One year ago I came off a plane and landed in Sydney. I caught a bus to Canberra and was finally home after nine months of being away.

Perhaps I came back with my tail in between my legs. It had felt like a long time away. I had no job to go to, no savings left and I was tired from the 9 months I had just lived. Nevertheless, my spirits were lifted, I saw my family again, I realised Canberra is the place for me now and I had my fiancee with me.

I didn’t know how soon my fortune would come, I just knew that it would some day. I was looking forward to going back to university. To find work in my field of study, to embark on my career, and to achieve whatever it was I desired.

I came back with a new appreciation of the city I’ve grown up in. I love it’s peacefulness and small size. I like a city centre that I can walk through on the weekends without feeling exhausted. I cherish the clean air I breathe. I love the fact that I can go to the markets and not have to settle for less than average food. Canberra’s a great city, I just hadn’t realised it before. I do concede that the people here are unfriendly compared to other parts of Australia – and the world – but I enjoy the pace of the town. You don’t feel or see the stress that bigger cities have.

I knew that in the following months, my life would improve and things would pan out the way I’ve always wished. It was so good for me to get out of Canberra to see what life is like outside.

Life outside can be tough. I’m glad I’m here. I plan to be here for at least the next ten years – although I’ll stay much longer than that. I was educated here, I grew up here. I sometimes find myself in parks and places that I would go to when I was a child and the memories would come racing back. There are many parts of Canberra that give me nostalgia.

I’m glad I’m working and living here. I plan to contribute to this city for many years to come. Everyone is defensive of the place they’ve grown up. I have no hesitance to defend it each and every time someone starts to complain about there being nothing to do. When you live in other places that don’t offer the same luxuries as Canberra, you can come back realising “what can’t you do here?” Canberra is what you make it, the only task is having to decide your adventure as opposed to it coming to you.

I was in my own paradise for ten minutes as I sat outside with the wind against my face and the distant lights from the city slowly getting closer.

As I heard small waves knock against the boat, I was able to take in the beauty of everything around me.

It reminded me of travelling. I always tell me friends that it’s not the landscapes that make a trip memorable, it’s what you’re feeling at the time and those short moments you experience while doing ordinary every day activities.

Being on that ferry brought back many memories of places I have visited. At that moment I wished I was back there to retrace my steps as an older person.

That’s when I realised that when you travel you leave pieces of your heart at every place you visit. As time goes on, those pieces of your heart call to you, asking you to come back. And I believe it’s not enough to visit a place just once.

Obelisco

I was lucky enough to visit Buenos Aires in 2005 and there are many great memories to look back on. Here is my experience.

Great things about the city

The city of Buenos Aires is old, elegant, big and entertaining. The biggest feature for me was that the city literally doesn’t sleep! I still talk about how I was able to eat a steak in a restaurant at 2:30am and how I bought a soccer shirt from a shop at 1:30 in the morning!

The people in Buenos Aires are very friendly to tourists and also helpful. They treat foreigners with a lot of respect and you always feel welcome. This came as a surprise to me as I was warned to receive a hostile reception for being Chilean. This myth was debunked early on in my trip!

The food is great! Their specialty is steak, more specifically char-grilled bbq steak. In nearly every street, you can stop by a steak house and order a fabulous steak for an inexpensive price.

I can’t mention the steak without talking about their wines too. Argentinian wines are splendid. There’s no need to research or ask for a specific region, just going on the recommendations from the waiter is enough to have a wonderful experience.

What to do there

Buenos Aires offers everything for everyone. You can go to their museums and theatres, enjoy their sport or experience their vibrant night life. The highlights for me where to visit the Boca neighbourhood, which still offers an insight into the Italian migration that ocurred over 100 years ago. The other highlight was to visit Puerto Madero and to walk up and down the famous streets: La Valle and La Florida. I didn’t get a chance to visit the afluent suburbs of Nuñez and Palermo, but I got a chance to visit Recoleta and walk through the cemetery where Evita Peron’s tomb is.

Currency and travelling with money

I travelled with a credit card and two bank cards (that were linked to international networks). That was all I needed. If you have US dollars, you can exchange money over there at a good rate. There are many places to exchange in the city centre, most banks offer the service also. I find it much easier to travel with a bank card and withdraw sums from ATMs.

Buenos Aires by night

How to communicate

Fortunately, Argentinians have embraced tourism well. In the city most retail vendors speak English and often speak Italian too. Having an English speaking background isn’t a problem. You will find that there are many English and Irish tourists at all times (some Australians too).

Good experiences

There are two experiences that stand out in Buenos Aires. The first one occurred one day when I was looking for a particular authentic soccer jersey from a few seasons back that was no longer on sale. A store owner from gallery in a main street didn’t have what I was looking for but he tried to help me as much as he could. He went to another store (obviously his competitor) and asked him if he had it, without success he went to another store and asked they rang around to find someone who had what I was looking for. In the end I found the jersey on my own but I was impressed with the effort of the men nonetheless.

The other lasting experience was my first night there. I was walking through the streets searching for a restaurant. As soon as I saw the elegant exterior and interior of the “Al Carbon” steak house, I knew it was the place. One of the best dining experiences I’ve had. The restaurant was very quiet that night, possibly only three other tables where booked – everyone was still recovering from the economic crisis even in 2005. The steak was served, beautifully medium done. Great salad, wine and desert. I thought this would cost me big but at 80 Argentine pesos, the meal for two cost about $40 AUD.

The only hiccup

While we were there, the country’s airline workers were on strike. This delayed our departure from Buenos Aires for a few days – 6 to be precise. Aerolineas Argentinas promised to reimburse our hotel stay for the duration of the strike – 6 days – as long as we provide receipts from the hotel. So the day we were supposed to fly out, they tell us that our flight will now occur in 6 days time. We would have to find accommodation during those days and on the day we fly out to go passed the branch office and get our money back.

To cut a long story short, the airline told us that there was a flight available 2 days prior to our departure date and that it was my responsibility to know this and book the quickest flight out. They had my contact details but never bothered to notify me that I could’ve left earlier – I definitely would have. So I didn’t get reimbursed for the whole stay, they didn’t keep their end of the agreement. This is why I tell people to not fly with Aerolineas Argentinas, the old state of their planes should be enough to discourage any passenger.

During the rest of the day, I came into contact with many other Argentines at shopping malls and taxi drivers who all APOLOGISED for the way the airline company had treated us. It was so comforting and at the same time shameful that innocent citizens had to apologise for a company with a clear lack of principles and ethics. It quickly made us remember that the airline’s attitude in no-way reflected the characteristics of the average Argentine.

Conclusion

Visit Argentina. It’s a great place. It has culture, an interesting history and is a unique place in South America. The service you get there is excellent and no matter what time the plane lands, there is more than enough places open for business. It’s very cheap, so soccer jerseys and leather jackets are high on most people’s shopping lists.

I will post more about Argentina in the future. There is the soccer match I went to and the city of Mendoza to write about still.

As I would only be in Auckland for one night, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit the city centre for myself. I wasn’t sure what to expect so I was overly cautious and a bit on the defensive side. Not too unusual, as the flight plans had changed and my credit card and atm cards would not work on all outlets. Making an international phone call took longer than expected but success was reached in the end.

I did find the city similar to Sydney and Brisbane. Some might find this observation strange but I was impressed to find a well looked after city without the stress that large cities create. It was great to see so much greenery and vegetation on the way from the airport.

So in the end, I hope to make my next stay a lot longer. Can’t wait to see more of New Zealand.