25th November
Thanks to our shopping expedition of the previous afternoon, John was the proud owner of two polo shirts, a pair of chinos, and some deck shoes: a perfect Argentine look! We thought that the backpacker outfit (old tee-shirt, large trousers, and walking shoes) would not be fit to go dancing tango or to go watch a polo game.
After a quick lunch, we went downtown to buy polo and football tickets for the next day. Thankfully the retailers were not far from each other. The polo tickets were sold at a place selling tickets for lots of different shows. We went for the cheapest option (i.e., the stands facing the main ones). Buying football tickets was slightly more fun as it involved going to one of the team's official shop. A little sign on the door warned us that this was serious business: you were not allowed to enter wearing the jersey of a competing team. Boca Juniors, leader of the first league, was not playing that weekend so we went for the match between Racing and Belgrano (from Cordoba). We found the Racing shop to buy tickets, and the guy in the shop was very pleased to see us. He enthusiastically explained the different types of tickets, and recommended the main stand (away from the ultras but still plenty of atmosphere).
After successfully concluding our shopping expedition we walked towards the neighbourhood of Recoleta for the "Gallery Night" event. This involved 70 galleries opening their doors from 7pm until 11pm and (most importantly) offering glasses of champagne and cups of Nespresso; a rather civilised way to spend our Friday evening. We saw that a talk had been organised at 7pm, so thought that it would be a short "kick-off" speech. It turned out to be a full-scale conference, which didn't seem particularly appealing (especially to John, given that it would be in Spanish). We managed to sneak out just before it started.
A little further down the road we found something much more interesting at the Musuem of Latin American Art. In a beautiful room decorated with colonial-era art (including some from the Cuzco school, our favourite) and Potosi silver, we were entertained by an excellent performance by a Polish violinist and a woman accompanying him on the piano. We stayed until the interval and then dragged ourselves away. We could happily have stayed, but decided that the idea of the evening was to try lots of different events.
The next place we visited was an open air gallery with some striking modern art. Here we were treated to our first free glass of "Chandon" champagne. Over the road the Fiat showroom had been turned into a gallery for paintings and photos of bright red Ferraris and other sports cars. We were served more champagne by the waitress/models.
In total we went to around 10 galleries. One of these sold clothes made from recycled nylon and other materials. Our favourite was definitely the gallery that exhibited only photos of cows. Very Argentinian. The best setting was probably the Park Hyatt hotel, in an old palace on Avenida Alvear, where they had a exhibit of painted paper (washi) lampshades (Japanese style) which were pretty but not tremendously exciting.
After a couple more glasses of champagne we hopped in a taxi to the restaurant in Palermo Viejo where we had made a reservation. It was advertised as a "cocina de autor". Unfortunately it had moved and the lack of directions from the woman to whom I spoke on the phone meant that we wandered around for some time without managing to find it. Eventually we settled for somewhere else. Sadly it failed to live up to its name: "Lo de Jesus".
26th November
Our late night in Palermo was followed by a late réveil, and we had lunch at home before heading over to the Campamento de Polo in Palermo. Since the lack of space in our rucksacks had limited our ability to carry proper clothes, and because we were heading to the football directly afterwards, we were not dressed as well as we would have wanted. Thankfully, and to my great surprise, nobody else was properly dressed, except for a few older people.
When we arrived, the first match (the least important) had already started on the field outside the stadium (a bit like the nursery ground at Lords cricket ground, John told me). We found a space under the shade to watch. I was very impressed by the beauty and strength of the horses, although it was difficult to appreciate the game properly from the meadow beside the field because we did not have a great vantage point. People-watching was also fun, especially as there were lots of spectators who showed the signs of cosmetic surgery. It was probably more exciting for John, as many ladies were wearing short skirts.
The main game took place on the field in front of the main stand. Our (cheaper) tickets were for the stand facing the main stand; this was also facing the sun, which was a pleasure for the moderate period that we stayed but might have become draining after a while. This also meant that we had to leave the ground and enter again the other side, which was slightly tedious but not too inconvenient. It was much easier to watch the game from the stand. The Delfina team was clearly dominating Pilara. We left after a couple of chukkas (periods of play) as we had to make our way over to the football stadium.
