After a nice lay in we headed down to breakfast.
It is here where we met Anna and Lydia, the owners of the guest house and the reason why Lola House is so amazing. Their customer service is incredible and they take you in as if you were part of their family. They make such a fuss and they make sure you are completely happy and all your needs catered for. I have never experiecned anything like it.
As soon as we sat down we were given juices, yoghurts, churros, croissants, do we want our eggs scrambled or fried?, tea? coffee? It was so nice to be cared for like this! They put so much energy and effort into looking after their guests. It wasn’t only us, Andrew the Aussie who lives in London and the American girl who was a lawyer and on a career break were each looked after just as well as us.
Once breakfast is finished you barely get a chance to say thank you before Lydia comes over with a map ready to plan an itinirary of your day. It is so useful!! She tells you all the places to go, where not to go, the best places to eat and drink etc etc
It is no wonder this place has received such great reviews on Trip Advisor. They have the certificate to prove it hanging proudly on the wall.
With so much of Buenos Aires to discover and not enough days to do it, we set off.
We ventured into the centre of town using the underground. It cost 1.10 pesos for a single fare…that’s about 16 pence!! Bargain! They also have free wifi and full mobile phone signal underground..London, listen and learn 
We were planning to get the open top tourist bus as Lydia recommended it as a good way to get round and see everything. It was sold out when we got there. Instead we headed towards a nice area of town full of green parks and statues of famous people on horses. The city is beautiful and with a real European feel to it. I could have been in Madrid or Barcelona.
Tango in the Recoletta area.
A horse and carriage and a statue
We were told the equivalent of the Grand National was on at the race track and was free for everyone. As we were nearby we went to take a look. We had a great time watching a few races. It was the first time either of us had been to a horse race track so it was good fun!
First past the finishing post!
Trot trot trot
More and more spectators arrived as it got nearer to the main event.
After some yummy ice cream (I had dulce de leche flavour! yum!) from another of Lydia’s recommended places, we headed for Plaza San Martin. It was here we started our two hour free walking tour of the Retiro and Recoletta areas. Randomly Andrew the Aussie came from nowhere and joined us on the tour and we were also joined by a couple from New York and a few Uruguayan girls.
Our guide Gaston (yes like Beauty and the Beast), was very funny and spoke really good English. His knowledge of the city was excellend and we learnt a lot, laughed a lot and saw a lot places that you wouldn’t usually see on the normal tourist trail.
We learnt a lot about the history of the city and Argentina itself.
Our guide Gaston
San Martin, who gave Argentina its freedom.
Memorial to those fallen in the Falklands War. Our guide said everyone is taught at school and brought up being told the islands are Argentina’s but he said in reality they know they are British.
Finishing about 8pm, we got the metro back to the area where we were staying and went out to a restaurant recommended by Lydia as a place where the locals eat which is meant to be cheap and delicious.
It didn’d disappoint on either front. We both had a huuuuge steak and it was like no meat I have ever tasted before! So juicy and tender! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! Delicious! We were also given a free big chorizo sausage as a taster. That was also amazing.
Finally we were given 2 free coffees to finish off. We don’t drink coffee usually but we felt obliged as they gave it to us for free. It was quite hilarious watching our faces as we sipped away at the bitter drink. How do people drink this stuff?
This steak was bigger than it looks in this picture. It was the size of my head!
All in all, a really great day!! And so cheap!! For 4 trips on the underground each, 2 huge steaks with salads (and bread and coffee and a free sausage), 4 orange Fantas, 2 huuge ice creams, some souvenir bracelets and a tip for the guide…we paid under £30!!
Bring on tomorrow!!
Oh my god I am soooo jealous of that steak, it looks delish! Sounds and looks like you are both having such a fab time. Enjoy the sun as it is getting cold back in blighty! Take care x