Dec 30

Today was spent majority in bed with a change of location to the beach in the afternoon, with swims being the winner of the day. At about 630 we had an early dinner as stomachs had only just recovered- of gnocchi, soup and tiramisu in an Italian restaurant where Beanie got spoon fed some of her dinner by the fat Italian owner. As Riki put it she can't take me anywhere..
The rest of the evening was spent drinking green tea and reading our books before crashing to bed.

Dec 29

So after waiting in a long line to check in, again through immigration and again through boarding we finally claimed some space on the ferry. To our delight, Mariann had prepared us a picada, with fruit, cheese, bread, salad and chocolate...Such a nice suprise at 1am in the morning. A note to Argentinian parents: children should be seen and NOT heard! Thankfully Beanie had earplugs and was able to get some sleep, and Riki, well Riki just blocked it out mentally. Of course we were delayed and finally got into Colonia, Uruguay at 4am and onto the bus to Punta where we arrived at 11ish. We got to our hostel and checked in without issue, its a pretty sweet hostel located well in Punta. We then showered and ubicated ourselves with Punta centro. We walked down in the blazing sun and saw the yacht club and the marina. Some sweet sweet boats are moored there, and Riki and kept trying to come up with some plans to familiarise ourselves with their owners and interiors. We gave up however and Riki had no mental mindmap of where we had been so Beanie had to save the day and redirect her.
Once back at the hostel we had a sundowner (or two..) of strawberry caipiroskas and daiquiris and had a perve session of a Greek God and 2 German boys in the hostel. A preening hour later we were ready to go to meet Oli and Co. We walked to his hotel only to find out they had just left, so we left a note and went on a half hour walk only to return and see them on our walk back. We sat with them and had dinner of salad, grilled chicken and multiple jars of red sangria while exchanging sordid stories and teaching the American boys a few bits of Kiwi vocab. With Ryan kindly picking up the check we all went back to their hotel and Riki and I admired the '50" plasma screen tv' and laughed at their attempts to get the aircon as cold as mechanically possible. At about 130am we taxied to a club called 'Tequila'. By now I should let you know that Punta is a place where the taxis are Mercedes, and the cover charge to enter a club is $50USD... So anyway we got to Tequila and after some debatement and Riki and I declining to go in due to student travel budget, we were incredibly spoiled and the boys paid for both our entries. We love Americans who work in Finance in New York - really we do. An obligatory tequila shot followed our entry, and Beanie had the privilige of standing nearby Ivan de Piñeda - the face of Ben Simon, and who has modelled for Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein etc...
Riki and I cringed when we saw the waitresses - dressed like a a Missy Elliot video gone horribly wrong. But the bar itself was pretty funky, (as one would hope when $50Usd is needed per person) and if one had $2,500USD to spare could buy a table for the night with a few bottles of Absolut thrown in. The boys wisely passed on that option. A few vodka sunrises and beers later we were all getting down on the D-Floor and having a good time. Of course our good friend JT came on with our theme song - I've got a sweaty back..
At about 530am we all stumbled out and Riki with her keen eyes got us all on a bus back to Punta saving us a considerable taxi fare. During the bus trip we met an English guy called Richard who was rafting with us in Mendoza..small world, and Riki had a snooze (the bus trip took about 30mins). Afetr arriving in Punta centro again we wobbled back to the hostel where we crashed into bed.

Dec 28

After a tired morning, Riki and Mariann disappeared to the supermarket and came back with bags of groceries for a feast on Riki's apartment floor conositing of fresh bread, cheese, veges, etc etc, and canonitas (dulce de leche filled pasteries). We then quickly bought some shampoo and went back to have a relaxing afternoon packing (again) and drinking South African Rose wine. We then went to Oli's to have a conference for Punta...After our conference M, R, P and B went to Patio Bullrich (the elite shopping centre of Buenos Aires) for our last Argentinian icecream at Freddo. This time Riki and I shared a 1/4 kg as not to be greedy, with the delightful flavours of mint granizada, dulce de leche tentacion, and tramontana. Yum. We then picked up our packs and taxied to Buquebus to catch our ferry for Uruguay. Goodbye Argentina - Don´t cry for me Argentina....The Truth is we never left you..(For Freddo exists in Uruguay!!)

