Rosario

Lightnings and thunders and extreme rain awaited me in Rosario at 4 o'clock in the morning when I arrived. The depressing bus station atmosphere was my home for the next 2 hours until the buses started to head to downtown.

Rosario is the second capitol of Argentina and is very much like an European city. It also has an international shipping port and since my hostel was right at the harbour, there were only sailors in my dorm (sailors tend to snore...). People are busily walking around town and drink mate all the time. There are some really nice restaurants that I hit regularly. The clubs were not as good as expected, but it was of course during the week. The real emotions came up when Argentina played against Paraguay in the World Cup qualifications (Argentina lost against Brazil just before and is struggling to qualify at all). Paraguay defeated the gauchos in Asuncion, sending Maradona to the media to answer some profound questions.

There is a huge memorial at the Parana river reminding people of the Argentinian sacrifies in the Malvinas war and about whom the islands really belong to. Next to it are the shopping streets where I finally bought a jacket after my other one got robbed in Ecuador. I also visited two museum and the Hypodroma, which apparently is only for club members, so they kicked me out.