Day 51: On my bike

A glorious day. Not only was the sun shining, but it was the first day that I felt at all alone. Hired a mountain bike and a guide took us two of us on a short circuit. Scenery very Wild West.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Dogs eat hares

MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623568912195/show/

Day 50: Fernando Torres etc

Up at 5am to travel to a national park in Chile, called Torres del Paine, named after the three so-called towers that were formed by a "granite intrusion". Don't ask me any more, please. All you need to know is that there are all these mountains and then these three huge granite thingies. Too cloudy to get a clear shot of them but the scenery in general here is pretty special. Desert, lakes and mountains. One grumble, however. Did a day-trip with other backpackers and spent 15 hours in a bus and only one hour walking. Grrrrrrrr.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
The ice in this park recedes by about 100 square metres a day

MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623693161060/show/

Day 49: Ice, ice, baby

Five kilometres wide, 25km long and 60 metres high, the glacier Perito Moreno is a sight to behold. Without wanting to sound too squiffy, sometimes you see a natural wonder so impressive, it makes you ponder man's place in the world. Iguacu Waterfalls, Ayers Rock and the Grand Canyon have that power. And Croydon Flyover on a clear day. Now this huge block of ice, which crashes like thunder every few minutes as it surrenders another slab to Lake Argentina, has the same effect. The snow that formed the ice at the front of the glacier fell from the sky 300 years ago. Wow.

THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
It takes 300 years for fresh snow to to reach the front of the glacier
Perito Moreno is one of 365 glaciers in Patagonia
It is one of the few glaciers in the world not in retreat, but no-one knows why


MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623568089799/show/

Day 48: Knee-high socks

First taste of fresh, cool air since leaving London. Actually, forget that. Probably since visiting the Lake District aged 10. I’ve flown three hours south to Argentinian Patagonia, a small town called El Calafate, near the southern foothills of the Andes. It’s a mecca for people who are serious about walking, and could be sponsored by The North Face, such is the number of fleeces and walking boots on show.

I feel very self-conscious in my jeans and trainers, so I decide to invest in some sensible socks. These skimpy ones from Next are not a pair that Ranuph Fiennes would be seen in. It’s only when I get back to the hostel I find out that my new socks are long. Very long.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:

Socks up to the knee NEVER look good

Day 47: Boca Jrs v River Plate

Apart from getting soaked to the skin, having to wade through a foot of water, nearly getting my head kicked in, the match being abandoned after nine minutes due to flooding and then being locked in the stadium for an hour with a bunch of headcases, the football was brilliant. It was the first time the Superclasico in Buenos Aires, one of the most passionate derbies in world football, has been cancelled. The Sun newspaper, which is surely an expert in the more unedifying aspects of the male psyche, rates Boca Jrs fans as the most nuts. Having stood alongside them, I wouldn’t argue with that (nor with them). Makes the north London derby look as ferocious as a village cricket match in Midsomer.

THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Argentinian football grounds would not have survived the Taylor Report
During the match, there are people employed to clear the pitch of debris thrown by the fans
Boca hooligans align themselves loosely with the Falklands cause and therefore don’t like the English

VIDEOS HERE:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623543069309/

Day 46: San Patricio

Forgot to mention St Patrick's Day earlier in the week. Amazingly, Argentinian friends had it in the diary before I did. Attendances at my Spanish school took a battering the following morning, because so many students were nursing hangovers, "resacas" as they call them here. I made it in, but an hour late, having had a very late night at a friend's party. The nearest we could find to Guinness consisted of a very sweet black beer and host Ernst supplied green jello shots.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:

Every country celebrates St Patrick's Day

Day 45: Old habits die hard

Gym, paper, brekkie. It's a weekend ritual I brought with me from London.


But I don't recall needing a dictionary to read The Observer.

Day 44: Max headroom

My brain is operating a "one-in, one-out" policy on Spanish words. If I want to remember some new vocab, I will have to delete first.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: Instead of "pulling your leg", they say "pulling your hair"

Day 43: The Italian job

It isn't only the Spanish who are responsible for giving Buenos Aires its famous European character. Many immigrants came here during the boom years in the late 19th Century, 60 years after the Spanish were kicked out, and perhaps the Italians left the greatest mark. They created tango as they worked the docks, and today the Italian food and widespread use of the word "ciao" are other examples. Even the wild gesticulations of the portenos (Buenos Aires folk) could possibly be seen as an Italian trait. No wonder Garibaldi (pictured) has pride of place in Plaza Italia.

And the British? They built the railways (now shamefully left to ruin) and brought perhaps the most cherished import of all, football. A Scot founded the first club and many of the top teams have English, rather than Spanish, names - Boca Juniors, River Plate and Newell Old Boys.

Day 42: Senor Motson

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

Every night there is a football match on, and the commentators go absolutely crazy when a team scores. When Scholes scored for Man Utd recently, the commentator sang a song:

"Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes,
Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes,
Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes,
PAUL SCHOLES!!"

