Our next destination in Argentina had to be Buenos Aires. We had heard so many interesting things about the city and its inhabitants, that we could hardly await to get there. We reached Buenos Aires 5 days before the soccer world championship quarter final match between Argentina and Germany. The city was furore: Chorus of horns everywhere, the people discussed furiously in the cafes and everyone was dressed in the colors of the argentinian flag. Blue and white was a must in those days. Hats, t-shirts, flip-flops or bags - everything had to be blue and white. And every Argentinian knew it: " Vamos Argentina - We will win!" Even the TV-ads: cleaning, washing, eating or sleeping - nothing could be done without soccer anymore. Every ad was larded with all the best scenes of the successful soccer years of Argentina.

We watched the match in a cafe with a huge crowd of nervous Argentinians. The end was horrible.
After the lost penalty shooting there was dead silence in the city. On the widest street in the world (130m including 16 lanes) there was no car anymore. Ped malls were deserted.
It took the Argentinias some hours before the first ones came back to the streets again. From that point on there was no blue and white anymore and all the soccer passion was gone. They met late in the evening in a cafe or a restaurant to lament their doom with a good bottle of red wine or a juicy 500gr steak.

But after midnight you get to know another passion of the Argentinians. Tango is played in the cafes and in the streets and they dance to this melancholic music. Milongas open their doors and the Argentinias dance until dawn.
The next everything seems to be forgotten and the normal everyday life had just started again. Cafes and shops are overcrowded, museums and churches are opened for the tourists, they sell antiques in San Telmo, late in the evening they have delicious dinners and after that they visit one of the musicals, operas, concerts on the broadway.

Buenos Aires was really fascinating for us.

We explored the city on our own, had breakfast with medialunas like the locals, took one week of Tango lessons, had superb dinners in good restaurantes, visited Tango museums, shows, musicals and concerts.

Buenos Aires we will come back!