Argentina

´Zipping up my boots, going back to my roots´
´Not talking ´bout the roots in the land, I´m talking ´bout the roots in the man´
Going Back To My Roots - Lamont Dozier

Hello

Well we are in our final week of our almost year long adventure. We flew out from Glasgow on June 19th 2007 and on June 4th 2008, if flights go to plan, we will be touching back down on Scottish soil.

We are really looking forward to seeing family and friends and enjoying some bacon rolls!

The last week has been remarkably quiet as our trip to Iguazu was our last ´real´ bit of travelling and sightseeing. So I´m not going to do a day by day blog for this entry, I´ll just run through what we have been up to.

Stay tuned though as we intend to do two more blogs, one of our route and highlights and our last blog will be Murray and Lynn´s Bunch of Fives - our travel awards for the year 2007/08. So stay tuned to find our top 5 places to chill out, top 5 beaches, top 5 places to eat and the all important and hotly contested top 5 beers.

So what have we been up to in the last week.....

Boca Juniors Stadium tour - On Tuesday we went to Boca, a working class suburb of Buenos Aires to do the stadium tour and visit the Caminito area of Boca. The Caminito is a colourful selection of buildings made from corrugated iron, it´s a rough area but it has been transformed into a tourist attraction. The colourful buildings are surrounded by beautiful but slowly deteriorating old buildings that are bars, restaurants and tourist shops.

The stadium tour was pretty basic but well worth going on if you are a football fan. It started in the club shop before taking you round the stadium. We went pitchside and got our picture taken with a replica of the Copa Libertadores Cup and saw Maradonna´s box. The highlight of the tour was when we were in the dressing room and the guide took me to one side and asked if I had heard about the virgin that Maradonna once brought into the dressing room. My jaw dropped and before I could speak the guide showed me a small doll of the Virgin Mary!

The Caminito area is lovely. It is full of amazing Boca Juniors and Maradonna merchandise, restaurants, tango shows and bars. Sadly it is only safe to go there during the day and the restaurants and bars close at dusk as no tourists will visit Boca at night due to lack of security. We enjoyed a beer in the sunshine and bought a few tshirts.

Evita´s grave - Before the Champions League final on May 21st we visited the stunning cemetary where Evita Peron´s remains are housed. The cemetary is in the lovely area of Recoleta and the graves are absolutely beautiful. They are more like little houses and the cemetary is more like a little village. Worth going to but you only need half an hour max. Thankfully the pub we were watching the football in was right across the road from it. See the previous blog for details about that!

Evita Museum - The Evita Museum is good, but it is not really geared up to English speaking tourists. Still, you get a good idea about how important a role Evita played in the lives of Argentinians from that period. She fought for Women´s rights and stood up for the porr, campaigning for and succeeding in getting better housing. She was also a total babe and style icon and some of her clothes were on display. She was pretty cool!

Indiana Jones 4 - We went to see Indiana Jones 4 and laughed out loud. Classic. You cannot beat Indy.

Apart from that we have been very quiet, going to the gym, enjoying the odd beer, bottle of wine and meal out and also enjoying staying in our apartment watching films and saving money. As we don´t have a lot left.

Over the next few days we will be very quiet. We move out our apartment on Monday and will stay in a hostel/hotel on Monday night before catching our flight home on Tuesday!

What a year!

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxxx

We are the pride of all Europe, the cock of the north
We hate the scousers and cockney of course (and Leeds)
We are United without any doubt
We are the Manchester boys na na na

Well it is now 4 days after the European Champions League trophy was won by United in dramatic circumstances in Moscow. I am absolutely delighted for Alex Ferguson, his reign at Old Trafford deserves more than one European Cup, his ability to mould players, bring on youngsters and his thirst for success and attacking footall is unrivalled in the modern game. Another famous Scottish manager, Liverpool´s legendary Bill Shankly once said 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' That may be taking things to the extreme but for supporters of Manchester United and Chelsea that quote must have rang true in the build up to, during and after the match.

