Cordoba

Corduba is a much cleaner and smaller and slightly more boring, dare I say, version of BA! Its certainly nice not to have to watch where you are putting your feet all the time to avoid dog poo and rubbish though! The weather has warmed up temporarily again and I fell asleep reading my book this afternoon on the rooftop that looks out over the concrete blocks of appartments and corrugated iron roofs stretching out to reach the crisp blue sky, pierced by the sun. I could hear the bird next door accompanied by the traffic in the street below and the hostel's dog. I dont know what type it is as I cant see it but it can sound like a screech, a child, or a cocatoo or something! It also sings tunes! Anyway, yesterday we wondered towards the Plaza San Martin hoping to get into the peachy coloured cathedral that looks like a sandcastle that someone has put far too much work into! Unfortunately, due to the Catholic nature of the country, EVERYTHING was closed! So we sat and read amongst the pidgeons in the deserted square on the wooden benches, looking across at the fountain and statue which has a rider too big for the horse! (similar to the BA one) Considering people tend to be shorter than the average UK resident out here, I dont think I can put it down to just being in a different country! I have discovered the 2 best treats in the world out here: Alfahores and sugared donuts filled with dulche de leche!! Heaven in a mouthful. They do them too well! The parks out here are nothing on Hyde park, partly as the grass is all dead! But, we had fun in the playground and also went on a fairground we stumbled upon with our new Israeli friend, Naor, who left with 8 days left of his trip yesterday! I myself have just passed the halfway point, can't believe how quickly its flown by but it seems like an age until I return too. Had a fantastic spanish style omlette cooked on the beast of an oven in this place! I am appreciating the cheap cost of living more and more each day I spend out here. For referance: A good bottle of wine = 2pounds (thers no pound sign on this keyboard, sorry folks :P!) excellent steak with drinks out in a restaurant = 10 pounds, bottled water = 20p and my wonderful, clean, spacious and faultless accommodation is 8 pounds a night (in a room supposed to be shared by 6 that we have all to ourselves at the moment!!) Such a treat. I love the high ceilings everywhere we go in Argentina, it gives you an extra sense of space even if you are in a small bedroom. We met a Danish couple today who bravely, or stupidly, are travelling with a 5 month old baby!! I don't know how, think of all the stuff you have to take out for one AFTERNOON in the park with a kid, now try and fit that into a backpack! Then the space for a travel cot and buggy doesnt bear thinking about! We've also met quite a few people who live out here but work via the internet, to name one, Martin, who is a 40 year old Danish historian, very interesting fellow! Something I wouldnt mind doing myself in the years to come! Now back to my fantastic book, Shantaram! Lots of Love XX

Well here I am in Buenos Aires having had an easy sleep filled flight from New Zealand, with no films!! 11.5 hours without film is boring to say the least but lucky for me my book is hotting up. Spanish music and sunlight floods this quaint hostel where breakfast is free and wonderfully continental! So many nationalities, the conversation round the breakfast table was in German, Spanish and English!

New Zealand seems so long ago already, but it was a beautiful blast conducted briskly by our host, Paula. The beaches she toured us around on the West were black sand so soft I was happy to have my shoes filled with it as it flowed around my toes! The other side of the beach where the sand was half dry half wet crunched lightly underfoot too - a new ensation and how id expect it to feel walking on chocolate icing that has slightly set! I swam in the sea even though, in their autumn, it was pretty chilly! The surfers in their full wetsuits gave me some funny looks!Still warmer than the English sea though.
I think it took about 2 weeks to adjust to the heat in Singapore then Bangkok, and not feel tired from doing the smallest thing. To suddenly plunge into an atmosphere of 20 degrees felt very cold! I was wrapped up in 2 pairs of legging, my hoodie and as many of tops as I could fit on underneath that! Bad move not bringing any trousers out, but it gives me an excuse to buy some new jeans hehe. The other side of the coast near Aukland had yellow sand and had some great stacks and stumps I could appreciate from good old geography textbooks! We also went to Palm Beach for a very enjoyable boozy (filled with wine tasting) lunch with Paula´s friend Leslie, on Wanheke Island which had some stunning views of the sea and the white motor boats that compltely filled the harbour. Wine Tasting was also on the list of things to do, and now I know a little more about the type of white wine I most enjoy! The vineyards were beautiful and rolled away into the valleys and up the other sides.
Lounging around by the pool back at her house was wonderfully relaxing too. Also spent an evening in their "spa" - outdoor Jacuzzi to you and me. The house was spacious, light and so neat and tidy I didn´t feel I could sprawl out quite how I might have otherwise. The bed I slept in was a dream though compared to all the hard hostel fouton type things I´ve had over the last 3 weeks, and it was luxurious to have a duvet.
The architechture was very strange. All the houses were clapboard as opposed to stone or brick and looked like they had been put up temporarily until their real house was finished being built. Or they returned home having had a nice summer holiday! Apparently most people have 2 houses though - a "bach" nearer the beach where families will spend their holiday periods. The landscape was green with some trees very similar to England but with more tropical looking plams here and there and brown grass as theyd had hardl any rain.
Also visited a house sunk into the hill with a grass roof which we ate some BREAD on which I am missing so much! A little like the tellytubbies place, it was amazing, the sunset occured right infront of us and a possum appeared (illegal pet they are keeping as the son shot its mother!) and we ate dinner outside by candlight with kiwis dangling overhead. Another world truly. Really enjoyed being thrown into their lifestyle. Great cooking too. Bacon and eggs for brekkie and generally strong flavours and sauces with lots of roast chicken.
I am getting off to the cemetary where Evita was buried now! Will keep in touch. Much love to all!! XXXXXXX