Gareth Leonard & Tourist2townie.com on BBC Blogworld - Thursday, 11 March 2010

Lunch in Martinez, Racing vs Huracan Futbol Match & Peru Beach in San Isidro

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Late night futbol squad, lunch & graffiti in Palermo, Buller toast & my birthday party, Japanese Gardens and Lesley's Birthday!

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To me, everything along the river in San Isidro feels like a hidden gem. To access most of the restaurants, pubs and riverside shopping areas you must make your way through residential neighborhoods and shopping plazas. As you pass by these magnificent homes towards the water you can see these elaborate summer gardens through the gates of their giant secured walls.

Even when you approach the road along the river it doesn't seem like much. Dirt foot paths and humble restaurant entrances open up to a wonderful summertime oasis. Watching kite surfers fly across the Rio while taking in some sun and listening to Daddy Yankee bump through the speakers definitely isn't a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. You won't find a lot of tourists here, that's for sure. 

(Tired and broken hearted, Racing fans wait for Huracán fans to stop cheering so they can leave)

The second official tournament of the year, the Clausura 2010, is well under way here in Argentina. Most teams are about 6 games in on their 19 game season and the madness is in full swing. Last night I ventured out to Racing for my first game of the season with my Italian buddy Marco. He is a die hard Racing fanatic so I couldn't help but to get in the spirit of things. The Racing Club is known for having one of the most loyal and rowdy fan basis despite the lack of success from the team itself. 

I was cautious at first because it was a night game (9pm start) and the stadium wasn't located in the best of areas outside Capital Federal. However, once within about a mile radius of Racing you could feel the electricity begin to mount and any fear I had immediately turned to excitement. 

As we pulled through the toll on our way back to Montevideo from Punta del Este we were waved down by a police officer standing behind the booth. It was Thursday afternoon, the sun was out and the roads were quiet. I don't know if it was the rental car sticker on our bumper, that we were coming from Punta del Este or because we were 4 men packed in a small car but the officer definitely knew we were coming in advance. The Policia spoke into his walkie-talkie as if to confirm he got us as he walked over to the side of the road where we were now parked. 

Devin was driving and I was in the passenger seat. The officer stood at the drivers side window and inspected Devin's New York Drivers License first. Then, he asked if any of us spoke Spanish because he didn't speak any English. I reluctantly said "Si, yo hago... mas or menos". He asked Devin and I to get out of the car and come around front. From there (from what I understood) he proceeded to tell us the problem. he explained that our lights were off and that it was the law that they needed to be on at all times and from what I hear I guess this is actually true. He then asked about the English translation for a few words like "light and "on/off" and he seemed to get a kick out of how easy it was (light - Luz). After a few minutes of awkward small talk and nervous laughter he asked Devin to get back in the car. 

February's Tourist2townie Hall of Fame Inductee goes to Prince Akeem and Semmi from Coming to America. These two affluent African men left their comfortable lifestyles in search of adventure, opportunity and a wife that will arose intellect as well as loins! They lived, worked and dressed like townies! They had some good lost in translation moments and even had some success with local women. Prince Akeem & Semmi you two are truly an inspiration. Well done guys. 

Happy Black History Month! 

Check out the first ever T2t Hall of Fame Inductee: Terminator

Imagine yourself driving home from a nice evening out on the town. Maybe you had a big dinner with friends, drank some wine and had a few laughs. Now imagine as you're heading back to your condo or hotel along the water you notice a commotion in the distance. You look closer and see something happening where you took those nice touristy photos earlier that day. Then you think... man, I hope nothing bad happened, is it a fight? Is everyone okay?

The answer is yes, it is a fight. And no, not everyone is okay. 

It was a fight between 4 grown men and their quest to summit the middle finger of a hand protruding from the beach at 3:30am in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Straight out of a scene from The Hangover, my buddies and I thought it was a great idea to try and conquer Punta del Este's #1 landmark... Dedos (fingers). We were able to summit the thumb and pinky fingers without hesitation but the 25ft middle finger proved to be our Everest. We tried human ladders and swinging each other up but we just couldn't reach the peak. After some fighting within the team, cursing at the sand and collapsing on each other we decided to throw in the towel. 1 - 0 Dedos vs. Dudes. 

Luckily for us there wasn't a whole lot of people passing by that night. Actually, there really wasn't anyone in the city our entire trip. We probably couldn't have gotten away with this in January. But, Punta del Este was pretty much dead so we tried our best to turn lemons into lemonade!

Here is my "Best of Buenos Aires: Summer Edition" List:  

Best For People Watching:

• Walking down Sante Fe Avenue [Palermo to Pueyrredon] between 4 and 7pm passing by Alto Palermo in the process. 
• Taking the 152 Collectivo (bus) through the city (my favorite ride) you can take it down to Puerto Madero from Palermo or all the way to La Boca.
• Pick a park or plaza and have a seat. You can watch everything from make out sessions to beggars to kids playing in the fountains.

Best Getaways:

• Tigre, Argentina - (Pictured Above) Start at the Puerto de Frutos and end the day eating lunch on one of the many islands. It's cheap and relaxing. 
• Polo lessons with Fernando - Spend an afternoon at a true estancia (ranch) and enjoy the countryside, fresh air and riding horses. Fernando is fluent in English, a great guy and a pretty damn good polo instructor to boot. 
• San Isidro & Martinez - Take a stroll along the Rio de la Plata and stop to eat at one of the many waterfront restaurants. I passed out in the grass one day at the bank of the river for about an 2 hours while watching kite surfers and views of the city. My roommate Sergio also told me that he rented a boat one day for him and his girlfiend in San Isidro... what a romantic guy huh?