Could either team handle losing to one of their fiercest rivals? I certainly could not begin to imagine Chelsea winning and then coming to Old Trafford next season and rubbing United´s noses in it. The thought provoked chills down my spine.

Thankfully, all worries were erased from my head after Edwin Van Der Sar saved former Arsenal and Liverpool player Nicholas Anelka´s penalty kick to take the trophy back to Old Trafford for a third time. For supporters of United around the globe there was sheer joy and exuberation, for Chelsea supporters it must have been a feeling worse than death. Refer back to Bill Shankly´s quote.

It was an excellent game, more open than most could have anticipated. We wathched the game at the fantastic Locos por el Futbol in Buenos Aires. A huge sports bar with massive screens and table service. Thankfully there were other United supporters in from Norway, Holland, Argentina and Manchester, including two season ticket holders in the Strefor End, Bernie and her daughter Catherine. There were a few Chelsea suporters in as well including two very mouthy Israeli´s at the table next to us.

Ferguson went for his strongest line-up, allaying any fears I had about him starting with one upfront. With Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo on the pitch United have the ability to beat anyone. Back up that forward line with a midfield consisting of the maestro Paul Scholes, an ever improving Michael Carrick, both offensively and defensively and the superfit and superfast Owen Hargreaves. Then you have the rock solid defence of Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra. A team worthy of Europe´s finest prize.

United started strongly and took the lead just before the half hour mark through a powerful Ronaldo header, after excellent work on the right wing from Scholes and Brown. United had chances to sew the game up before half time including a Tevez diving header after a breathtaking move involving Rooney and Ronaldo. Chelsea equalised before half time and it was all square at the interval.

Chelsea looked more confident in the second half, but both teams had their chances with Drogba hitting the post for Chelsea. Giggs came on for extra time and could have won it but for an excellent clearing header from John Terry. At that stage penalties seemed inevitable though and they were soon upon us, not before my most hated man in football, Didier Drogba was sent off. What a complete TWAT.

United scored their first two then the unthinkale happened, Ronaldo missed. The two Chelsea supporters next to us jumped up almost into my face and I had to bite my tongue and clench my fists to avoid a reaction. Chelsea scored to take the lead. Hargreaves and Nani scored under pressure for United, leaving the last penalty kick and the chance to win it to Chelsea captain John Terry. At this point I gave some money to Lynn to settle the bill and said that if he scored I would be making a sharp exit to get away from the Chelsea supporters. Instead it was my turn to turn to the two Chelsea fans next to me and scream ´get it right up you Chelsea´ and run to celebrate with the Norwegian reds. In the joyous scenes my glasses were knocked off and I was scrabbling about on the floor looking for them, only just getting them in time to see Anderson score the next penalty. Chelsea scored as well and then it was Ryan Giggs turn to step up.

Giggs was breaking Bobby Charlton´s appearance record for Manchester United and he tucked his penalty away. Next up was Nicholas Anelka. As if it wasn´t bad enough that this guy played for Chelsea, he has also played for Arsenal and Liverpool. Van der Sar saved and the place went nuts, with me shouting a few choice words at the Chelsea support in the bar.

We danced and sang with the Norwegian Reds and then ordered a bottle of champagne with Bernie and Catherine from Manchester. Bernie´s son was in Moscow and she got a couple of text messages as we sang United songs and had our picture taken by the local press. Bernie is 59 and she had been at Wembley in 1968 to see United win the European Cup for the first time and I had been in Barcelona for 1999, so it was quite fitting that we should meet in 2008. I am a great believer in fate when it comes to football, especially European Cup finals!

Bernie told us that her best friend was the former official photographer for the George Best fanclub. When I cheekily asked if he friend and George had ever, you know. She would only reply ´well George was a bit of a lad you know´ and wink at me.

We had a good chat about United and the history of the club and our love of it. After the champagne and a few more beers we waved goodbye and went back to our flat where I collapsed in a happy drunken heap and had a strange dream about being in a bar with my friends from the Glasgow Manchester United Supporters Club.