Dec 27

So we started the day off with some pampering pedicures and well for those of us who actually have fingernails; manicures. Between the two of us we have a normal little toe nail but individually its rather disgraceful. Bean decided to buy out the town's supply of sweets and I think Dunedin will be dulced for a good few months to come. At one point she wanted to pay with her visa card but the minimum limit was 20 pesos...we found ourselves running around the supermarket looking for the most EXPENSIVE malbec available..the average price being four pesos and we needing at least 12...pretty bizarre.
Lunch saw Riki fulfilling a last meal wish of finally eating a ´sandwhich de milanesa´(basically deepfried schnitzel sammy) safe to say it was a good thing she didn´t discover the beauty of it earlier like her love of icecream!!!
Showers and packing and the realization that time was finally up and nearing over in Argentina and well definatively so in Areco. We caught the bus back to BA to spend a good few hours eating caramelos in the foyer of the apartment block waiting for M and P with the keys.
Dinner was Moroccan and marvelous...Patagonian lamb for Beanie, Swordfish brochettes for Riki, all washed down with this one cocktail which is just strawberry, blueberry and lime pulp with vodka.
Next we headed to ´La Viruta´milonga(tango dancehall essentially) where the recently ended tango classes in no way stopped Beanie and Pieter taking to the floor and well...moment of applause and praise for them both....cos for one they looked like they had been dancing Tango for a few years and that they definately had some Argentine in them. It really was impressive and I am in awe of both of them for being able to do it but having the guts to do it too. Mariann and I sat and watched and talked, but couldn´t help but appreciate the culture where couples go and dance the night away to tango. Around three we decided to make it back to Asia de Cuba and met up with Punta partners in crime Oli, Ryan and Rory.
Schnaz no!
After some drunken commotioning we paid for two rather than three entries and cut up the dance floor, this time with me participating all throughout...leprechaun tapkicks and I are not meant to be.
"He buys me all this ice cream : dulce and banana.....my humps my humps my lovely ice creams...check it out!!!!!"6ish we taxied home to the waking of another beautiful day and we admired this city that we are by the minute nearly leaving.
After wanting to take revenge on my noisy building; singing and squealing to what we later realised to people who were still partying in other words a pointless exercise, a waterfight and me washing some clothes. We collapsed to the sweetness of sleep, silence in Montevideo 1951...NEVER!!!

Dec 26

The closest we came to celebrating Boxing Day was our atempt to start packing and getting ready for our departure from Areco. Yesterday was calm and quiet, we made some lunch consisting of fresh salads, palmitos(palm hearts...mmmm), prosciutto and fresh bread, burnt some pudding and visited a chocolate shop....Another sizzler of a day spent by the pool in the afternoon with the girls , more terere and suntanning. We had been invited to go horseriding by ´the light of the moon´but after that got suspended we found pasta portions to feed Africa , familiarized the Bean with Areco ice cream and headed home cool , calm and overfull. With a few new addditions of bugbites and trembles from certain sightings we went to sleep.

Dec 25

Xmas Day! Sleeping late until 12 we got up, dressed and went back to Moni`s for surprise surprise, more food! Salads, chicken, and then papas noisette delivered, with more icecream, nougat and peanuts. Riki and I then collapsed on the lilos in the pool then laxed out in the sun working on our tans for the next few hours. Shifting only to another pool - Chivi's in the afternoon - bringing with us the Cookie Times. After being dropped home we showered, and got dressed..and for the first time in more than a skirt and singlet - jeans and a hoody. We then walked to have empanadas for dinner and walked back to Cielito(now this a is a real little treasure one with many fond memories) It basically consists of sand...which we have no idea how they got there, plastic chairs and table and a straw hut that has beer and music (life soundtrack themes such as At first i was afraid and Í try´)... A place where the beer is cold and the chairs are plastic... the If it even looks like rain it shuts but when the sun has shone and the sky is clear it is THE drinking hole for Areco. So naturally we headed for some beers with the girls, and managed another sighting of the mysterious elusive Juan Cruz. Beanie had a proud mama moment as Riki went and said hola... and nearly "cargared" .
We then walked home and slept, Beanie with a bug bite the size of a golf ball on her leg.

