Buenos Aires- city of sleep deprivation

The bus from Paraguay arrived a staggering 4 hours early, but luckily as I had gained an hour on my travel I could just about check into my hostel. Negotiating the Buenos Aries subté system was actually refreshingly easy, and I bimbled off the subway on Av. 9 de Julio (6 lanes of traffic in each direction- the widest street in the world) and had the jammy and coincidental luck of ending up right in front of Lime House Hostel. I had booked this particular hostel as it was not only on this awesome iconic street but it was the first one listed in the guidebook and, without a recommendation from a friend, it basically guaranteed there would be other backpackers there to meet. I wasn't wrong, and within a few hours I had met met Andrew (a 2m tall, dreadlock wearing, Canadian tango instructor come computer programmer) and Emma (an English girl who's been travelling on her own for 11 months and is a mine of useful information for me having just done my journey backwards). After a quick jaunt around the city to get my bearings the three of us quickly made plans to go out that night and Andrew offered to take us to a Milonga (tango meeting) at a bar he knew uptown. La Cathedral was one of the coolest bars I've ever been to; a cross between a boutique bar, antiques shop and an art gallery, and the Tango was absolutely fantastic to watch,I was even persuded to get up and have a very brief go without totally disaterous consequences (I clearly am changing out here!). We also managed to consume a bottle of totally gorgeous Chilean red wine each (no hangover either- the good stuff is sooo awesomely cheap out here) and so going for dinner at 3am seemed like a good idea. We sat outside of Argentinian congress and ate Roquefort pizza and sang 'Don't cry for me Argentina' which had the waiter in stitches as Emma and I stood in the café appealing to the locals to forgive us, we had to change, which was a lovely change from the last month which has mainly seen me scarfing down greasy empanadas by the side of a dusty motorway!
The next day I felt great and full of energy so planned myself a lovely 7 mile run encompassing all the main city sights and taking in the lovely docks (that look nearly identical to those in Liverpool- very comforting). While I was running I was absolutely overwhelmed by the gorgeous and iconic buildings (running alongside the famous Casa Rosada was just bizarre), I would say this is one of the most friendly, livable cities I have visited yet- it has such a wonderful vibe I encourage all of you to visit! When I got back Emma and I decided to walk to Florida Street and look at the really cosmopolitan bit of the city, plus return to Casa Rosada to take some phots and see where Evita did her biz (Emma knows a lot more of the musical than I do, but that didn't stop me joining in with the singing). We had been invited out the night before by some Argentinian young men and so after a siesta (absolutely nescessary here) we headed out to meet him and his friends at 0030 and had an awesome Buenos Aries night out of the type for which the city is famed, enjoying the hospitality of the locals (women almost drink free- har har), the vibrant bars and the edgy nightclub. Rolling back in at 6am (standard time for everyone here to get in, even if they work the next day) we snatched a few hours before we were up again to go out to Roquoleta to see Evita's grave and the tango/ music festival that was going on out there (yes, I can now proudly say I've watched Punch and Judy in Castellano Spanish, '¡Él está detrás de ti!'). By this point we had been joined by a Welsh girl called Jenny and had a lovely day basically being girly and chatting away ("Charlotte Church was WAAAY too good for Gavin anyway!"). On return to the hostel we decided to hang out in the Lime House bar which was an excellent move as we got to meet all kinds of other travellers staying here and planned a big group trip to the famous San Telmo market the next day. I was particularly entertained to meet my first Australian of my travels who lived spectacularly up to his national stereotype by joining us for the market after a breakfast beer and no sleep, deciding the whole experience was too complicated, somehow ending up at the BA football match and being breathalized by security on the way in where he got such a high score he was told to go home and drink several litres of water and lie in a darkened room. The market, even sans ozzy, was lovely (although quite Londony), and Boca which we visited after was even prettier.In Boca we were much amused by the street performers,one of whom simply carried a wooden doll about as if dragging a corpse, very bizarre. Despite my best efforts to catch upon my sleep I was awoken this morning by a mosquito dive bombing my head ("Oh you wont get bitten in Buenos Aries", I love being the exception that proves the rule), and today we venture across the water to Colonia in Uruguay which I hope will be as good as the Lonely Planet promises!