UNITED ARE THE CHAMPIONS, EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS, STRETFORD ENDERS SING THE STORY, OF UNITED´S PRIDE AND GLORY

´Now you´re at the wheel, tell me how, how does it feel?´
Waterfall by Stone Roses

Hello all

After the last blog this one is a little more exciting as we returned to travelling and sight seeing mode. It has been great chilling in BA though and having our own place after a year in hostels and hotels is just fantastic.

Since the last blog we have been to the amazing Iguazu Falls. Read on for more details.

Thursday 15th May
The alarm went off at 5am and we booked a taxi for 5.40am to take us to the domestic airport for our flight to Iguazu. The 7.10am flight left on time and in under two hours we were in Iguazu, a far cry from the 26 hour bus journey that was our other option.

We had checked into Hotel Carmen by 10am and as we didn´t have anything planned for that day until a boat cruise at sunset we decided to ge a taxi to the falls as there wasn´t a lot to do in the town. The falls are 12km out of the town and we paid the 40 ARG park entrance fee and went in. As we only had a few hours we decided to go to what many people refer to as the highlight of the park, Devils Throat.

We went on a little train and arrived at a walkway across the river. The scenery was already spectacular but nothing could prepare us for the sight just over a km away. The spray from the 75 metre waterfall rose in the distance and we could hear the water thundering down. Word cannot really describe how beautiful, powerful and stunning Iguazu National Park and the 275 waterfalls that are in it.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about them...
Upon seeing Iguaçu, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!"[1] Vastly larger than North America's Niagara Falls, Iguaçu is rivalled only by Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe (this is excluding extremely large rapid-like falls such as the Boyoma Falls). Whilst Iguazu is wider because it is split into about 270 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over a 1600 m wide and over 100 m (350 ft) in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted).

The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 40 ha (1.3 million ft²) whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft²).[4] By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft²).[5] Victoria's annual peak flow is also greater than Iguazu's annual peak—9 100 m³/s versus 6 500—though in times of extreme flood the two have recorded very similar maximum water discharge (well in excess of 12 000 m³/s). Niagara's annual peak flow is about 2 800 m³/s, although an all-time peak of 6 800 has been recorded.[5] Iguazu and Victoria fluctuate more greatly in their flow rate. Mist rises between 30 and 150 m (100 and 500 ft) from Iguazu's Garganta do Diabo, and over 300 m (1,000 ft) above Victoria (sometimes over 600 m).

Iguazu, however, affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls. The Garganta do Diabo has water pouring into it from three sides. Likewise, because Iguazu is split into many relatively small falls, one can view these a portion at a time. Victoria does not allow this, as it is essentially one waterfall that falls into a canyon and is too immense to appreciate at once (except from the air).

We went snap happy with the camera and will update our flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn tomorrow

Friday 16th May
The alarm went off at 7am and after a buffet breakfast we were picked up by our tour guide for a full day exploring the Argentine side of the falls. We met a nice woman from Guatemala and 4 Argentine´s. We started off at Devil´s Throat again and despite being there the day before it seemed even more impressive in the morning sun, with the wind direction meaning that anyone who ventured out on to the viewing platform for completely soaked.

After a good 40 minutes admiring the power and beauty we got a train to the Upper Circuit and walked along, admiring the waterfalls and the greenery. After lunch we walked along the Lower Circuit and then got a boat across the river at the bottom of the falls to Isla San Martin and climbed some steps to get an amazing view of the San Martin waterfall. After a quick dip in the river we went back to the mainland and jumped in a powerboat for a brilliant experience. The boat takes you right up to the bottom of the falls and you get soaked. It was brilliant fun.

After that it was a 5km boat trip down some rapids to a 4x4 jeep that took us back to the park entrance.

I haven´t written a lot about this day, but I could have! The scenery is just amazing, like a film set, only real!

Saturday 17th May
The alarm went off at 7am again and after breakfast we checked out and got on the bus at 8.15am to Brazil to visit the Brazilian side of the falls. You can´t get as close to the waterfalls from the Brazilian side but the panoramic views were jaw droppingly spectacular. Sheer beauty. The world is a beautiful place.