Dec 24

Xmas Eve Day! Over-ate with consequences. Riki and I caught the bus to Areco at 9 in the morning and managed to sleep the rest of the day until about 530pm. Merry Xmas...ho ho ho..We then helped decorate Moni´s house with xmas decorations with our artistic flair displaying itself in the forms of tinsel wrapped around staircases and red and gold baubles strung from the ceiling. We then went home, got changed and went to mass, Riki strugging to understand why she was wearing a a long white boobtube dress but was still indecent and yet Beanie was wearing a v neck dress but that was fine. Halfway through mass things went sideways and due to heat, and lack of food Riki felt sick, so we scuttled out of church and went home to chill out and get some food in her to raise her blood sugar levels before we went to Moni´s to have dinner with the family.
Dinner consisted of salads, and cold cuts with icecream with meringue and caramel sauce...followed by bags of nougat, peanuts, pan dulce (panettone) and mantecol (peanut stuff). At midnight fireworks exploded and for the kids while they were watching the sky, Papa Noël arrived. We then went to Marisa´s house where there were more sweet treats to avoid like the plague, and then we shifted to another part of the house where the music was cranked up and the party started. After some dancing and drinking we all piled in the back of a ute/truck and got driven to Dikon a bar thats been taken over as a nightclub as it is now the only one in the town. Consequently not designed to be a nightclub and it was stinking hot with no appropriate ventilation for the cigarette fumes which of course permeate EVERYTHING. After a boogie and a cruzifixation...."lo que pasó , pasó...entre tú y yo" we decided that it was bedtime and Gaby dropped us home where we slept solidly for the next few hours.

Dec 23

Arising early we headed out to visit Oli and Rory in their hungover state and then did a spot of shopping while the rain poured down. Our credit cards have been having a bit of a hiding and a whipping the past few days but hopefully in Areco there will be nothing to buy...We then boosted to Palermo to 'Marks' one of Rikis fave restaurants where we enjoyed chicken caeser salads and apple and strawberry licuados. Because we felt so virtuous we decided that to get rid of that abnormal feeling and order a choc brownie and a dulce de leche and coconut slice with a 'submarino'. A submarino is a glass of hot milk with a piece of choc with is literally shaped like a submarine, and you drop it in the hot milk and stir furiously. Delicious. We then grabbed a taxi and rushed back at 2pm to pick up our laundry before the lavanderia shut because everyone has decided to take this particular day off. After a quick flat tidy for Mariann and Pieter we went for a walk to the net cafe and the markets around Paseo Retiro where we managed to yet again spend more money. We then boosted back to the flat to await Pieter and Mariann who arrived at 6ish.
After they arrived we got a taxi to CampoBravo in Las Cañitas where we enjoyed ojo de bife, salad and a divine bottle of Malbec. After dinner (about 12am) the rain started pouring down and managed to ruin our freshly done hair! We got a taxi back where M and P had their first helado in Volta, and then dropped M back to the flat for a snooze while P R and B went to the bar/car showroom for a frozen mojito. After a hasty decision standing by the bar we decided to make a run for it in the rain to the corner to wait for a taxi to take us to Opera Bay. We ended up having to wait a good 15min in pouring rain and B became the Pied Piper when a giant rat ran out and instead of running past her ran circles around her forcing her to do a kind of rat jig. We ended up in Opera Bay having a groove and with Ali inviting us up to the VIP section of Opera. At about 420am we collapsed into a taxi and headed home.

