I'm back ;)

Hi guys, I know I took a really long holiday but I’m back now and I’ll do my best to post weekly.

So what has happened since February, hmmm let me think. I've been travelling a lot around the UK because of work, I went to Wales for the first time, a few summer Festivals and went for a weekend to Amsterdam.

At this precise moment, I’m writing to you from the airport waiting area. I still have 4 hours of waiting in this stop over and then 13 hours on a plane. Finally, after 2 years I’m going home, Argentina, to visit my family for 2 weeks.

We have a short trip plan, but don’t worry I’ll tell you all about it later. We are going up north, I've never been there before so I’m really looking forward to it.

There is something else that I have to tell you, I’m not going home alone. After a bit of convincing, one of my friends said yes and he is coming with me.

His name is Rory, he was born in New Jersey but he grew up in London. It’s his first time in South America so he is super excited but at the same scared. Yesterday I had to go to his place and help him pack because he didn't know what to take with him (amateur traveler). He even asked me “how are the roads there?”. Yes, we do have normal road, we do have pavement. He made me laugh, I don’t know what he is expecting but I know he is going to be surprised.

The funniest thing is that I bought my ticket before him, and when he decided to come I got him a ticket with better connections than mine and EVEN CHEAPER, lucky guy. Not only that, he also arrives almost 8 hours before me, so my mum is picking him up. I can’t wait to hear about them meeting tomorrow.

So in the coming posts you are going hear about Argentina, through a first timer’s eyes. I have a feeling that is going to be interesting.

So stay tune and I’ll see you soon J

The land of the Hobbit

Hey everybody I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. I had a month and a half of night shifts so it’s been really hard to do ANYTHING. But I'm back, I'm here so I wanted to wish you all Happy Holidays. Did you guys have a good time? I sure had a lot to eat, but even though I was away from my family I had a great time with friends.

Let’s go back travelling now. As I was telling you Wellington was my stop before finding the place I was going to spend almost my whole time in the country. But I'm going to skip that for now and tell you about a little road trip I did.

After 4 months of work in this amazing town that I'm going to talk about it later, I took some time off. My first destination was Queenstown where I was meeting a friend, Inge. We used to work together, she left before me but she was travelling around and by the time I had to leave my job she was looking for a new job too.

Now let me tell you a bit more about Queenstown. It’s one of the most popular winter destinations in New Zealand. During this period it gets really crowded with people that want to enjoy winter sports and people looking for a seasonal job.

The place is amazing you can go skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, paragliding, skydiving, jet boating, skateboarding, fishing, hiking, and lots more. If you love being outdoors and you love adventure sports, New Zealand is definitely your place. And a city like this one has a lot to offer.

We stayed here for less than a week, trying to find a new job. While we were job hunting we tried to enjoy ourselves too. Once we tried to get to the top of some hill, didn't follow directions properly but at the end we've got to the top of something. The view was unbelievable. The landscape of this place is just beautiful.

I had walks through the parks, admiring the autumn colours, yellow, orange, red; I love that time of the year.  I took walks down the lake and there’s always something new to see. It so quiet, you really can appreciate what you've got around and it lets you relax.

I found an Argentinian ice cream place called Patagonia, they also had chocolates and different types of sweets. It was my first time away from home for so long, so even though it was cold outside I was crabbing some ice cream to make me feel like I was back, lucky for me they fulfil my expectations.

After here, our next destination was Christchurch. But on our way we had to stop in Lake Tekapo. This 83 square kilometres lake, is fed by the Godley River, which has its source from the Southern Alps. That’s why it has that greenish/light blue colour, kind of like the glaciers. The main reason why it’s a tourist spot is to enjoy the clear sky during the night. The town is located away from the big city lights and at night you can see millions and millions of stars. Inge wanted to do this but we didn't last long outside in that cold night.

Another interesting thing to do is going on a hike up Mount John, appreciating the peace and quiet of the place, the nature that’s around you and the amazing view of the lake and the mountains.

The next day we took the road again and arrived to Christchurch. In here I just tried to get a job, unfortunately that didn't happen. So I just used to go to the city centre and walked around. You have a small shopping area where I went window shopping (remember I didn't have a job so I couldn't afford much). And of course you have the beautiful Cathedral, which partially collapse during 2011 earthquake.

You could also walk along the Avon River or take a ride on the tram. But of course there are much more things to enjoy in this city, you just need to go to one of the amazing parks that they have and take a deep breath of pure, clean air and just observe nature. Or you can go visit a museum or an art gallery.