I tried to find a clip of it without success, but this is from the same guy, to give you a flavour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1UPlX6D-Bg

It's very funny, of course, but this kind of passion also has a darker side. Football violence here is on a scale that makes English hooligans look like kids. Court cases are often in the news. Six Newell's fans were murdered recently, one of them gunned down while drinking in a bar.

For weeks all the talk (punditry lasting six hours, for instance) has been about the big derby - El Superclassico - between Boca Juniors and River Plate, this Sunday. It's one of the most ferocious rivalries in world football. And I've got a ticket.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
They use the word "hooligans" here, but it only applies to the English. In fact, they sometimes don't even put the word "English" in front of it, it is just assumed

Day 41

It was dusk as I walked past a homeless woman lying on a mattress in the street. Her young family were also sleeping rough and their belongings were tied to an old shopping trolley. She was heavily pregnant and her husband was stroking her exposed stomach. Absolutely shocking.

Day 39: Dear, oh dear

Everyone is complaining about how fast the prices are increasing. The official inflation figure is about 1-2%, but independent experts estimate it to be 15-20. Meat, the staple food, costs twice as much now in supermarkets as it did six months ago, partly due to disputes with the farmers. No wonder Argentinians, whose salaries are static, are so fed up.

For someone like me thinking in sterling, I have found the city cheap in most things, especially after the shock of how expensive Brazil was. Here is a selection of prices (all in pounds - how inconsiderate of them not to put a pound sign on this keyboard!):

subway (Tube) ride: 17p
sliced loaf: 1 pound
haircut: 6
cinema: 2.50
two-course meal with wine: 15
two months gym memship: 80
typical 15-min taxi ride: 2
pair of trainers: 50
bag of dry cleaning: 2.50
pre-pay mobile phone: 35

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: UFOs are called OVNIs

Day 38: Meet everyone's mate

No, not THEM, but what they are HOLDING. It's called mate (pronounced mah-tay) and everyone in Uruguay, including these two gents, seems to drink it. It's like tea, but instead of tea leaves it consists of yerba mate leaves.

People drink it as they drive, walk and even as they cross the road. Everywhere you look, people have their lips around a silver straw, and their hands around a flask of hot water and a gourd (traditional mug).

Mate is the national drink of Argentina, but it is the Uruguayans who have made it their own, so it would seem.

The capital Montevideo is only four hours sailing from Buenos Aires, across the wide mouth of the Rio de la Plata.

In the past, this country has been occupied by the Portuguese and the Spanish, and after establishing its independence in the 19th Century it was at war with Brazil.

But it now has much more akin with Argentina, in language (the two countries share their idiosyncratic version of Spanish) and culture.

Montevideo is a pleasant city that, like Buenos Aires, has a large number of parks and squares, but it lacks the buzz of its larger neighbour.

Further east, the resort of Punta del Este attracts the rich holidaymakers of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. I was under instructions from a Uruguayan friend in London to visit, but I really was the only backpacker in the village.



THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Uruguay is officially secular, so Christmas Day is called "Family Day"

Day 33: Subte v Tube

10 things about the Buenos Aires underground train system that make it different from the London Underground:

1. It's called the Subte
2. You can use your mobile phone
3. It's sooooo much cheaper - 17p a ride
4. It's more crowded in rush hour. You think London is bad? This is REALLY squashed
5. It's hotter
6. It has way more buskers and some are only eight or nine years old
7. Some of them don't even sing, they just play a CD
8. People listen to them, applaud them and give them money
9. No-one walks up or down escalators. They stand on the right and stand on the left
10. When it's crowded, some people hold their bags above their heads to prevent pickpocketing

Day 32: Oscar glory

Much excitement about an Argentinian film winning an Oscar. What I found refreshing was seeing an older woman, probably late 60s, with a young male co-presenter as anchors on Argentinian TV. You NEVER see that in the UK.

Day 31: John le taxi

John Terry's sex life, Robin Hood and Ozzy Osbourne. All in one 10-minute taxi ride.

Those were the key ingredients of my driver's knowledge of England, although having heard my impression of a Spaniard speaking with a Brummie accent, I like to think I added to it.

I'm glad that Ian (a proper Birmingham lad) was no longer here to witness me doing a Senor Ozzy.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
There are 8,000 cafes in Buenos Aires

Day 30: Crisis, what crisis?

Ask an Argentinian how the economic crisis is going and they ask: Which one? They've had so many that the global financial meltdown has hardly registered as anything new.

People remember not so long ago when things got so bad that all their bank accounts were frozen and prices in the supermarkets were rising by the hour. They blame mismanagement and corruption.

It's astonishing that a country so rich in natural resources should have so many economic problems, and so many people sleeping rough in its capital city. Moments after you leave your binbags out, someone is rifling through the rubbish.

Although it feels reasonably safe, locals warn of a sharp rise in muggings and pickpocketing. There are also more obvious signs of the poor state of the country's finances, like the terrible state of the pavements, the dilapidated buildings and the graffiti.