Dec 22

We arose today feeling healthy and much more alert and had a breakfast of delicious perfect green grapes. Then we walked to Oli's beautiful apartment and chilled out there...More to come..So walked to pick up Riki`s airticket home and met Mario ANOTHER of Rikis friends and we had California Company Burritos...very tasty. We then met Marissa and Emilie and Marissa witnessed The Icecream Eating competition at Freddo in Galerias Pacifico. A 1/2kg tub each. Four flavours. Crikey! Four flavours consisted of bitter choc, dulce de leche, mascarpone, limon, mousse de maracuja.... Riki eventually won the race, but only by a few spoons. Gluttony at its best, and something we won´t be repeating for a long time yet. We thought at one stage we might vomit, but managed to do what we do best and keep it in. Reminded us alot of Friday Bakery Strawberry pies that we managed to eat a whole one each in first period study at school. Oh well, at least its not wasted on us...all the skinny Argentine girls just throw it up afterwards...
Riki then had her last Spanish class of ther year and I of course went shopping and managed to find a pair of size4 shoes for my mother, which hopefully they will fit...
AFter shopping some more we headed back top Riki´s apartment and started packing. WHat a mission. I had to be brutal and help her trim the fat off her 13months of accumulation. In the end we got there and went and had a salad for dinner about midnight. Nice.

Dec21

Dec 21

So after being really hung over we get up and go have a feed of pumpkin gnocchi..Riki with Salsa Rigoletta, mine with 4 cheese. Real comfort food..a warm cheesy gooey mess! We then half walked half bussed to Riki´s hairdresser where we had a cut and colour (Riki blonde, me a bit lighter) with Mario. Interestingly enough, the way they streak hair is with a latex cap. You put it on and they pull strands of hair through. Riki informs me this is how they apparently used to do it in the 'old days'. After nearly falling asleep on our chairs from tiredness and hungoverness we finally leave and catch bus 92 back to Riki's for a quick refreshment before getting on another bus to go to Mica's to have dinner with Diana and her. Mica cooked up a big pot of Ravioli, which me and Riki thought we were going to explode after eating. After a few hours there, we got lazy and took a taxi home and went straight to bed.

Dec 20

We started the day well as Riki picked up her final paycheck from teaching English, we then had Sushi for lunch - surprising how many different restaurants here..and it was good..especially the gyozas. Then Beanie had to go for a walk to find some mouth ulcer numbing cream - charming - as she had an attack of them. We walked into Galerias Pacificos, a flashy swanky shopping mall, and managed to have yet more icecream (ahh when will it stop?) Abuela Goye... un monton of white chocolate with strawberries, bitter chcolate and dulce de leche 'abuela goya' covered with white and normal chocolate flakes. We then proceeded to walk the icecream off as we headed to San Telmo - where the antique stores are. Typically we didn`t choose the best day to go, it was quiet, but we managed to find some quirky things nonetheless...and of course some new clothes from funky stores in the neighbourhood. Beanie was stoked with her find of shoes, dress, blazer and necklaces and Riki likewise with her purchases of a hat, and jewellery. We then walked back to Riki`s and showered and made a salad for dinner after all that icecream and also created a big 5L bottle of white sangria (its going to be the drink for our trip in Argentina). Riki then had the smart idea of making a vodka watermelon..dangerous but so good.
Riki's argentian friend came round for dinner and then Marissa and Emilie arrived to get stuck into the Sangria before boosting to Asia de Cuba where the beautiful people are.
Sooo at 1230 we taxi there only to find our free entry (Oli and Rory) haven`t arrived and so we decided to go into an apartment building and utilise their bathrooms as our bladders weren`t holding up very well. Luckily the doorman was good to us and let us go in. Which was a relief!
SO when the boys arrive we head in and get our groove thing on and dance the night away while admiring the beautiful people surrounding us all. That club is one of the most exclusive in BA and evidently the cream of Porteño Society go there.