There are not enough words to describe this awesome country, it’s just incredible. But next time I'm going to tell you about the place I love, the place I call my second home, and the place where I met some of the kindest, friendliest people in the world. So please hold on, I’ll promise I’ll be back soon this time ;).


Ans remember if you like it, like my Facebook page and share it with your friends =).

Who wants some Spanish omelette??

Don’t think I forgot about you guys, once again I'm really sorry for disappearing but hey I'm back.

So as I was saying after Paris we took a night train to Madrid, Spain. This journey wasn't going to be as smooth as the previous one because we had to change trains after the boarder. We didn't know what to expect because it was the only train we could find, so fingers crossed.

The first half of the ride was alright, nothing special really. We reached the border, we got to our next train and oh no, it wasn't a night train anymore with cabins and a nice place to sleep. No, no, it was a normal train with seat, extremely uncomfortable ones. Usually it was me taking care of the papers, the passports, checking directions and making sure we got wherever we were going. But that night my Aunt Silvia was holding everything because when they asked to check our tickets I was sleeping.

So yeah we finally arrived to Madrid, got off the train and, as usual, I double check that we had everything before leaving the station. I realised that we didn't have our passports or train tickets, then my aunt remembered she left it in the pocket that you've got on the seat in front of you. She rushed in the train, check what she thought were our seats and couldn't find them, so she got really nervous and she came out freaking out saying that they weren't there anymore. So I went in, staring at her, walked to our REAL seats and find the missing documents. What my aunt forgot was that we couldn't get off from our wagon, so we had to get off the one behind it.

To be completely honest, I don’t remember much of Madrid. It is a big city, a capital, which remind me a lot of Buenos Aires. We were only there for a day and a half so there’s not much for me to tell.

But then we took a day trip to one of my favourite places, Toledo. An amazing town with medieval architecture, small streets and a beautiful Cathedral. You can also go visit the castle, of course there is a castle what medieval city wouldn't have one, I LOVE castles. We spent a day here, just walking around and enjoying the view. It was just so beautiful, everywhere we looked it was unbelievable. Definitely a city that I want to revisit and keep searching for new things to see.

After Toledo we went to our last destination, Barcelona. We stayed with my cousins, well they are not actually my cousins they are my cousin’s cousins but we grow up together, so you get what I mean.

We finally had a nice comfy bed, a great bathroom and homemade food.  During this last week of our trip we enjoyed car trips to nearby towns and a nice tour around a great city like Barcelona.

You've got a lot of things to go see here. We went to the Park Güell, Palau Güell and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral (one of the biggest icons of the city), all designed by the architecture Antoni Gaudí. They are all weird looking, some kind of modern architecture with ceramic and stained glass. It’s cool, I would totally recommend it.

 

We walked down the Rambla, went shopping and I also went to the Aquarium with my cousin, Agustina. We saw a dancing water show in the Magic Foutain of Montjuic, which is a very interesting thing to go see.

They took us to Sitges, a town just 35km away from Barcelona. It’s known for its Film Festival and Carnival. We spent a day walking around on the beach. But, as I said before, it was winter so we couldn't enjoy the sea because it was too cold. But we did have a coffee while we enjoyed the view.

In Barcelona I also have one of my oldest friend, Candela. We used to go to school together but after Argentina’s economic crisis in 2001 her mum Marisa decided that the best thing was to relocate to Spain. So this was my turn to go see her, back then she visited Argentina once a year.

So we arranged to meet and Candela and her then boyfriend, now husband, Sebas picked me up and showed me some new places. We first went to Montserrat, a multi-peaked mountain. Here there is an abbey that hosts the Virgin of Montserrat Sanctuary. The view was amazing and there also was a little market with local food, I just remember having some delicious goat cheese.

After that they took me in the car and showed me some vineyards. Sebas is an oenologist, he studies viticulture, the whole process of the wine making from the vineyards to the selling of it. So we were driving around the hills and we stopped in a small restaurant, very local, very simple and just awesome. The menu was in Catalan so I didn't know what to choose so I told them to decide for me.

For a starter I had calçotada, which is some kind of grilled green onion and that you then dip it in romesco sauce, a nut and red pepper sauce. I even had to wear a bib to eat it, which is fun. For main course we had some sort of sausage that I don’t remember. For dessert we had crema catalana, a custard base dessert with cinnamon and citrus peel, similar to the crème brulée. Of course we had wine, and the specialist was the one picking one, so we had some nice rosé.

