P***! C***** Tu Madre!

Week 4, the last and final week of Buenos Aires. Bittersweet. Sweet because we booked our next trip this week, bitter because our original RTW trip is ending. Check out what we´ve been up to:

• Boca Juniors vs. San Lorenzo. Last Sunday, Lee and I spent the big bucks and went to a local futbol match. Good times! Initially, we tried to get the tickets at local price, but with no luck. Apparently, only club members can buy tickets (and the Boca members waiting list is 2+ years) and even then, they can only buy 1 ticket each for BIG games. But, determined to see a game, we bought the tourist package: transportation, ticket and "guide" (more like bodyguard).
  The game was at the San Lorenzo stadium, about half an hour outside the city. We sat on the San Lorenzo side alongside their proud fans. Impressively,they cheered, sang songs, and chanted in unison the entire game, only sitting during half time. It was awesome! It reminded me of the German futbol games we use to go to, only this was a little more on-the-edge. Luckily, San Lorenzo won, so we experienced no violence. According to our guide, it would have gotten ugly if Boca won. But boy, they were prepared:
  1. Police stationed every couple of aisles in the stands.
  2. The opposite team had a separate entrance/exit and parking.
  3. The opposite team left first. We weren´t even allowed out of the stands until the Boca fans were safely out of the parking lot.
  4. Referees were escorted on and off the field by a circle of police.
  5. RIOT police in full gear on stand-by.
  6. No beer sold on our around the futbol stadium.
• La Bomba de Tiempo. Hard to describe. It felt like a big party outside among warehouses (kinda rave-like) but with a loud drumb circle performance. We met some of Lee`s classmates there. Good times.
• Ñoquis del 29. The 29th of every month is ñoquis (aka gnocchi; small potato dumplings) day in Argentina. Walk around town and you´ll see ñoquis on the chalkboard menus out front. Lee and I celebrated this special day at a low-key place in our neighborhood. Delicious! Admittedly, I´m surprised we like them so much. Mel, do you realize that Lee is still scarred from his first, tragic gnocchi experience with you years ago?
• Pasta and sauce sold separately. Oddly, the pastas and sauces are listed (and priced) separately on restaurant menus. Guess it gives the client more options.
• Parrilla Lezama. Finally, and I mean finally, we made it to this awesome local Parrilla. It`s been on our list since the beginning, but we kept delaying it. We got the classic Parrillada for 2 (huge meat pile with sausages and parts), but would like to go back for regular steaks. The place is classy, but not stuffy. A hard thing to get right.
• Palermo Botanical Gardens. Calling all catlovers! I`ve never seen so many cats in one area.
• Palermo. Shopping, shopping and more shopping. Never have I found such Kiima-like designs with decent prices.
• 100.00 USD withdrawal limit. This week was (hopefully) the last and final time withdrawing money 3 times in a row trying get more than 100 USD out. There is an odd 100 USD withdrawal limit on all the ATMs (probably leftover from the recent financial hardship). But yet, you can withdraw sequentially....hmmmmm.
• Living in San Telmo. It´s going to be tough to find somewhere better to live than here. Except for the dog crap, I am absolutely in love with this place.
• Once. Spent some time shopping for the perfect flirty, post-wedding BBQ dress in this way less romantic and equally awesome part of the city. It´s the wholesaler district, so prices vary according to the number of same items purchased. A first for me.

Today, we`re off to Colonia, Uruguay by ferry. Besos!