Dec 19

So weird meal for dinner on the bus with a kooky sweet salty sponge roll and a chicken leg with weird egg ham stuff and another round of sugary cookies we indulged in a glass of bubbly. Ahhh why do buses not serve bubbly in NZ!!?? After a pretty average sleep due to clamminess we arrived in BA at 830am and headed immediately to Riki´s for a nice refreshing shower, and dropped off some laundry. Not very exciting, but the day is young! To be continued...So then we jumped on a bus and headed out to Palermo, where se saw the movie, La vida secreta de las palabras (secret life of words)..and managed to down a MASSIVE bucket of caramel popcorn between us. Then we did a bit of shopping and made Beanie`s first excursion on the metro. We then walked t Riki`s friends who read our tarot cards and made some enlightening discoveries. We then boosted back to Rikis to get changed and head out for Pato (duck) at a chinese restaurant with Oli, Rory and his newly arrived parents. After a meal of dumplings, spicy chicken and green tea (yes- for once we didn`t drink..) Riki and I indulged yet again at Persicco - where we enjoyed Tarta de Limon, Limon, Dulce de leche icecream. By this time we were buggered and walked partway home before being caught in a electrical storm so we scampered for the bus.

Dec 18 La Bodega

After a relatively late sleep in and a struggle to get the desk boys to put our luggage in storage until this evening when we catch our bus, we got up and had a refreshing fruity breakfast. Then we got a colectivo out to Enrique Foster Bodega, an exclusive vineyard which we were invited to because of Emilie´s fabulous connections in the wine world. A beautiful vineyard with poplars surrounding its 11 hectares of grape vines. After a tour of the wine vats and bottling process we finally got to the good part of tasting. White tablecloths, (Riki was impressed) big sparkling wine glasses and taste tests of the Malbec unoaked and the Reserva malbec which was divine. Consequently we headed back into Mendoza, had lunch and (more icecream- mascarpone, chocolate split, cocada limon) back to the hostel to chill and wait for our bus. Evidently Marissa and I were bored when we found the games cupboard and discovered 'Carrera de la Mente' - trivia from the 80's. Yea yea.
ANd in a few hours we are on our luxurious Cata bus back to BA. To be continued...

Dec 17 Rafting

Rafting in Mendoza river with the water from Aconagua.
Another pickup later, impressively earlier than the parapente crew we headed out of the city once again and towards the foothills of the Andes. The scenery is a Lindis Pass double in fact, scrubby desert, clear blue water(a first for me here) and nice big mountains capped with snow.
We arrived and had role call only to get told off for being in jandals................but before i delve into the day: Argentina god bless it as i have come to love it like my own, is at best an interesting place. There s no way i can justly share nor communicate what it is to try and find things out here, try to think ahead or avoid potential problems and complications. There is no grasp of resolving them or avoiding them. I had enquired before leaving the hostel about our shoes.... they suggested what i call tramper sandals which we didnt have they should have guessed that by our lack of interest in anything to extremely exertive i.e trekking, high mountaining, our lack of packs and rather overnight bags or if you are Beanie a wheelie suitcase and our homemade ´picada´(antipasta board dinner and white wine(torrontes) sangria) nonetheless when i proposed wearing closed shoes they said ´not necessary´so yeah off we went in jandals(flipflops) only to find out they werent an option. After narrowly avoiding very expensive renting of black bootie beauties we got to wait again( its an art here). Finally after many evil looks and unhappy faces the guy relented and first tried to give us 2 for 1, but after more unhappy faces and bitching gave in and gave all 4pairs for free.
They divided us into groups and sent us off to get dressed. MC Hammer was our name-oh.....
We´re bringing sweaty back.....anyway blue jumpsuit/tracksuits, yellow helmets and life jacketted out we boarded the bus and headed in and up the valley. The water at this stage no longer crystal clear....but rather the colour of a chocolate frappachino! Paddles and boat in hand we headed down to the river where who has to be chosen as ´demo´girl.....the ever co-ordinated, completely entertaining....RIKI!!! So after various run throughs of our new commands with the actions required for staying afloat ¡adelante!, ¡atrás! etc and me feeling like a lost kid in a game of 'simon says' he finsihed it off with showing us what would happen if someone was to go overboard....so im crouched on the ground beside the boat and he´s grabbing and smacking me showing all the not to´s he finally grabs me by the life jacket and doenst´t tug me onto the boat playfully-he proceeds to yank me from the ground up and onto him in the boat. It was that feeling of knowing what was coming but having no idea how to react. The girls of course are on the floor at this point crying in stitches at the ´rescue´ and im completley dazed and confused and hurting. Whiplashed today i laugh!!!!