After almost an entire day out, we went to Candela’s house. I saw her mum, Marisa and her brother, Ramiro. We haven’t seen each other for 3 years, so it was really nice. They were really welcoming, as usual, they had a table with a lot of food, lots of different cheeses and different types of sausages and some pa amb tomàquet (my favourite thing ever), which is bread with olive oil brushed with a tomato mixture, which is amazing. We enjoyed a great evening together with Paco, Marisa’s husband, and they told me more about the Catalan situation and about trying to be independent. A lovely family which I care a lot about.

I couldn't thank enough to the Devoto family for being so welcoming and caring. I had an amazing time and I loved every second of it. Luis, my uncle, used to work at the port so we had a lot of fresh sea food, lots of bread and Spanish omelette. But the trip had to come to an end so we took a flight back to Rome just for a day.

On our last day we went and took some more pictures but unfortunately when we were on the metro going back to the hostel, just hours before taking the plane, somebody stole my camera with most of the pictures of my last week. Sadly doesn't matter where in the world you are there’s always people like this. The police was friendly and helpful but they couldn't do much.

So we headed back to Argentina and as soon as we landed they there were, my parents were waiting for us. And that’s when I told my mum “Next time I'm going for longer”.

Spain is an incredible country with a lot of history and is very different depending on the region you are visiting, people are friendly and the food it’s just amazing. So if you haven’t been there yet, put it on your list because you are not going to regret it and to be honest it’s not even that expensive.

Next post is going to be about my latest trip. At the beginning of October I went to visit a new city, a new country. So hold on guys I swear it’s worth it =).

Molly's first hostel experience =)

I can't remember the first time I went to a hostel but I've always felt comfortable and I thought it was real fun. So today I'm going to tell you guys about my friend Molly's first hostel experience. She wanted to travel, so we went together to Berlin and of course I was going to stay in a hostel, a place that she'd never been before.

But before that, I want to talk about Berlin a little bit more. I've got a few more places that I would like to tell you guys about.


Something else that I liked from this city was that it gives you many options to go on a tour. Yes, you got the traditional bus tours, as well as the walking tours. But you also got a Segway tour, that seems pretty cool I have to admit. You also got the Trabi-safari tour, basically you drive your own Trabi but you go with a group of cars and you follow the guide, who is driving the first car and explaining the sightseeing by radio.

As I said before Berlin is weird, is a strange city (not in a bad way). I saw a guy, hmm how to explain this, skiing in the street. Went to Friedrichshain, the neighbourhood full with graffiti, lots of bars with happy hour until 3 a.m., and found a market where they were selling drawers (not a chest drawer, just single drawers), and family pictures, no idea who buys this things, but I've never seen anything like that. You got photo booths EVERYWHERE, and I think that's awesome =). And for you my vegan, vegetarian friends, there are healthy, organic restaurant wherever you look.

Another thing is the TV Tower, which is 368 meters high, it's a big tower with a kind of disco ball on it. It can be seen from almost everywhere in central Berlin. It was built during the Cold War by Walter Ulbricht, as a symbol of East Berlin. On that sphere you've got a restaurant with an amazing view.

The Neue Wache, Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship, is a place you shouldn't miss. Inside of it you'll fin the sculpture of the Mother with Her Dead Son. It's placed under a hole in the roof, so it's affected by rain, snow and every kind of weather. This symbolizes the suffering of the people.

Ok, let's go back to Molly. So when I was checking for a hostel I had to take some things into account. I looked for a hostel with great reviews. One that looked clean and for a dorm with not too many beds (she didn't like the idea of both of us and 6 strangers, so we went for a 6 bed dorm). I wanted her to feel comfortable, so she could have a good first experience.

Molly. She didn't let me take many pictures of her

So we got there,  excellent location, very central. They gave us the key to the room, a really big room for a 6 bed dorm if you ask me. Kitchen was clean, bathrooms and toilets clean ( they clean them twice a day). And we were sharing the room with just one person, the rest of the beds were free. Everything was going great until we meet our roomie, Smokey George (that's the nickname we gave him), a 40 something year old man from Bulgaria that didn't speak English and smoked in the room. A nice guy but almost impossible to understand, he also tried to take pictures of us, creepy.

The next morning was shower time. Waking up, getting up,deciding what to wear in advance, queueing, choosing a shower, hanging everything, making sure nothing falls to the floor or gets wet because the shower curtain doesn't cover everything. This was a challenge, one that she didn't really expect, specially because she got the damaged shower with no pressure LOL.

