Tracking back from the east of the continent to the west, I stayed in Cordoba for a few days. Cordoba is the second city in Argentina and has a huge student population. It is vibrant and the nightlife is booming. I stayed in the family-run Muzike hostel. The friendly family took me and the other guests a night out for some drinks in a funky club. We ended the night early morning "Cordoba-style" by eating some panchos (hot-dogs) before going back to the hostel.

I crossed the river Rio de la Plata from Colonia del Sacremento (Uruguay) to arrive in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. I got a room for a week in the Rock hostel, centrally located at the Plaza de Congreso.

In the days before Christmas I visited some tourist highlights of the city; the San Telmo Sunday market (too crowded for me), La Recoleta cemetery (with the grave of Evita Peron), and the La Boca neighbourhood. In La Boca I had to visit La Bombonere, the stadium of Boca juniors. Due to mid-summer holidays, there was no match to attend. Thou I imagined how the stadium would be filled up with a cheering crowd.

My personal highlight was the graffiti tour I did in Palermo area. International street artists did some amazing jobs on houses and buildings the last couple of years.

On Christmas Eve there was an asado (BBQ) at the hostel rooftop. I was surprised by the countdown and the fireworks at midnight (In Holland we only do this on NYE). It turned out to be the sign for Santa Claus to bring us more beers :-)! On Christmas day the streets were empty and I met up with Niels, a former neighbour from Holland who was living in BsAs. Drinking a cold beer on a sunny and warm Christmas day was quite special to me as a European who is used to cold and rainy Christmas celebrations.

On my way to Uruguay I stopped in Santa Fe as well. The city is not much of a tourist magnet and I didn't do much sight-seeing. After being in the Andes mountains and the tropical north of Argentina for over two months I was in need of some time at the beach. My main reason to stay here was to get my stitches removed at the hospital. Despite the crowd in the hospital I managed to find a doctor to complete that task. That same night l took a bus to Montevideo (Uruguay).