We spent a good 3 hours going snap happy again, around 300 pictures from 2 days! After that we had an amazing buffet lunch on the way back to the border and then we transferred to the airport for our flight back to BA. At night we had a beer and sushi in the flat.

I have to say that if anyone has the opportunity to visit Iguazy Falls you should seize it. In 11 months of travelling it is definitely near the top, if not top, of our list of beautiful places in the world.

Thats all for now folks, I´m off to check on the latest CL final news. COME ON UNITED!

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Hello all

It has been a while since my last blog so I will split our news into two seperate blogs, one for hanging in Buenos Aires and one for our trip to the simply spectacular Iguazu Falls.

We´ve been enjoying chilling in Buenos Aires, going to the gym, relaxing in the many bars and restaurants in Palermo, attending an amazing football game and loving having our own apartment.

Some of the diary entries may not be very exciting as we have been chilling quite a bit!

Wednesday 7th May
We went to the gym for an hour in the morning and then went to a funky New York style deli called Mark´s Deli for lunch. In the afternoon we wandered around Palermo Viejo and Soho areas and phoned a couple of friends before cooking in the flat and watching The Virgin Suicides on dvd.

Thursday 8th May
River Plate 2 v 2 San Lorenzo
We went to the gym again in the morning and we are already feeling the benefits of regular exercise. We had a quiet afternoon and then got picked up by Tangol at 6pm for the 2nd leg of the River v San Lorenzo match in the Copa Libertadores cup, the South American version of the Champions League. SL had a 2-1 lead from the first leg, so River were in the mood for goals.

The stadium was packed out, you could not move and God help you if you needed to go to the toilet, you simply couldn´t get out as people were standing and sitting in the isles. Every ticket was sold and a few people must have jibbed in. It was mobbed. The atmosphere was electric. I always like night games, the floodlights seem to enhance the occassion. It wasn´t just floodlights that enhanced the atmosphere, fireworks, flares and confetti went off as the teams took the field.

The game was pretty even until San Lorenzo had a player sent off and River took the lead. In the second half it started to get dirty and San Lorenzo had a second player sent off with River scoring the resulting penalty. The stadium erupted, it looked like River were cruising to the quarter finals. But San Lorenzo had other ideas. They had been playing excellent football all night and scored to bring it back to 2-1 on the night after sloppy defending by River. SL suddenly were on top and despite River having a 2 man advantage they could not keep possession. SL won a corner and scored, their fans went ballistic and the River end went deadly quiet.

Despite hitting the post and forcing several saves, River could not score and San Lorenzo went through. What a game, one I will always remember.

Friday 9th May
After a relatively long lie we decided to walk along Santa Fe Avenue to the Alto Palermp Shopping Mall. I bought a couple of Adidas tops and a pair of Red Converse. On the way back to teh apartment we stumbled across a funky dress shop and Lynn bought a dress for our friend Kenny and Marjories wedding on June 14th.

In the evening we ber hopped around the square and streets off it and had a few beers before getting takeaway Sushi and a dvd ´The Holiday´ to watch in. Also ended up getting a bottle of wine, so romantic!

Saturday 10th May
We got up at 10.30am and after breakfast we went to the gym for an hour and had leftover sushi for lunch. There was a market in the square and Lynn bought a couple of tops there. It is nice to be wearing some new and clean clothes after a year travelling! We did a bit of bar hopping in Palermo Soho and had pizza for dinner before another few beers on the way back to the apartment.

Sunday 1th May
Woke up at 10am and had breakfast in bed watching the Wigan v Manchester United game. United won 2-0 to win the league, full steam ahead to Moscow!

We had a nice wander around Palermo in the afternoon, we are still discovering new bars, shops and restaurants. At night we had booked into a local Parilla (steak house) called La Cabrera, one of the best in BA according to Time Out. We were not disappointed, the food was absolutely outstanding, washed down with a bottle of fine Argentine wine. The cost was under 30 quid, if we had been eating to that standard in the UK it would probably have been 70 or 80.

Monday 12th May
A very quiet day with not a lot to report. We are finally getting into the habit of relaxing and chilling after a manic 11 months travelling.