But I think that wasn't the worst thing. I contacted the hostel before our trip to make sure they provided a blow dryer, and they said they had some. When I went to pick it up at the reception they gave me a toy-size one, that didn't blow anything. It took her AAAAGESSS to dry her hair, at least 30 minutes.
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The second night wasn't that bad, we had a new couple in the room, so Molly felt a little bit better having people her age. And we spent time in the common area playing games with people from all around the world.

By the last night, I think she appreciated it more. She was chatting with people, enjoying the whole hostel experience, with the young people and the older people that you get, with the hippy ones, the drinking ones, the couples and the weird ones of course.

So when we were at the airport I asked her "Did you like it?". she told me she still prefers the Hotel life, she like unpacking EVERYTHING in the room, and a shower where she can put things down without being scared that they are going to fall on a puddle or having to wear flip flops. But she enjoyed the experience of meeting new people and the idea of the common area where everybody hangs out.

So this feels like a win to me. I felt a lot of pressure, I wanted Molly to have a good time, feel comfortable and enjoy one of the things I love the most. I felt the responsibility of taking care of her and making sure everything went smoothly. Hostels are a big part of my trip, I travel on my own so here's where I meet the lovely people that I meet. If I go to a hotel I would feel really lonely and depressed, in hostels I meet people like me, travellers =).

Molly didn't reject the hostel idea, so YAAAAYYYY. And guess what, I'm already planning a new adventure to take her  along ;). So sit tight, because they are more things to come. But guys if you've got any questions, or you want me to help you with anything, just leave a comment and I'll write back to you. See you soon.

Buddy Bears Berlin

Welcome back. As I said in my last post, last week I did a city break to Berlin for 4 days. I've never been to Germany before (country number 22) so, it was  a great experience.

Berlin is a city with a lot of history, WW1, WW2 and the cold war, plus amazing modern architecture, street art and crazy, weird, wild night life.

When I got there I didn't know what to expect. I heard so many people saying "Berlin is amazing, I love it", "Berlin is the city I want to live in", "Is the best place in the world", or "Is my favourite city". I needed to check by myself if it was true.

To be honest, at the beginning I didn't understand what the big deal was, for me it was just like any other big city,but everyday I found a new place, even more beautiful than the day before, and eventually I got what everybody was talking about.

Berlin is a weird city, with a lot of strange things happening. For example on my first day, I was at the park and I saw a guy, jogging, naked. Oh yeah, naked, just swearing trainers and something covering his genitals. Nice welcome Berlin.

You also have the United Buddy Bears, 140 painted bear sculptures that you can find all around the city. The best one that I've seen was in the U.S.A. Embassy, is a Statue of Liberty bear.

I saw some other interesting things. Like the conference bicycle, a 7 seat round bicycle, where one person steers and everybody pedals. Another one was Berlin Horizontal, a bike with a bed mounted on the rear side, so you can enjoy of this amazing place just lying down. How cool is that?

Something else that called my attention was the modern architecture, I was expecting old buildings, like in London or Paris, but what I didn't take into account was that Berlin had to be rebuilt after WW1, WW2 and after the Cold War. So if buildings is your thing you definitely have to come here.


But obviously I went to all the touristic sights. I went to the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of Berlin, around it you've got a lot of actors dressed like soldier or even some fictional characters, like Luigi and Mario, with whom you can take a picture with.

I was staying close to Check Point Charlie, another MUST on a trip to this place, here you can get your passport stamped, this one was the last check point to fall after the fall of the wall. You always got some "soldiers" you can go take a picture with for the small price of €2.

I went to the East Side Gallery, a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin wall. On it, after the fall of the wall, 105 artists from all around the world painted their massages of freedom. This is probably one of the largest open air galleries on Earth. The sad thing is that they are moving parts of the wall so as to build new things. It was really beautiful, it makes you understand a little bit better what happened back then. It's bad that people didn't respect the artist and painted things on top.

Reichstag building, the Parliament House, is a place that I recommend. It has a dome with an amazing view, you just need to register online and you can get in for free, it also includes an audio guide that explains the buildings around, and as well as history.

There is something that I like doing when I travel. I like going on a tour, it makes me understand better the  places that I'm seeing and learn about the history of the place (I love history).  I usually go with this company, http://www.neweuropetours.eu/, they are in many cities. I've done tours with them in London and Edinburgh as well. Their tours are very informative and entertaining. They offer a free tour around the city, you just tipped them at the end, but I always end up paying for some of the other tours that they offer.


