Day 27 6th December 2006, Steak and the City - Buenos Aires, Argentina

After Lima, Buenos Aires certainly feels closer to home with a very European feel to the city, the level of English spoken is a lot less than in Peru. Could this be something to do with the past relations between Argentina and the UK?

A quick review recent history obviously brings up the Falklands conflict but going further back Britain tried to take the Spanish established colonies in Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1807, being repelled by local militia on both occasions. A few years later in 1810 the local citizens ousted the Spanish Viceroy and declared Independence. In 1838 -1840 and 1845-1848 the city survived naval blockades firstly by the French and then a joint Anglo-French attempt.

Surviving almost half a century of British and French invasions it was no surprise to find a watchtower in one of the cities squares, less surprisingly it is named The "Englishman Watchtower" In its shadow a large memorial to the Argentines who lost their lives during the Falklands / Malvinas conflict.

Walking through Buenos Aries we found and managed to cross the worlds largest street "Avenida 9 de Julio" Named after the official declaration of Independence on the 9th of July 1816. At 140 meters wide and with ten lanes, we needed several large beers after crossing it.

With all the new found political and historical knowledge I am acquiring on these travels, I should be unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit on our return. In my quest for a greater understanding of Argentina I had 4 key topics on my list

1. Evita
2. Tango
3. Steak
4. Football

After discovering that Evita (little Eva) was controversially a Nazi sympathiser, I lost interest and moved onto the other 3 items on the list. As we are going to a Tango show tomorrow Steak rose to the top of the agenda. Armed with my diagram off all the different beef cuts we headed off in search of a steak restaurant.

I plan to try out all of the different cuts before leaving Argentina

Highlights: Great Steak