartment buildings lining the docks, yellow cranes dotting the sides of each of the 6 dock sections. Here, people are all sharply dressed, running or rollerblading along the spacious, wide, landscaped sidewalks. This could be San Francisco's marina, the London Docklands or any such trendy seafront space in a large city anywhere in the world.
  
We stopped at the ARA Presidente Sarmiento ship museum. It is a beautiful sailing ship that has been used in important celebrations around the world to represent Argentina, such as the opening of the Panama canal. Visiting the ship is relatively cheap at around $2 a person. Everything about the ship is lovely and well-maintained and the ship itself cuts an incongruous sight, the only quaint, traditional structure in a background of buildings shining with newness.
The following day, we visited the famous Cafe Tortoni, the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires. It's found on the Avenida de Mayo and dates back to 1858. Cafe Tortoni served as a base for many of the illustrious artists, authors and singers of the day. Amongst its historical clients were Albert Einstein, Jorge Luis Borge and Carlos Gardel. We felt something special sipping of coffees and chocolates imagining that we could be sitting in the very spot where some of the famous people once met to have intellectual discussions over coffee and pastries.
 
We returned again to Cafe Tortoni in the evening for a Tango show in the brick lined basement. Wow, did this show exceed our expectations!! From the very first moment, the dancers, the orchestra and the singer/narrator chilled us to the core in a musical story that represented the history of Tango. It's not often that the boys love a musical/dance show. But everyone was entranced as pimps and gangsters fought over dances with the beautiful, graceful and shockingly sensual ladies. I wondered if it might be a bit mature for the boys, but they each got something different and personal out of the evening.
We have left Buenos Aires yesterday for afew days in Uruguay, but will return on Sunday for another 6 days. We now have a better idea of what we want to get out of our visit there and are looking forward to returning for more porteño (Argentinian) expereinces. On return, we'll be staying in the heart of San Telmo, the oldest barrio (neighorhood) in Buenos Aires.
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