Tuesday 13th May
We got the subway into town after the gym and went to the Quantas offices to change our flight home to June 3rd, so we will officially be back in Scotland on June 4th, just under a year since we left.

We wandered around the Centre of town and bought a few presents to take home and then had a quiet night eating pizza in the flat and watching the Bourne Supremacy on TV.

Wednesday 14th May
We went to the gym in the morning and then went back to the flat for lunch. In the afternoon we went to a local Irish bar called Sullivans to watch the Rangers v Zenit St Petersburgh UEFA Cup Final. Rangers were poor and lost 2-0. The bar staff felt sorry for me as I am Scottish and gave me a free beer!

Read on for a more exciting blog about the amazing Iguazu Falls.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxxx

´Follow, follow, follow, cause United are going to Moscow´
Old Trafford and the Manchester United supporters

Hello blog fans

It hasn´t been long since I last wrote but so much has happened I thought I had better start updating the blog. We have moved into a funky little apartment in the Palermo Viejo district of Buenos Aires. We are on a quiet street but only 2 blocks from a little square surrounded by cool bars, restaurants and shops. The whole area has more than enough bars and restaurants to keep us busy until we fly home.

Unfortunately I also got pickpocketed on the underground, ba**ards. It all happened so quickly that I didn´t realise my wallet had gone until after they had got away. How they managed to unbutton my trouser pocket and get it out so quickly I will never know.

We have also been the ´el classico´, Boca Juniors v River Plate, joined a gym and booked a 3 day/2 night trip to Iguazu Falls. Despite the pickpocketing we are loving Buenos Aires, it is a fab city.

Friday May 2nd, Carla Jennifer Easton´s 23rd birthday
The day started well. The sun was shining and we had lunch sitting outside a nice pub in Palermo and then checked out our hostel and moved into our apartment that we have rented for one month. We met the owner and the agent and all went well. I was literally skipping down the street in the sunshine as we were delighted with the apartment. Small, but spotless and modern. It is a great feeling to have our own place for one month after 11 fairly hectic months of travelling.

We got the underground to 9 de Julio and went to change to get the underground to Plaza San Martin. As we got on there was a scuffle with people getting on then deciding they wanted to get out. I was involved in the scuffle and after it finished I realised my wallet had been pinched out my trouser pocket. I had combats on and the wallet was locked in with a button, fairly safe I thought. Somehow one of the guys, I think there were 2 or 3 of them in the scam, unbuttoned my pocket and lifted my wallet without me even feeling it. As soon as I realised I erupted with a rage and barged my way out the train as the doors were shutting and dragged Lynn with me. But it was already too late, they had disappeared into the crowd. Probably a good thing as god knows what would have happened if I had caught up with them.

We immediately found an internet cafe and got the numbers for our bank and credit card and cancelled them immediately. Unfortunately there was also around 100 pounds in the wallet as we had lifted money to go to the BA office and change our flights home.

I eventually calmed down but was raging that I hadn´t noticed something suspect was up.

At night we had dinner in the apartment and a few beers to calm down!

Saturday May 3rd
Lynn´s Mum phoned our new flat at 8am and woke us up. My Mum also called and we chatted before watching the Manchester United 4 v 1 West Ham game with breakfast in bed! Top goals from Ronaldo and Tevez ensured an easy victory.

After the game we walked down to the gym that we have joined for a month, around 6 blocks from our apartment. We spent an hour running and doing some light weights to break us back into the routine. On the way back we stopped off at a nice local supermarket and bought some food for the flat and returned to have beefburgers for lunch and then a wander round the leafy streets of Palermo Viejo.

There are some cracking shops in the area and I boughta couple of tshirts, a shirt and a jacket. Lynn got a sripey crossover shirt and a vintage tshirt. Buenos Aires is a well dressed city and our old backpacking gear just isn´t in vogue!

At night we wandered down to a local sushi bar and got 40 pieces to takeaway and had them for dinner with a nice cold Quilmes from the fridge.