Another remarkable place is Bebelplatz, this is an important place because here is where the Nazis did the burning of the  books, a list of books and manuscripts that they felt were against the German spirit. The memorial of this event is a glass plate on the floor that gives us the view of the empty bookcase (big enough to hold the 20,000 books burnt). You can also find 4 plaques on this square, that read the same quote "Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." (in English: "Where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people"). This phrase belongs to Heinrich Heine, a famous German poet, he wrote this in one of his texts in 1823 but you can see how can we easily related to WW2.

This Square is located in a really nice neighbourhood, the Mitte, and it also has many interesting buildings around. Like the State Opera building (rebuilt at least 4 times), the Humboldt University (there are 40 Nobel prize winners affiliated to it), and St. Hedwig's Cathedral (first Catholic church built in Prussia after the Reformation).

I also went to the zoo, I don't usually do this on my trips. The zoo here is one of the biggest in the world, it has species from all around the planet, I even found some animals from back home. I spent 5 hours there, and I didn't go to the Aquarium, so imagine how big it is. I don't usually like zoos, I don't like seeing animals in cages, but here it's different they are kept in like a small habitat, very green and open, but safe at the same time. No one wants a lion jumping on them.

By the end of my trip I started to like the city. There is so much more to Berlin that just a great place to go out (next time I go I'll fill you in with this info), with a wild night life and crazy weird bars and nightclubs. Is a place full of history, a place where they try to cover those horrible years but without forgetting about the victims (you've got memorials everywhere).A place with beautiful art everywhere you look. So next time you want to travel somewhere new and exciting with a little bit of everything, choose Berlin.

Bienvenidos a Argentina!!!

Hey guys, this week I'm just going to post once because, oh well, I went to Berlin and just got back on Tuesday night.

But as I promised, today I'm going to talk about my beautiful country ARGENTINA!!!
Hope you like it =)

Argentina is located in South America. It is bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the north-east, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Chile to the west and the waters of the Drake Passage to the south. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi), Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations. We also claim sovereignty over a little part of Antarctica ;). The country is composed of twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires (The capital).

Now that you've got a better picture of it let's check what places you can go visit. The list is long but I'll try to show you the main attractions, the most beautiful ones. As I always say, this country has everything from colourful mountains to enormous glaciers, from vineyards to breathtaking waterfalls, so let's start.


You MUST go to Buenos Aires, the capital. Where you will find everything you look for in a big city. There are lots of museums, parks to relax, cinemas, theatres and a wild bustling night life.  It has a lot of history, just walking around you can appreciate the European architecture, every time you'll find something new to admire. I like comparing it to London, is a city that never sleep, everyday of the week you've got something to do and you'll always find a place to go out. If you are here you need to go and experience a football match, I've never seen people so passionate about a sport anywhere else.

Up North I would recommend you visiting  Salta, a beautiful colonial city with interesting museums and traditional peñas (local cheap food and folk music); Cafayate, a vineyard zone; Purmamarca (Jujuy), where you can find the Seven Colour Hill or, as we call it "Cerro de los Siete Colores". Nature can be impressive sometimes and here is one of those places, you can actually see more than 7 different colours, just amazing. And not to far away you can go visit Tilcara, a pre-inca fortification, Humahuaca and the lovely Iruya.

 If you start going south you'll find Salinas Grandes, a salt desert around 6000 km2.

On the north-west, in the province of San Juan you can find the Ischigualasto Provincial Park, commonly known as El Valle de la  Luna ( Moon Valley). The name comes from the otherworldly look of the rock formation. Check it for yourself.

To the west we got vineyards (Mendoza, San Juan and La Rioja). Argentina is the biggest wine producer in Latin America and 5th in the world. So you can always go visit one and by the end enjoy a nice glass of wine of the best Malbec.

Along side the west, we've got the Andes, the longest continental mountain range in the world. Located in it, you've got the highest mountain in America, the Aconcagua, 6,960.8 meters.

San Martín de los Andes

Further south, we are starting to reach the Patagonia region. Bariloche and San Martin de Los Andes, are beautiful cities with amazing landscapes and are really popular during the cold months. They are the top destinations to practice winter sports.

Cerro Catedral, Bariloche

Even further south, but this time to the east coast. Here we find Puerto Madryn. Between the months of June and December you can find the Southern Right Whale, not the best looking whale to be honest, it's covered in callosities, but an impressive one. You can also go visit the Magallenic penguins, funny little guys.





Even further further down south you've got El Calafate, where you can find Los Glaciares National Park, in which you've got the Perito Moreno Glacier, something that shouldn't be missed.

