Back to reality

This is my final blog. I'm unsure how many people will actually read it due to the very long period between blogs but I feel it is important to complete this to tie up any loose ends. In the last blog I explained that I was having to wait until I could get into an Internet cafe to post any new blogs and you will see later on that this actually caused a bit of 'memory' loss.

Buenos Aires was a fantastic city. As soon as we started to ride into the centre we were greeted and cheered by van drivers sat next to us in the traffic and one guy actually pulled onto the gas station forecourt to chat to us. I spent my first night in a bunk bed at the back of the work shop where the shed was stored ready for going to the shipping agent. An interesting night breathing in the fumes of petrol and oil, watching a massive thunderstorm through the tiny window and prompting Brian to let the garage cat in or out everytime I heard in meowing. The next day we went on the train into the centre to a hotel in the centre that we found on the Internet and Sebastian, who we met in Peru but lives in Buenos Aires quickly arranged to meet us soon after we arrived.

Because we were unable to change our air tickets to an earlier date we found we had over two weeks to spend in a city that was full of energy and excitement but also having a chilled unhurried feel about it. I loved using the metro to get to historic parts such as Evita museo, the flamboyant and decorative cemetery

and the tango area of La Boca. Everywhere we visited gave us lots of opportunities to take photographs of brightly coloured houses,

amazing architecture, the widest avenues you will ever cross, couples dancing the tango under 200 year old gum trees and street musicians on many street corners.

I loved walking through the Artisan street markets,

visiting different museums and going to sit in the shade of a tree in the local plaza to read my book and do a bit of people watching. On the Tuesday before leaving Sebastian collected us in his car and took us to meet Diego on his boat. This was a 1942 vessel that he was lovingly restoring back to it's original splendour and it was looking gorgeous. After a snack and a few beers they took us to a restaurant on the banks of a river in Tigre where we ate amazing Argentinian steak whilst watching the river traffic taking goods and people to and from the many little islands along the river. There were some spectacular sights some of which I managed to capture with the camera. Tigre was a very interesting place and we were introduced to floating supermarkets and the local market where we bought a hammock to bring home. Our hosts told us about and showed us many traditional goods and finally explained about the 'Mate', something we had been seeing for some time and shied away from because we thought it was a means of taking drugs. How wrong we were. In fact at the end of the day Diego invited us back to his boat to partake in a 'Mate'. The Mate is a vessel for putting some tree herbs, pouring a little hot water on it and then drinking it through a metal straw. It's quite bitter and not what you would call pleasant unless you put a lot of sugar on it but it is a very social thing to do and the Mate is passed around from one person to another. I too some photos of each of us having a slurp and believe me neither Brian's nor my face convey much pleasure. The entire day was brilliant and both Sebastian and Diego were fantastic hosts. I am so very, very glad that we were able to meet up with them again and hope that our paths will cross again sometime in the future.

The following day we checked out the old dance hall regarding tango lessons and decided to go along to the lesson the following day. What a laugh. I have taken dance lessons in my younger days, Brian has not, but believe me there was no difference at all in our style or grace when we started to learn the basic steps and the 'dressings' No matter how good I thought I was looking when I came face to face with my reflection in any of the particularly cruel mirrors I was confronted with an ungainly person sliding and slouching across the floor. Of course in our sandals and shorts we were not really dressed for this sexy and passionate dance but I don't think that was what made me look so different from the other dancers! I took some lovely pictures of the old building and then off we went to the Internet cafe round the corner to post a new blog. Brian tried to back up the photos from the card but we didn't have any luck with this so we just took pictures we needed directly from the card. Brian the went to ring Shelly, his daughter, whilst I finished off my blog ready to post. Then it happened, we realised that someone had made off with my bag containing the camera with the memory card that hadn't been backed up to anything else yet. Though this was disappointing I'm sure it wasn't as disappointing as it would have been for the thief as, other than the camera, there was nothing else in it other than an empty water bottle, tissues and sun tan lotion. I did feel a bit stupid though. Up until this occasion I had always tried to keep my bag under the chair or on my lap. After the initial bit of anger (more at myself than anything) I realised that we had been given something to do over the next couple of days - retrace our steps and retake the photographswith the 'just in case' camera. So poor us,

we had to go and sit under the 200 year old gum tree watching the tango dancers and listening to the musicians all over again. We had to go back to La Boca's vibrant and exciting streets - again.

Finally we had to go back to Evita's tomb again and that was that.

Unfortunately we couldn't retake the pictures of the Mate tea party on Diego's boat or the fabulous sights of that day with Sebastian and Diego at the harbour and restaurant, and there wasn't enough time to go back to the dance hall so these memories can't be shared with you in the form of pictorial evidence. Hopefully though, this blog will have given you a taste of the amazing time I had in this fabulous and memorable city. It's a city that I would love to go back to and would most definitely recommend to others. The people are so kind and helpful, the city so diverse and the experiences everlasting.

The next and final part of this adventure was coming home and actually I was more excited about this than I had thought I would be.

The flight was long but not too unpleasant and then we finally landed in freezing cold Heathrow. Mike and Patrick came to collect us which meant them setting off from the north in the very early hours of the morning (thanks for that guys) and then on to Manchester to collect the shed.

It felt so strange riding again but on the left side of the road and in miserable weather. Finally reaching my parents house and seeing parents and siblings was wonderful and the day culminated in a small gathering of family. It was lovely being back but impossible to put across to people our thoughts, feelings and experiences on the trip. I think the biggest thing they understood was that we had met some very, very kind and nice people along the way, some of which we hope to keep in touch with.

All to quickly we were confronted with the realities of being back. Taxing the car, getting insurances, sleeping here there and everywhere to ensure that we got to spent time with everybody. Trying to remember where things had been stored, discovering that things weren't where they should have been or were no longer working and, in fact, to this day there is still an entire box of 'stuff' missing. Suddenly I found that I was having to try deal with lots of other people, not just the two of us and so many things felt out of my control. Decisions seem to involve or effect a lot of people and even the simplest things seem to become more difficult. When you come back from a trip like this you do not come back to the same life that's for sure and this was much more difficult than I expected. Still, I'll be better prepared next time.

Finally, I have to say a big, big thank you to Brian. Throughout this seven and a half month trip he has always kept me safe, even in the most threatening of times. His skills as a motorcycle rider are excellent and I never had any doubts that we would complete this trip. When things have got tough he has managed to dig deep and ride through it. I would never have had this life changing and exciting experience if I hadn't have met and married him, fallen in love with him and biking and had the belief in us as a couple to achieve anything we set our mind on.