We had planned to take a taxi, but the first taxi driver we found told us that it would be seriously expensive. We asked if there was a bus that would take us instead, and he dropped us at the right bus stop. There was a young couple of the bus sporting Racing's colours, so we got off at the same stop as them and made our way over to the stadium. There the smell of grilled burgers was very tempting but we managed to resist. Not that our pack of cookies was much healthier!
We arrived around 45 minutes before kick-off and the atmosphere was already great. The ultras (hardcore fans) were off to our left and their section was already full and making plenty of noise. Our stand was also full, and we were in the very tiny majority who were not wearing a Racing shirt (although we were at least in the right colour, blue). Off to our right were the away fans, also singing loudly, netted in to prevent them from throwing flares or coins down onto the pitch. The pitch was surrounded by a moat, presumably to prevent the crowd from rushing on.
Shortly after 7pm (once they had managed to inflate the tunnel for the players to enter from beneath the moat), the crowds cheered and hissed the players onto the pitch.
Belgrano were dominating possession and took the lead midway through the first half. Three quarters of the stadium was in stunned silence while the scorer bunny-hopped into the corner and the away supporters screamed louder and jumped higher. When Belgrano doubled their lead a few minutes later we worried that our neighbours would go wild, as the stunned silence had been replaced by screams of anger, with some sweet words for the Belgrano supporters.
Racing then pulled a goal back when the lanky number 10 curled in a free kick. The crowds reaction was initially strangely muted, but after a few seconds the stadium filled with singing and screams. That didn't last long, as Belgrano scored a third just before half-time, as the bunny-hopper looped a header over the goalkeeper. Racing were booed off the pitch.
With around 25 minutes to go in the second half Belgrano had a man sent off, and Racing scored from the resulting freekick:
Despite the numerical advantage Racing didn't manage to create many chances, and the crowd grew impatient, but from our left the singing of the ultras remained loud. With a few minutes left we decided to escape, not wanting to have to try to find the bus stop back into town from the rough suburbs amid a mass of angry ultras. We later checked the score, and the game ended 3-2 to Belgrano.
We successfully beat the crowds and caught the bus, which very conveniently dropped us off right outside the restaurant we'd been planning to try. The entrée was excellent, grilled goat's cheese with aubergine and red pepper, but the salmon salad (drowning in lemon) and lamb cutlet (tough and dry) that we had for mains were fairly disappointing.
Thanks to our shopping expedition of the previous afternoon, John was the proud owner of two polo shirts, a pair of chinos, and some deck shoes: a perfect Argentine look! We thought that the backpacker outfit (old tee-shirt, large trousers, and walking shoes) would not be fit to go dancing tango or to go watch a polo game.
After a quick lunch, we went downtown to buy polo and football tickets for the next day. Thankfully the retailers were not far from each other. The polo tickets were sold at a place selling tickets for lots of different shows. We went for the cheapest option (i.e., the stands facing the main ones). Buying football tickets was slightly more fun as it involved going to one of the team's official shop. A little sign on the door warned us that this was serious business: you were not allowed to enter wearing the jersey of a competing team. Boca Juniors, leader of the first league, was not playing that weekend so we went for the match between Racing and Belgrano (from Cordoba). We found the Racing shop to buy tickets, and the guy in the shop was very pleased to see us. He enthusiastically explained the different types of tickets, and recommended the main stand (away from the ultras but still plenty of atmosphere).
After successfully concluding our shopping expedition we walked towards the neighbourhood of Recoleta for the "Gallery Night" event. This involved 70 galleries opening their doors from 7pm until 11pm and (most importantly) offering glasses of champagne and cups of Nespresso; a rather civilised way to spend our Friday evening. We saw that a talk had been organised at 7pm, so thought that it would be a short "kick-off" speech. It turned out to be a full-scale conference, which didn't seem particularly appealing (especially to John, given that it would be in Spanish). We managed to sneak out just before it started.
A little further down the road we found something much more interesting at the Musuem of Latin American Art. In a beautiful room decorated with colonial-era art (including some from the Cuzco school, our favourite) and Potosi silver, we were entertained by an excellent performance by a Polish violinist and a woman accompanying him on the piano. We stayed until the interval and then dragged ourselves away. We could happily have stayed, but decided that the idea of the evening was to try lots of different events.
