After a quiet Christmas we decided to celebrate the New Year in Buenos Aires, little did we know all of the locals celebrate the New Year with family and leave Buenos Aires. Luckily we still had a great night as the neighborhood we were staying in had a street party and our new travel buddies Cheyne and Jenny met us in BA to celebrate the New Year.

I loved Buenos Aires, it is a beautiful city full of quirky bars restaurants and spacious green parks. The people were extremely friendly and the weather was perfect the whole time we were there. The city was dead and seemed very different to the bustling city we had heard it was, but it was actually really nice to feel like we had the city to ourselves and other tourists.

We had 4 days in BA and spent the time exploring different parts of the city such as San Telmo, La Boca, Recoleta and Palermo. After a walking tour our guide recommended we visit San Telmo as on Sundays there is always a big market with crafts, food and tango dancing. I loved stumbling upon the tango dancers performing a free show in a public square, the lady was about 7 months pregnant and was amazing.

La Boca is a colourful neighborhood in a poorer area of BA that has become popular with tourists due to its street art, bright buildings and local markets. It was also interesting to see the stadium of the famous Boca Junior's football team, even the buildings surrounding the stadium were painted blue and yellow.

Recoleta is a beautiful Paris style neighborhood in the north of BA. The streets are filled with stunning buildings and historic palaces.
Its also famous for its cemetery where Evita Peron is buried along with other famous Argentinians.

After BA we decided to visit Rosario as we had heard it was a charming town on the Paraná River and is only a 3 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. It is also famous for being Messi and Che Guevara's hometown.

We were a little disappointed with Rosario as it wasn't the prettiest town and there wasn't a lot to do there but we found a cute beach on the river and spent the day in the sun with the locals whilst they drank their mate tea. (pronounced Ma-tah) Mate is herbal drink that 90% of Argentinians and Uruguayans drink, according to google its been said to give “the strength of coffee, with the health benefits of tea" the locals walk around the streets carrying their thermos flask and a mate cups (see picture) that they often share with family and friends. We didn't try it but had heard it has a very bitter and if you hadn't grown up on it was an acquired taste.