ARGENTINA, Buenos Aires, 13th September

¨Ok, two forward, one sideways? Hang on, what was that she just did? Slow slow quick-quick slow? Now I´m confused. Sorry, is that your foot? Why do we seem to be going in the opposite direction to everyone else?!¨

Ah, the romance of the first tango lesson. Posy and I were quickly adopted by 2 guys as useless as us and so giggling, but with grim perseverance, we bumped our way around the room until one of the instructors, tutting with dispair, would grab one of us girls and sweep us around the floor in a flawless tango, depositing us back to our partners exhilarated but none the wiser. I rapidly came to the conclusion that men ought to learn the steps so that we just have to follow. Much easier.
Our lesson came to an end and we slunk to the side, leaving the floor to the experts, and watched in awe as the young slinky couples stepped up and did their stuff, competing with each other and trying out new steps while Posy and I speculated which of the couples actually were couples. My my, what a sexy dance!
The tango hall itself was everything I´d hoped for. High ceilings with bare rafters, walls seeped in damp and covered in pictures (Che Guevara lurking on a wall by the bar). There were wires everywhere due to the crude stage lights rigged around the dance floor that cast a pool of light, leaving the rest of the room in a sultry gloom where onlookers could lurk and lovers smooch. Perfect.

So Posy and I finally managed to leave Cafeyate and head back down to BA. We awoke on the bus as it trundled into a service station to a bleak, grey morning, the rain pattering on the window. This was a far cry from the blue skies and scorching sun of up north! Buenos Aires was doused in cloud and rain as we pulled in and we made our way through gloom to our hostel in the barrio Palermo (the young trendy one). Still, it was lovely to be back in a big city and we spent Posy´s last few days making the most of it. Tango lessons, clubbing, sipping cocktails in beautiful ´twinkly´bars and eating as much Asian food as we could. After a stint in rural Argentina we were desperate for something other than meat, cheese and bread. Never thought I say it.
As seemed fitting with the weather, we visited the Cementerio de la Recoleta where Eva Peron is buried. An amazing place, more like a little city than a grave yard with some very grand family tombs, all standing at a storey high, shadowy staircases leading into the crypts below...
We spent a happy hour or so spooking ourselves out wandering along the ´streets´. I snapped away at everything and became entranced by the fact that every grave seemed to have its own cat. Imaginations worked overtime.
The following day we visited the barrio of La Boca. Set around the docks, it is the working-class barrio of Buenos Aires and, we were warned, a little more unsavoury. La Boca made up for being a little rough around the edges by being totally gorgeous. The houses are all painted in blocks of bold primary colours and even on a grey day the place seemed sunny. There was a wonderful market and brightly painted shop fronts offering cheery souvenirs and tango shows. We ate lunch in a wonderful cosy little restaurant, the walls covered in black and white photos and dark polished wood. Everything a little scruffy but beautiful.
Too soon it was Posy´s last night. We celebrated and commiserated with a Buenos Aires clubbing experience. Club 69, transvestites, raunchy police women and break dancers, what more could 2 girls want?
And then goodbye Posy! What a wonderful 2 and a half weeks we´ve had. I was extremely sorry to see her go, I´d rather got used to having some company and a good friend to talk endlessly with on topics of varying importance over bottles of Argentinean wine. Still, onwards onwards for me too. I left BA the following evening in the direction of Mendoza.¨