The next place we visited was an open air gallery with some striking modern art. Here we were treated to our first free glass of "Chandon" champagne. Over the road the Fiat showroom had been turned into a gallery for paintings and photos of bright red Ferraris and other sports cars. We were served more champagne by the waitress/models.
In total we went to around 10 galleries. One of these sold clothes made from recycled nylon and other materials. Our favourite was definitely the gallery that exhibited only photos of cows. Very Argentinian. The best setting was probably the Park Hyatt hotel, in an old palace on Avenida Alvear, where they had a exhibit of painted paper (washi) lampshades (Japanese style) which were pretty but not tremendously exciting.
After a couple more glasses of champagne we hopped in a taxi to the restaurant in Palermo Viejo where we had made a reservation. It was advertised as a "cocina de autor". Unfortunately it had moved and the lack of directions from the woman to whom I spoke on the phone meant that we wandered around for some time without managing to find it. Eventually we settled for somewhere else. Sadly it failed to live up to its name: "Lo de Jesus".
26th November
Our late night in Palermo was followed by a late réveil, and we had lunch at home before heading over to the Campamento de Polo in Palermo. Since the lack of space in our rucksacks had limited our ability to carry proper clothes, and because we were heading to the football directly afterwards, we were not dressed as well as we would have wanted. Thankfully, and to my great surprise, nobody else was properly dressed, except for a few older people.
When we arrived, the first match (the least important) had already started on the field outside the stadium (a bit like the nursery ground at Lords cricket ground, John told me). We found a space under the shade to watch. I was very impressed by the beauty and strength of the horses, although it was difficult to appreciate the game properly from the meadow beside the field because we did not have a great vantage point. People-watching was also fun, especially as there were lots of spectators who showed the signs of cosmetic surgery. It was probably more exciting for John, as many ladies were wearing short skirts.
The main game took place on the field in front of the main stand. Our (cheaper) tickets were for the stand facing the main stand; this was also facing the sun, which was a pleasure for the moderate period that we stayed but might have become draining after a while. This also meant that we had to leave the ground and enter again the other side, which was slightly tedious but not too inconvenient. It was much easier to watch the game from the stand. The Delfina team was clearly dominating Pilara. We left after a couple of chukkas (periods of play) as we had to make our way over to the football stadium.
 |
| The main attraction |
 |
| Horses being cooled off with moist air |
We arrived around 45 minutes before kick-off and the atmosphere was already great. The ultras (hardcore fans) were off to our left and their section was already full and making plenty of noise. Our stand was also full, and we were in the very tiny majority who were not wearing a Racing shirt (although we were at least in the right colour, blue). Off to our right were the away fans, also singing loudly, netted in to prevent them from throwing flares or coins down onto the pitch. The pitch was surrounded by a moat, presumably to prevent the crowd from rushing on.
 |
| Ultras behind the goal. The Belgrano goalkeeper was hit by something only five minutes into the game |
Belgrano were dominating possession and took the lead midway through the first half. Three quarters of the stadium was in stunned silence while the scorer bunny-hopped into the corner and the away supporters screamed louder and jumped higher. When Belgrano doubled their lead a few minutes later we worried that our neighbours would go wild, as the stunned silence had been replaced by screams of anger, with some sweet words for the Belgrano supporters.
Racing then pulled a goal back when the lanky number 10 curled in a free kick. The crowds reaction was initially strangely muted, but after a few seconds the stadium filled with singing and screams. That didn't last long, as Belgrano scored a third just before half-time, as the bunny-hopper looped a header over the goalkeeper. Racing were booed off the pitch.
With around 25 minutes to go in the second half Belgrano had a man sent off, and Racing scored from the resulting freekick:
Despite the numerical advantage Racing didn't manage to create many chances, and the crowd grew impatient, but from our left the singing of the ultras remained loud. With a few minutes left we decided to escape, not wanting to have to try to find the bus stop back into town from the rough suburbs amid a mass of angry ultras. We later checked the score, and the game ended 3-2 to Belgrano.
We successfully beat the crowds and caught the bus, which very conveniently dropped us off right outside the restaurant we'd been planning to try. The entrée was excellent, grilled goat's cheese with aubergine and red pepper, but the salmon salad (drowning in lemon) and lamb cutlet (tough and dry) that we had for mains were fairly disappointing.
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