So we waded into the water which we didnt feel until we had to lift our paddles, squealed as the water made its way into our bubble of heated tracksuit. FREEZING!!!!!
Somehow i managed to have an attack of sleepiness in the midst of our rafting. The 18km was great fun and i won´t lie; the right distance. Between nature and more 'simon says' we got out of the boat starving and cold. The sun made small work of heating us up and the hamburgers, pizza and fries were met with glee even though we had to wait half an hour. Some swimming in murky and freezing pool (the size of a jacuzzi) and me and bean tabletennising.
Last night was mellow we had showers and dinner at la Carmela with Riki and Beanie enjoying cosmopolitans and sex on the beaches along with yummy tomato basil, mozzarella salad, and ice cream(again) and came home and played cards. In particular Kings and Asshole, where naturally Beanie reigned supreme as King and Riki was in her rightful asshole like position. Ahah just kidding I love you too Riki.

Lest forgot the spiel about the state of our hostel. I´ll let Beanie do the justice!!!

Right. So. The hostel. Noted in the Lonely Planet as full of the 'trekking/mountaingoat variety' it failed to mention the state of the bathrooms. Campo Base Mendoza we deplore you - please fix your plumbing!!! The Drainage system of the hostel with 4 bathrooms between god knows how many backpackers... the stench is inescapable and thank goodness for our bedroom window otherwise we would have suffocated to death on fumes released by those bathrooms.
Lets just say blockages, crampiness and flooding on the toilet floor which despite any non existent attempt by the cleaner to clean does not go away.
Then, the desk guys have no clue of anything..see example above of the shoes we specifically asked for rafting. Haha god bless Argentina...

Dec 16 Parapenting

SO after Argentine time we finally got picked up by crazy parapenter 'Panchi de Mendoza' and sat in the back of a old blue Daihatsu for a bumpy ride up to the top of the foothills of the Andes. From here we were told that some of us would have to wait. SO Riki and I graciously waited while the rest of the group and Marissa and Emilie went first to run off a cliff into air.
We spent our time reclining in 2 portable deck chairs and drinking copious amoutns of water in the blazing sun before retiring first to an open air jeep and then a snooze in the old Daihatsu. By this time it was over an hour later so we were getting worried that the group had plummeted to their deaths somewhere in the hills, but then our fears were quelled when we saw them gently float down towards us and gracefully land.
Consequently Riki and I were next and we had a 30minute bone shaking ride up the hill in a crusty jeep with Alejandro and Panchi. After we arrived Riki had an impressively wet bum from sweat, and the new song 'I'm bringing sweaty back/I have a sweaty back' aka Justin Timberlake was initiated into history. We promptly geared up with our turtle shells and Beanie was honoured with wearing a helmet with leopard print lining and a mouthpiece. OOooh yea. Still don´t know who won the bet about what colour Beanie's eyes were. Chica mysteriosa...ahaha.
Murphey´s law set in and we ended up waiting for some wind, and as Panchi and Beanie moved around to try another angle it picked up and everyone else ended up jumping and we were the last jumpers of our group, with Riki showing the world her wonderful way how to run. God bless that girl and her long legs.
With Riki floating gently down to Earth, with a hop skip and a jump Beanie and Panchi elegantly entered the atmosphere as well. Such an amazing view! City of Mendoza, mountains, cement plants, the plains towards the city, riverbeds, and we had the luck of a church being nearby in case we needed to make any last requests before plummeting towards the ground after our parachute fails...
Thank goodness we survived but the medal of the day goes to Riki, who after our guides told us many times to run jumping off and landing, she decided to just put her legs down and not move. Yea that was real graceful Riki! Graceful landing of 10points (did that ground hurt by the way??)
Another incident that was awesome was Riki asking Alejandro a question and him responding 'Si preciosa' ..So argentine!
We then all got a sexy group photo with the jeep and conned the guides to drop at us a supermarket on the way home where we stocked up on prosciutto, cheeses, salami, fresh bread..and fruit, white wine and juice for Sangria. We walked back to the hostel fending off petrol station attendants, and arrived back and got right into the sangria and the food, facing envious stares from the other backpackers.
Riki ends up gorging herself on peanuts and we end up having to go for a walk and got sidetracked by icecream - chocolate with cherry and lemon mousse and Riki has fruit of the forest and .....then back to the hostel to finally go to sleep.

