Buenos Aires revisited. And adored.

• I TAKE IT ALL BACK!!!
• I looooooooooooooooooooooooove Buenos Aires!!!
• In my original blog about this city, I said I needed time for it to grow on me. Well - it HAS!
• I could happily live here. (With monthly excursions to the beaches in Uruguay, of course!)
• So I´ve just spent another two weeks here, and it has been FABULOUS.
• First of all, it´s much easier to be somewhere when you have friends there. My friend Adam (whom I met in Colombia) arrived when I got back, and we´ll be travelling together for a while now. I also picked up the friendships with people that live here: friendships that have been slowly developing and recently have become really wonderful - after the initial getting-to-know-you dance.
• Buenos Aires for me is all about MUSIC. And by extension - DANCE.
• The last two weeks of my life have been coloured by these perfect elements.
• And we´re talking ALL varieties!
• I went to see Metallica play live at River Plate Stadium. Thrashing away with 50 000 Argentinian metalheads is an indescribable experience. Goosebumps!
• I went to a tango club called Candela. This used to be an abandoned warehouse, which has been taken over and decorated and furnished with things found in the streets. All the chairs and tables are mismatched, all the wall paintings eclectic and interesting - what was that thing about one person´s rubbish being another person´s treasure...? There was a 6-piece all woman orchestra, and people of all ages dancing around the floor... Spectacular.
• I also went to see La Bomba del Tiempo, which I wrote about in my last BsAs blog. Drumming, sweating, dancing, 1 litre plastic cups of beer... Good times!
• I´ve been pulled into the streets to dance the tango with the professionals putting on a show there, I´ve samba´d and salsa´d on the cobblestones, in the open air, laughing and learning as I spin and move and twirl and waggle my bits...!
  
• Then there was also the professional tango shows, gaucho shows and folkloric dances in the streets of La Boca - a beautiful way to spend a lunch... watching... enthralled.
  
• And of course, my absolute favourite: the giant candombe drum troupe marching through the streets of San Telmo. Always at dusk going into night, always at least 20 drummers, and as many people dancing both behind them and in front of them, with a giant flag in front being waved over everyone, filling the streets with an energy that is tribal and earthy and raw and real...
• Then there are the rooftop asados (barbeques) - social, chilled, good-people-good-food-good-wine under the stars
• I finally get what all the hype is about. BsAs is FABULOUS. You just need to give it a chance.

Love you all. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the feedback. You rock my world! xxx