Finally we got to the bottom, Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world (Reason why it should be included in your trip!). From here you can take a cruise ship to go to the Antarctica, something that I would love to do but it's too expensive for me, at the moment, but someday, oh someday. You can never stop dreaming ;)

OK, now let's go back up, to the east. You'll find this spectacular falls, the Iguazú Falls. The most important part of it to see is the Devil's Throat, which is  82 metres high, 150 m wide, and 700 m long. One of the reasons why I advise people to go here is not only because of this, it's also because you can visit 3 countries in one day. The Iguazú Falls are shared between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, in a corner we call La Triple Frontera, the 3 boarders. How cool is that?

In the middle of the country we got  the province of Córdoba, the second most populated province in Argentina. These province is important for two reasons. One, after WW1 and WW2, there was a lot of immigration, specially from Germany. This is probably why people say the Nazis have hidden themselves in the hills. But because of them, the Germans not the other ones, now, every October we celebrate Oktoberfest in Villa General Belgrano. It's a big party with lots of German food, beer and traditional dancing. I've been there twice and is lots of fun. Two: Also located in Córdoba,in the city of Alta Gracia to be precise, one of the most famous Argentinians, Ernesto "CHE" Guevara, used to live. His house is now a museum.


Last but not least we got the city of Rosario, the birthplace of Lionel Messi and Che Guevara. You can also find the monument to the Argentinian flag. It's a great city, really chilled with lots to see and night life to enjoy, as well as some of the most amazing people you are going to meet.

So welcome to Argentina!! Welcome to the land of Messi, Maradona and Che Guevara!! Hope you enjoy the tour =). And for you guys that want to learn a little bit about the history of my country I'm going to leave you a list of important events at the bottom. So I'll see you next week and I'll tell you more about my Berlin experience ;).

I've been trying to figure out how to summarise Argentinian history, and I think the best way is if I make a list of which, in my opinion, are the most important events that you should know.

• 1502 first European arrival. But it wasn't until 1776 that that Buenos Aires became the capital of the Vice royalty of the Río de la Plata (we were a Spanish colony as you might guess).
• During 1806 and 1807 we resisted two ill-fated British invasions. Sometimes I wonder if we would be in a better situation if things end up in a different way =P.
• 25th of May 1810, the MAY REVOLUTION, where we decided to kick Spain out and send them back home.
• 9th of July 1816 Argentina became independent, after the Independence War. We achieved this with the help of General Martín Miguel de Güemes, José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar. These men fought to free South America.
• By the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century (especially after WW1 and WW2), Argentina received a lot of immigrants from all around the world; Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, UK, Switzerland, Austria, just to name some European countries. As well as from Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Morocco.
• 1946 Juan Domingo Perón, a military officer, wins the presidential elections. After which he nationalised industries and services, improved the working conditions and wages, paid the whole external debt and made sure everyone had a job. He was popular between the working class.
  
• Perón's wife is known worldwide, her name was Eva Duarte de Perón, she dedicated herself to help the less fortunate and improve women's rights. Women's suffrage was granted in 1947. She was impersonated by Madonna in the musical Evita.
  
• In 1966 the military forces retake the power. Juan Carlos Onganía was named president. He closed the Congress, banned all political parties and dismantled all student unions and many worker unions. By doing so he  caused two big protests in 1969, the Cordobazo in Córdoba and the Rosariazo in Rosario. 
• 1973 Perón returns to the country and is soon re-elected president. But just a year later he died and was succeeded by his new wife, Isabelita.
• On 24 March 1976 military service take the power once again. This time anyone that had a different idea, a different opinion from them would then be made to "disappear".
• These actions were part of the OPERATION CONDOR, a campaign directed by the CIA to take control over Latin America. It involved the military in each country repressing and terrorising the opponent, murdering, kidnapping and torturing any one that represented a "threat". (My mum wouldn't forgive me if I forget to mention this)
• 1982 Leopoldo Galtieri decided to take back sovereignty over the Falklands (Las Islas Malvinas), sending people that weren't properly trained nor equipped for the low temperatures on the islands. Back then the military service was mandatory. The war lasted 2 months and Argentina was defeated.
  
• 1983 Alfonsín was the new president and we became a democracy once again. He established the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP) to investigate the forced disappearances, they listed 8961 people.

 I still got another 30 years, but this is going to be it for now, don't want to bored you with facts and events. Eventually I'll write a post about specifically Buenos Aires and I'll include everything that happened after we got back to democracy, but I must warn you that it is a lot.