Week #2 - Buenos Aires

Week #2 and we are feeling much more like ourselves. Jet lag last week was a killer and Mark had a cole which was a bit of a bugger.

Summary

• Visit to La Boca = very beautiful
• Visit to football = crazy!

Sightseeing
La Boca
On Saturday we visited a famous area in Buenos Aires called La Boca. It's an area where Italian immigrants painted their houses with leftover ship paint so they are really brightly coloured. We took a local bus out to Boca. I think we've got the hang of the local buses now. It seems there is a standard charge to go anywhere which is great.
We had a really nice day wandering around La Boca looking at the houses and little market stalls. We grabbed some lunch and watched free tango shows for a few hours in the afternoon. The weather was really hot so it was nice to just sit around. Unfortunately, silly me, I lost the mini guidebook that we had. :-(
(Sorry Simon!!)

Football - Boca Juniors
On Sunday night we went to a football match. OMG, I've never seens anything like it in my life! We had to take a guided tour as apparently it's dangerous for tourists to go there by themselves! That in itself made me nervous.
When we got the match there was a lot of police outside the standium and the guide was very specific about where we should sit. Later we found out why - people from the stand above ours were spitting over the edge onto the people in our stand who were not under cover.
When the stadium filled, the Boca fans started chanting all sorts of things and throwing their hands in the air. It was quite loud and seriously intense. The best, however, was yet to come.....On the opposite side of the pitch was the stand reserved for the Boca "hooligans". A precession of flag bearing fans filled the stand followed by drums and trumpets and chanting. It was truly crazy. This continued throughout the match and was accompanied, at times, by lots of jumping. The opposite stadium looked like a giant mosh pit!
Unfortunately, Boca played pretty bad and lost (4-1). When the match ended we were locked down in our stand and the stand opposite was locked down while the rest of the stadium was emptied. Approx. 30 mins later we were allowed to leave. I found out later this was doen to avoid riots! I should have realised this when we were greeted by police in riot gear as we exited the stadium.
It was an amazing experience but so intense!

General
I am taking a second week of Spanish school this week. I think I'm starting to get a bit better but I have a long way to go. At least I can order a meal and ask for directions. Those are the most important I think.

Missing you all at home! I'll post again when I have something interesting to share.

El Camanito - the colourful area of La Boca

Add caption

Boca fans