And now they can look at their neighbour Brazil thrusting ahead as one of the world's emerging powers.

Day 29: Corruption competition

An interesting exchange in class today, when the teacher raised the issue of government corruption. It sparked a debate about who lived in the most corrupt country. Round the table there was an Argentinian, two Brazilians and a Russian. And myself. I don't know the Spanish for "expenses" but I think it might have provoked a few sniggers if I had.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
One of Chile's founding fathers was an Irishman. A statue of Bernard O'Higgins stands in one of Buenos Aires's main squares

Day 28: From Elephant to Elephant

So where am I living? Well, the area is pretty grotty but it's very central - about 15 mins walk from the Obelisk, one of the city's landmarks.

Mmmmmm, very central but a bit scuzzy... It's the Elephant and Castle of Buenos Aires! I've moved from Elephant to Elephant!

PS. I've taken my camera to countless repairmen and photographic specialists but I think the memory card is corrupt. Hopefully I'll rescue the last fortnight of pics and video when I get home.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
There is an Elephant and Castle in every city

Day 27: Water works

Found this a couple of blocks from me and thought it must be a museum or university faculty or something quite high-minded. Turns out it's the water board.

Day 26: Crazy for Croydon

Read my first Argentinian newspaper today, or what could I understand of it.

The headlines in The Claron were all about the earthquake in neighbouring Chile, and the state opening of parliament, but my eye was caught by my fellow Croydonian Kate Moss making page two, simply by taking ballet lessons.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
You can move to the other side of the world, but you can't avoid reading about Kate Moss

Day 25: Red letter day

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: Buenos Aires has red post-boxes, just like the UK

Day 24: Picassos and poodles

Went to the Museum of Belles Artes, which has a great collection, including Monet, Van Gogh and El Greco. Then wandered around Recoleta, which is one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. Lots of boutiques, cafes and posh portenos walking their heavily-accessorised poodles.

Tonight I enjoyed my first home-cooked meal of my trip, when I dined with friends.

Yum yum.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Poodles have their own umbrellas

Day 23: Las Malvinas

The row over the Falklands has been all over the news here, and there are anti-British protests in the main square. The banners pictured say: "The Falklands are and will be Argentinian. The blood spilled will never be negotiated."

But the Argentinians I've spoken to tend to be quite equivocal about the 1982 invasion, seeing it as a desperate gamble by a dictator, that backfired.

Seeing the economic difficulties the country is suffering now, I can understand some of their resentment in seeing a far-flung former imperial power drilling for oil on their doorstep.

My Spanish teacher produced a map of Argentina in class and it had Las Malvinas, as they call them, clearly marked. A world map on the wall had (ARG) next to the islands, for added emphasis.

Day 22: Senor Benny

Even the most ardent BBC-bashers would be pining for Auntie if they had to endure television in some foreign countries.

Argentina's isn't too bad. There is plenty of sport and there is Benny Hill.

Yes. Benny Hill is still broadcast here, because he's so popular. And he's dubbed in Spanish, which is rather surreal.

But not as strange as hearing Vinnie Jones dubbed. He really doesn't sound that hard when he's got a squeaky Spanish voice.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Argentina is the only country in the world that still broadcasts Benny Hill

Day 21: First impressions

It's hard to believe that Argentina and Brazil are neighbours. Buenos Aires could not be any more different to, say, Rio.

It has some fine architecture, very wide boulevards and a huge number of squares and statues, that have led to comparisons with Paris, but I think it's more reminiscent of Barcelona.

There's a very European feel to it, not just in the style of buildings, but the fact there are cafes on every corner and people are very smartly dressed. In Rio, everyone wore flip-flops, but here they are a rare sight.

Maybe that reflects a change in attitude, because I sense that people are more reserved here, after the care-free, fun-loving Brazilians. That's not a criticism, however - an Englishman could never find fault in being reserved. Still waters run deep, after all.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
People who live in Buenos Aires are called portenos (in Rio, they are cariocas and in Sao Paulo, paulistas)

Day 20: On my own

Ian left so I had my first taste of solitude.

He departed in style, asking me excitedly to tell the taxi driver that he was present when the driver's team won the World Cup.

The driver became very excited too - until Ian revealed it was the World Cup final in 1994...

... won by Argentina's great footballing rival, Brazil.

Oops.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Buenos Aires taxi drivers don't like to be reminded that Brazil have won more World Cups than Argentina

Day 19: First day at school

I think my fellow language students think the BBC must be some kind of sweatshop. In our first Spanish lesson, we had to talk a little about where we were from and what we do. Unfortunately I demonstrated admirably why the English have such a great aptitude for learning foreign languages.

I ended up saying that I worked every day, including weekends, to collective gasps around the class, and I was then unable to correct myself.

If the licence fee is abolished, maybe it will prove prophetic.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
South Americans find it really hard to say "Ian"