Buenos Aires, Argentina
We arrived back in Buenos Aires on a presidential suite bus — basically the first class of South American long-distance travel, with seats that recline almost flat and enough legroom to actually stretch out. After weeks of budget buses through Patagonia, it felt absurdly luxurious.
First stop was La Boca, the colourful neighbourhood famous for its painted houses, tango dancers, and being the home of Boca Juniors. We wandered around, had some wines, and soaked it in. That evening Rich, Alex, and I did a pub crawl through the city, which ended up in Palermo with pizza and beer in one of the plazas. A proper reintroduction to the capital.
The next day was a write-off. Hungover walking, mostly. I did manage to pick up a hard drive for Louise as an Easter present and spent the afternoon loading it up with movies and putting together a special video diary compilation from the trip so far. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that take a bit of effort.
What I’d been most looking forward to, though, was the Boca Juniors game. La Bombonera. The most famous football ground in South America, and one of the most intimidating atmospheres in world sport. Boca were playing Argentinos Juniors and we managed to get tickets. The stadium is steep and compact, so every chant, every drum beat just reverberates through you. The fans don’t stop for 90 minutes. Boca won 2-1 and the place went absolutely mental. It’s hard to describe what it’s like being in that crowd when a goal goes in — pure, unfiltered joy from thousands of people. Easily one of the best sporting experiences of my life. Afterwards we met Mark and Emma and went for drinks and dinner at El Desnivel in San Telmo.
On Easter Sunday I gave Louise the hard drive with the video compilation I’d put together. She was in tears. All those little moments from the trip edited together — it hit different when you see it all at once. Made the effort of putting it together completely worth it.
We spent the remaining days exploring the parts of BA we’d missed the first time around. Checked out Galerias Pacifico, a gorgeous shopping mall with a painted ceiling that makes you feel like you should be in a museum rather than buying socks. Walked up and down Florida Street with all the other tourists. Had pizza and ice cream in San Telmo, and drinks in the same plaza where we’d celebrated my birthday at the very start of the trip, which felt like a nice full circle moment.
The thing about Buenos Aires is that you don’t fully appreciate it the first time. When we passed through at the start, it was just the beginning of the tour — we were wide-eyed, still getting to know everyone, still adjusting to the time zone. Coming back at the end, with everything we’d experienced in between, I could see the city properly. The architecture, the cafe culture, the energy of the neighbourhoods. It’s a genuinely amazing city, and I’m glad we had the extra time to realise it. Leaving was bittersweet, but that’s how you know a place got under your skin.
