Barcelona

Jesus, just realised that I've been here almost two weeks and haven't written anything about it yet! It has gone so fast, feels like i just arrived...
This is quite a special part of my trip. I am staying with my lovely second cousin who lives here in Barcelona, which means that I meet quite a lot of local people and not many tourists. For the duration of my travels it has been the opposite, mainly because I've been staying in hostels where usually about 75% of the people there are English, 10% Dutch, 10% Australian, and 5% unidentified weird nationalities. But it is also special because I am doing things that are moving more and more towards a routine; a word that has become foreign to my ears. I'm not only closer geographically to home, but also emotionally and actively. I've started to cook instead of going out to a restaurant, something I haven't done in almost 3 months! And it felt good, eating something home made. You get bored of eating out everyday, and I never thought I would consider that. I almost feel ready to go back home. (having said that, after two weeks at home I'll probably be attempting to kick myself in the face for writing this... travelling is really what it is all about!)

So far here in Barcelona I've done pretty much everything you'd expect someone to do. Been to Sagrada Familia, the big market Mercat de Bouquerias (or something..), MACBA museum (modern art), Parc Guell, strolled around Barri Gotico, etc. Oh and yesterday I found this tiny museum that was all about new inventions. Now, I don't mean useful inventions like the airplane, the telly, or the Star Wars Trilogy. No, what they displayed were clever little things that we actually don't need but can be fun to own, so we can show our friends and waste a few minutes of conversation concerning its use. One thing I actually liked was a handkerchief with the message "My phone is off for you" on it. Apparently, the handkerchief is made out of a type of material that blocks the phone signal (I don't know what kind of material that is, to be honest. Maybe something NASA invented then binned because they realised it wouldn't really change the world...). But is quite a nice little idea. However, most people probably couldn't handle it. Being unreachable. I say, can we just please leave each other alone for five F****** minutes?

Today I am going to the beach to try and save the last bit of tan that I lost in Argentina. I've borrowed a bicycle card, which has been great. Perfect and pleasant way to get around the city!

So long

Summing up Buenos Aires

It's been a while since I last wrote - so I'll try to remember what I actually did in my last week in South America... I can begin by telling you the good news regarding the weather that I've been so vigorously damnating all the time; it actually got quite warm in my last week, almost Pleasant. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. My plans to buy a new sweater diminished to a futile quest and was soon a faded infant of a memory, and I strutted around the city in my sun glasses and thin summer clothes.

I actually did some things in this last week, I don't want you to have the impression that I just sauntered around the city in my flip flops and shades! For example, I went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Which I would call the National museum of Fine Art, if I wasn't such a pretentious prick). It was a huge two-storey museum with a mixture of Argentinian contemporary art and late 19th century world art. It was very good, and above all, it was free. 
I also went to a tango show, which wasn't free, but very good nonetheless. In addition to that, there was a 3 course meal included plus an unlimited supply of wine. The Tango was very good, they presented it in a way that explained how the dance has changed from as early as the 1920's to present day. At the end they started dragging people up from their chairs to join the tango-ing (is that even a word?), which strangely enough coincided with me having to go to the bathroom.

The last thing I did before leaving BA was very unexpected - I said good-bye to my childhood hero and alter-ego: Harry Potter. I saw the last film on the premiere, and felt a bit sad at the end. Not only because of the cringingly shit ending, with Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint's insomnia-like make-up to make them look like adults, but also because it's the end of an era. I followed Harry and his endless battles against The Dark Lord, who failed to kill a kid, his chubby ginger friend, and a girl. Never again will I read those books, which have been such a big part of my childhood. Maybe it is a good thing. Time to grow up.

Until next time, Thank you.

Buenos Aires

I have now spent one week here in Buenos Aires, and although I'm having a cracking time there is one thing that slightly spoils the fun: the weather. I suppose it was my fault for doing so little research before my arrival, but I thought South America never really gets cold. I mean, I'm from Sweden, these people don't know what cold is. But as I was sitting on the 3 hour flight from Rio the captain made an announcement, which was the following: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now beginning our descent in to Buenos Aires, where the weather is nice and clear with a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius". Christ, I thought, that is like an average English winter! So, it has been a cold week. I've been trying to find something warm to buy, but so far there has been no luck on that subject. I'm going to move on now, too much time is spent talking about the weather!
Buenos Aires is different to Rio in the sense that the sightseeing is cerebrated on strolling around in the different areas of town, where as in Rio it was more substantial. One thing I have seen however, is the magnificient grave yard where Evita Peron is buried. I have never seen anything like it before; every "grave" was like a small house, and they were lined up with small streets running parallel to eachother. It was literally like a small city. I will upload photos later.

I have also been to an area called La Boca, which is a quite poor area but looks nice because of the brightly coloured houses. A ate a nice barbequed lunch there too!
I have to say that the main attraction here is the food. Or, more precisely, the meat. I went to a famous restaurant called La Cabrera with a group of people the other night, and it was one of the best steaks I've ever had. 400 grams of red tasty meat, served with loads of different sauces. A side order of French Fries was unnecessary, the meat alone is enough. It was so good, I returned the next day!

The nightlife is very good too, there is a very wide selection of night clubs and bars that the hostel I'm staying at helps you to plough through.

Good Bye, for now.