Dec 14 & 15, Mendoza

Thursday 14
Right so after a laxed out day we had a late lunch and Beanie's first steak at a place where -as Riki dear so aptly put it-the normal people- eat. After visits from Riki´s various Argentinian friends we got dressed and taxied out to Palermo Soho and at at a Vietnamese restaurant called Green Bamboo for a farewell dinner for some American girls studying in Buenos Aires. Amazing food washed down by a fine vino Rosado followed by an amazing passionfruit mousse for dessert. Our waitress initially got our orders wrong and had a go at Riki, but Riki and her brilliant Argentine spanish soon set her straight. For 2 soups, rice paper rolls, and a yummy chicken main plus a dessert wine and water, we paid a grand total of $22.50NZD each. That doesn{t even get you a main in NZ! Awesome. FYI The exchange rate is basically double the NZD.
So once that was digested -finishing the meal at 12.30am we left and walked in circles looking the now nonexistant club 'mundo bizarro' and ended up at bar unico where it was creeper central. A lime capiriniha later the last 2 american girls left and Riki and I boosted to 'Lost' a hiphop club. Now the highlight personally for me was seeing gangsters blinged up in their white basketball shirts, diamante earrings and caps pulled sideways. We found the best position in the club was by the fan blowing a cooling stream of air at us and screwing our already munted hair which despite straightening and putting straightening balm in still goes into a frizzball due to heat and copious amounts of sweat. Nice one. Riki also earned her keep by getting us into Lost without paying the cover - finally she's useful!
Soon after we grabbed a cab home and had a refreshing shower and went to bed so fresh and so clean!

Friday 15
After a surprisingly early wake up Riki went for washing powder and arrived back with copious amounts of strawberries. After gorging ourselves on those we tried the Brazilian embassy yet again -to no avail. After this failed attempt we walked through Florida main tourist drag and saw lots of hearts and treemen - yelling ´cambio´(change) and leather deals. Yea.
Then we detoured to a America Latina Expo with the finest of Argentine honey, welsh fruitcake ..mm.. and wine vinegars.
We then experienced the wonders of cheap depilacion..aka waxing.. and soon after enjoyed a refreshing fruit juice from an originally named superwitty fruit juice store...'jugoso' (juicy).
We then caught a bus to Kate´s place to say a final farewell and help her pack. Enjoyed a refreshing caeser, icecream from Freddos, a columbian (!!) and a skype chat to Riki´s mom.
Went home, packed, caught the bus to the main bus station to meet Emily and Marissa. The bus description is yet to come....

So last night we boarded the ever stealth CATA International bus company to Mendoza. FOURTEEN HOURS....of course Nadine and I with combined maturity of a four year old on fizzy drink before bed time.....squealed and reclined until Marissa and Emilie our poor unsuspecting and civilized additonal partners in crime started looking a little frightened by our behaviour. Leather seats and blankets, cushions not to mention prime ubication...upstairs and front seats.Not to mention wine and dinner....of course you can imagine the novelty nevermind the reactions. But have no fear there are videos.

So after an interesting potato/pea on ham salad and four different types of carbohydrates and ´cold´re wine we opted for champagne - we are now the proud owners of those plastic glasses and got some shut eye. Breakfast was dough , dough and weak and crappy cafe con leche in Beanie´s words.

