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I arrived into BA by bus at about 06.00, and still sleepy after my 12 hour jurney from Cordoba. The Retiro Bus terminal is very large, and spread out over three floors, with over 75 platforms for the buses to arrive and depart. I walked to the taxi pool on the second floor and headed for my hostel called the tango in palermo. After about a little while i noticed that the taxi driver was keen to show me the sites of BA and keep my focus outside of the taxi. This being south america that makes you think straight away what is going on here? Then i kept my eye on the meter, and knowing that it should go up by .31 each time, i noticed this was not the case in this taxi, then i see the reason why the driver had a switch under his stearing wheel that clocked the meter. After letting him know what i had just seen him do, he gave up with his guide duties and remained silent for the rest of the jurney. That was until we arrived at the hostel and he still asked for the amount that was showing on the meter. I gave him half, wich with out doubt cost him and not me. I believe that this and other scams are common practice by the taxi´s that pick up from the bus terminal and airport.
Anway i checked into the hostel which was in palermo a nice area of BA that i would class as the Chesea of the city, with many coffee shops and and bars that spread out along the tree lined avenues. The hostel was made up of young and friendly staff who were always on hand to help with any problem or to attend to the bar when beer was needed.
Now anyone that has been to BA will know that the days blend into nights and the nights into days, and this means that it is hard to break up the days in my mind. The reason for this is that BA truely does never sleep. People just do not go out until 23.00 to eat and the clubs never fill up until well after 02.00. I visited a couple of the clubs in BA whilst i was there, and to be truthful found them very hard work as they fill up so much that you cant find space to dance, you cant get a beer, and the the music is to loud that you cant talk. (maybe i´m just showing my age). This being said i would still say go to one just for the experience. The bars however are much better and the ones around the palermo soho & Hollywood are very good.
After a few nights out with the croud from the hostel and many days in bed it was clear that i needed to see some sights of BA that don´t have bars. So i walked to the Evita museo which was a nice 20 min walk from the hostel, through one of the many parks of BA. The museum was smaller than i thought it would be and only took my 20 mins to walk around. It was quite interesting though as i only new the history of her After she married. However this gave a good insite to her life before and told the story from the begining. There was some nice photos here also. The down dide was that the builing was covered in scaffolding at the time of my visit so i could not take any pictures of the out side and they were not allowed inside either.
The next day i went to watch a football game between one of the biggest teams of BA called River. They were playing san martin. The game was about to start when i noticed that the home supporters where very quiet compaired to those in the away end. It became clear why though as when the river team came out onto the pitch the holigans did likewise into the stands, there was about 250 of them marching in and taking over the their end. Their songs were loud and i´m told very violent. With chants of killings. (English were mentioned) It was fine though as the police keep them away from other fans. The game was a wash out however and was canceled at 3 river 2 martin. And i was glad it ended early as i was soaked through.
The next day i visited boca which is an area that is very poor, but the houses are painted bright in colours. You can feel the passion of BA here more than other areas of the city, and i would recomend a visit to anyone.
I took in a tango show that night and although it has never really drawn me before i found it to be amazing. The history was explained to me of the dance wich originates from the imagrants from italy and other european countries. Where the men used to miss home so much they decided to flock to the cafes and bars in search of company. Where they would find a waitress or prostitute to dance with. This history does really show in the dance and it really is an art. This was one of the best sights of BA.
I was in BA for two seperate weeks with a break to Uruguay in between, but i will just tell as one stay.
I moved hostel to the other tango backpacker in a area down town called san telmo. This hostel was the same as the last and run by a very young group. It was agreat hostel to meet new faces, as it had a great bar with pool table.
A group of us got together from the hostel and decided to go and watch Bob Dylan play. The concert was very bad. You could not understand a word he sang. He should prob call it a day. And to top it all of the sold no beer there. With this said though it was still a good night and we all continued till the late hours of the next morning.
Two days later was paddys day, and you would have thought youi were really in ireland. The locals love the irish that was clear. They closed of a area of retiro for a street party. There was six irish pubs in this area and were all spilling out onto the street. A group of us from the hostel drank our guiness and green pints of larger here all day and night.
Anway this was some of my memories of BA, much more was experienced but became a blurrrrr.
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TeTea so the movie looks rockin. but it, as well as the lame ass acmeiran movie poster, look like saw ripoffs. hopefully the actors and actresses in this movie can act. the storyline for saw was strong but the movie itself sucked. hopefully quentin isnt associating his name with s*** material. but until he gives me a reason not to trust his judgement im gonna say this movie will be amazing.