The morning began like they all have recently without breakfast. It is the lack of cereal and a cup of tea that is preventing us from getting up early (Not the late night’s haha). We had heard last night of a cheaper option for match tickets so this morning’s quest was to save over 700 Argentinean pesos (170 Euro). For a traveller saving is like finding Gold.
Our first destination was to the Argentinean Federation Head Quarters in Buenos Aires in quest of cost price tickets. The man at the door refused to sell us tickets or give us any information. We continued to hassle him and we got the location of the tickets. It was River Plates stadium where the game would take place in a couple of hours. We couldn’t take in the atmosphere due to our quest to find the gold. Nobody spoke English to us unless they were offering us black market tickets. Eventually the tickets were found. We had to rush back to Buenos Aires now to check out if we had a home.
The hostel we were meant to stay in didn’t meet our high standards so Mike and I were left abandoned in the hostel while Tom and Gary located a new one. The hostel attempted to convince myself and Mike we should stay there. Eventually after about 40 minutes Tom and Gary came back with a new hostel that could cater for the four of us. We had lunch with the others. Silke and Laurence then departed us. Goodbye Neu SoeurL. We then threw in our bags and departed for the stadium with Andy.
When we arrived at the stadium it had completely changed from the quiet and subdued stadium we had been queuing at earlier. Argentina and Uruguay fans chanted to their heart contents. The rivalry and tension could be felt. We entered the stadium and waited for a game involving two former World Champions. The importance of the World Cup was clear. The game kicked off.
We got involved in the match banter. Prior to the game we put a bet on first goal scorer. This caused us all to shout the more for our own player. 5 Pesos of our own money were on the line. The game started excellently. Argentina flew out of their traps. We saw the flair that Argentina had to offer. Messi and Tevez chased down every ball and got an early reward that Messi snapped at. Tom had won the bet. He leapt off his seat and didn’t find the ground for five minutes. The game provided a lot of early chances thanks to some Uruguayan mistakes. Aguero capitalised to make it 2-0. The first half provided some good football. Uruguay grabbed a goal that gave them a chance. The crowd jumped up and down in their seats chanting in Spanish “Jump up and down if you support Argentina”.
The second half provided some poor football that the fans didn’t like. We hopped on a bus after the game that contained 100’s of Argentineans. We were squashed and it reminded us of the Manchester tram. 40 minutes later we decided to hop off without paying and search for the city centre. We ended up getting a taxi back to the centre.
The game was excellent overall and we were delighted that we extended our stay in Buenos Aires. We returned to the buffet once again. Tom raved about the peach ice cream. Veronica enjoyed the restaurants food and insisted it should appear on the food channel. We headed home to the hostel in the rain. We invented the 9 de Julio Avenue challenge. A 110 meters sprint through 12 lanes of traffic when the lights went from red to green. We all made the challenge and avoided the rain at the same time as well as saying goodbye to Andrew. No need to get too emotional though as we will be meeting up with Andrew in sunny Sydney! A good time was had by all.
Stay Posted
Conor Daly
Our first destination was to the Argentinean Federation Head Quarters in Buenos Aires in quest of cost price tickets. The man at the door refused to sell us tickets or give us any information. We continued to hassle him and we got the location of the tickets. It was River Plates stadium where the game would take place in a couple of hours. We couldn’t take in the atmosphere due to our quest to find the gold. Nobody spoke English to us unless they were offering us black market tickets. Eventually the tickets were found. We had to rush back to Buenos Aires now to check out if we had a home.
The hostel we were meant to stay in didn’t meet our high standards so Mike and I were left abandoned in the hostel while Tom and Gary located a new one. The hostel attempted to convince myself and Mike we should stay there. Eventually after about 40 minutes Tom and Gary came back with a new hostel that could cater for the four of us. We had lunch with the others. Silke and Laurence then departed us. Goodbye Neu SoeurL. We then threw in our bags and departed for the stadium with Andy.
When we arrived at the stadium it had completely changed from the quiet and subdued stadium we had been queuing at earlier. Argentina and Uruguay fans chanted to their heart contents. The rivalry and tension could be felt. We entered the stadium and waited for a game involving two former World Champions. The importance of the World Cup was clear. The game kicked off.
We got involved in the match banter. Prior to the game we put a bet on first goal scorer. This caused us all to shout the more for our own player. 5 Pesos of our own money were on the line. The game started excellently. Argentina flew out of their traps. We saw the flair that Argentina had to offer. Messi and Tevez chased down every ball and got an early reward that Messi snapped at. Tom had won the bet. He leapt off his seat and didn’t find the ground for five minutes. The game provided a lot of early chances thanks to some Uruguayan mistakes. Aguero capitalised to make it 2-0. The first half provided some good football. Uruguay grabbed a goal that gave them a chance. The crowd jumped up and down in their seats chanting in Spanish “Jump up and down if you support Argentina”.
The second half provided some poor football that the fans didn’t like. We hopped on a bus after the game that contained 100’s of Argentineans. We were squashed and it reminded us of the Manchester tram. 40 minutes later we decided to hop off without paying and search for the city centre. We ended up getting a taxi back to the centre.
The game was excellent overall and we were delighted that we extended our stay in Buenos Aires. We returned to the buffet once again. Tom raved about the peach ice cream. Veronica enjoyed the restaurants food and insisted it should appear on the food channel. We headed home to the hostel in the rain. We invented the 9 de Julio Avenue challenge. A 110 meters sprint through 12 lanes of traffic when the lights went from red to green. We all made the challenge and avoided the rain at the same time as well as saying goodbye to Andrew. No need to get too emotional though as we will be meeting up with Andrew in sunny Sydney! A good time was had by all.
Stay Posted
Conor Daly
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