Sunday May 4th
Boca Juniors 1 v 0 River Plate
One thing I really wanted to do in BA was go to a Boca Juniors game, so imagine my delight when the fixtures came out and Boca were playing their arch rivals River on May 4th. Maradonna used to play for Boca, as well as Tevez of United and Gabriel Batistuta. They have a rich and interesting history, as do River.

We were picked up by our mini bus and guide from Tangol at 12.45 and driven to the game. Amazingly someone else in the bus had a bit of Scottish history, Duncan McPhee from Santiago in Chile has a Scottish Grandfather from Greenock! He is also friends with Seb Rozenthal who used to play for Rangers.

We got to the ground a full 2.5 hours before kick off and met some other people who had booked through Tangol and transferred to the areas of the ground we were all in. The guide didn´t want to hang around outside as he said there would be trouble between the two fans and supporters have been known to get mugged for their ticket! This is a game that the whole of Argentina wants to see and the streets were deserted on the way in. The country stops for this game.

We took our seats high up in the stand behind the goals, opposite from the stand where the River supporters occupied the third tier. We were high up in tier 2 and it was steeper than the North Stand at Old Trafford, which is saying something! The result of the steep stand ensures you have an amazing view and are almost on top of the action when the play is at your end.

The reserves played a 45 minute match to warm the crowd up. Not that the crowd needed much encouragement. The River end was already full and the rest of the stadium soon filled up. At the bottom of our stand a group of kids through rolled up ticket tape into the crowd, enough so that pretty much everyone had one. Behind us a group of supporters prepared a huge flag that would cover the whole stand!

As the teams came out the ticker tape throwing started, creating an amazing sight. Anyone who has seen footage of the Argentina v Holland 1978 World Cup Final will know what I mean. Then the flares started and then the flag was passed down over the end of our tier and into thetier below. Some amount of work must have gone into the creation of this flag!

The game was delayed as the stewards battled to clear the River goalmouth and Boca fans played at trying to hit the River keeper with ticker tape that wasn´t unrolled! The game eventually kicked off and River started brightly with their number 30 looking particularly skillful. Boca started to gain more possession and their number 9 was sent clean through on goal, forcing a good save from the River keeper. The resulting corner was headed powerfully into the net and the stadium went wild.

River never recovered and although they had a lot of possession I can´t remember them forcing a real save from Boca. Boca had further chances to score but didn´t take them.

We waited for the crowds to clear and made our way back to the bus and then back to the flat. We decided we couldn´t be bothered cooking and found a nice restaurant a few blocks away that I will need to go back to as I can´t remember the name of it. We had a delicious meal, I had an amazing piece of meat, a good 4 inches thick, while Lynn had fish and lovely creamy mashed potatoes, washed down with a bootle of fine Argentine win - Torrontes Vinci Domingo. Amazingly we bumped into Duncan and his girlfriend, and we thought BA was a big city!

Monday 5th May
After a light breakfast we headed to the gym where we had a medical test to ensure we are fit and healthy. After 11 months on the road you can´t be sure! Our heart and lungs were fine and we had another hour of exercise and then walked back to the apartment, picking up some laundry from a local laundrette on the way. 2 big bags of washing for only 3 pounds!

We then got the underground into Central and went to the British Airways office to change our ticket home but you couldn´t do it in person! We then walked to the Tangol office and booked a ticket for the River Plate v San Lorenzo match on Thursday night. Should be a good one as River are 2-1 down from the first leg, it is the South American version of the Champions League. We also booked a 2 night/3 day trip to Iguazu Falls for May 15th.

After a relatively productive day we had dinner in the flat, with me cooking some nice fresh noodles, chicken, veg and sauce. It is great having our own place to relax in. We have stayed in some cracking hostels, but also some that have been very noisy.

Tuesday May 6th
After a long lie we went to the Subway police and filed a report in case we can claim some money back through our insurance. After that we had a wander around some shops and found a Levis Outlet store only a few blocks from our flat and Lynn bought a nice top.

We plan to have a very chilled afternoon and evening, likewise tomorrow, apart from the gym and then go to the football on Thursday night.

Catch you soon
Murray and Lynn
xxx