Activities around Buenos Aires

Apart from doing the 'must see' tourist attractions on Buenos Aires (The Recoleta cemetery, La Boca, Plaza de Mayo and surrounding monuments) the main activities seem to be shopping (so cheap - the girls are delirious about the prices - I even managed a 5 hour stint walking around the shops with Lucas yesterday - that's a personal best), eating (pastries and huge grills), and sleeping (bed time is 3am if you don't go out, and breakfast is about midday).

I've had a very lazy few days with cable TV and free internet, and while Lucas has been doing his spanish course this week I've just ben hanging out with some other backpackers in the hostel who have been in BA for ages and are waiting to go home. The last couple of nights have involved wandering down to the local bar for a few games of pool. We switched venues last night and found ourselves in a bar where every woman was a brazillian prostitute. We recalled hearing about a bar nearby that was full of 'women and crazy men' and figured this must be the place - but it was actually a very relaxed atmosphere - and airconditioned, which kept us there a bit longer.

Catching a bus to some town tonight for an Argentinian version of Carnaval, will be interesting to see the difference between Brazillian and Argentinian carnavals.

I'm looking forward to getting out of big cities for a while and enjoying Patagonia. We leave on Tuesday night for Puerto Madryn (about 19 hour bus ride that takes us half way to our destination in Patagonia). I'm also trying to cut back on my passive smoking to two packs a day.

A few more photos have gone up in the Argentina gallery and a couple of final ones in the Brazil gallery.