Mendoza has given us a stunning first day, our hostel is quaint beyond cupcakes and we are four in a little quarter with a deathtrap fan and mattresses that conjure sinking sand sensations. All the same the sun is shining and after working out our itinerary and driving the hostel dude to his wits end, not to mention telling him he overcharged us- the only flaw amongst me and beanie as a team is our lack of ability to do anything WHATSOEVER with numbers
A shower, sing along and bat screeches due to changes in water temperatures.... we took to the streets and found lunch, ice cream and buena onda(good vibrations jaj)

Now we are waiting for our already 25 minute late pickup to go parapenting. PARAPENTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First days Dec 13

Hello and welcome to our blog - Beanie and Riki's Brazilian Bikini Adventures. Granted we are putting stuff in here about Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Uruguay and so forth. Make no mistake- this blog is first and foremost a log for everything we have eaten and then there will be mention of where we are and what we are doing. Right so this is our first official entry, quite fitting after our first 24hours together in BA. Beanie arrived eventually twelve hours later in time for dinner at midnight; nothing out of the ordrinary for here. I exposed her to her first ice cream at Volta- a wonderful combination of Sambayon granizado(Italian custard made with rum and chocolate shreds), Dulce de leche(milk jam translated but their nutella which is kind of but not even close as yummy as caramel condensed milk, and finally Tramontana which is a mix of vanilla ice cream, swirls of dulce and maltesers!!!!Our first day started off with the delights from my bakery next door! We took the bus to Puerto Madero which is the newly developed harbour area where my uni was. We had a wander through the campus made our first video and made our way to hotel Faena.Being us we decided to celebrate our first day with a white sangria jug to die for at 2 in the afternoon. Life is too cruel. After enjoying that we wandered in the direction of the apartment and went to the the Recoleta cemetery where we went to Evita's grave. The cemetery is pretty insane, it is the city of the dead where each person literally has there own shrine the size of the St John's church in Arrowtown. Walking through there is quite an experience and it becomes apparent the age of the city, the wealth of the past and strong presence of an upper class. In recent times families who are strapped for cash have started selling their plots.....not very kosher but it is almost impossible nowadays to ge in there unless you already have family there or alot of money...mainly new money!Anyway after a bit of morbid moment we left with the intention of finding empanadas(Argentine pies) but as we started walking we became very aware of the increasing number of people glued to shop and restaurant with television doorways and display windows. It was the final of soccer and La Boca vs. Estudiantes. La Boca is the most well-known team from here, Maradonas own and the cause for the mass psych madness of football...when they play and win....the world stops and celebrates. Granted that not the whole of Argentina supports them but the majority does and make no mistake everything they said about soccer or football madness here is true. The game yesterday was a bit of a surprise as Boca had lost the three previous games in a rown but based on points still qualified for the final Estudiantes kinda came out of nowhere and went on to win the game. We also had our second drink of the day-a yummy slushy minty mojito at a bar/car showroom which gave us intensive brainfreeze as we enjoyed the view from beside a mini-cooper. Mmmm mojitos.On our way to the Obelisk we passed by a pet shop where 2 puppies were having a death match... I was backing the white puppy, and riki the black. It was puppy on puppy...We boosted it to the Obelisk-big phallic statue in the middle of the widest (second maybe to China as of a few months) avenue to see the hinchas(fans) but it was rather a let down as Estudiantes aren't from the centre city but from La Plata a neighbouring city so it did not make for as much entertainment as there would have been if Boca had won.FYI Buenos Aires is the name of both the city and the province. The centre city is known as Capital Federal which is the 'federal capital' in terms of the country but La Plata is in fact the capital of the province.Right so we finally got ourselves some empanadas and went home to get dressed and head out. Seeing as it was Wednesday and Bean's first night. Opera Bay was a given( a nightclub in/ on the harbour resembling the Sydney operahous, four different dance floors and reknowned for its Wednesdays ' after hours ' 9-12 drinking scene of people in suits. To die for!!!After that we made our way to Asia de Cuba another very exclusive nightclub. Collectively it is ridiculous how beautiful the people are in there. After a year I am still amazed and well Bean confirmed and lapped it all up.In a nutshell those were our first few hours together. Today has been quiet, some steak, catching up on sleep and just hanging out.Have no fear, I doubt the other blogs will be this long, extensive or rambled. Beanie might have to take charge of articulating blogging our adventures.