#but massa's party is the same guys that have been running the country for the past 20 years and buttfucking the economy

[alan900900900]

Hot take (maybe) about the argentinian elections: both candidates were about as bad as each other for different reasons

#milei is absolutely batshit insane yes #but massa's party is the same guys that have been running the country for the past 20 years and buttfucking the economy #truly no winning to be had here #i'm argentinian i'm allowed to have Opinions about this

[elevenhoursinfront-blog]

26th March 2017

The alarm went off at 0700. I was straight up to get ready. I woke Steve up but he could stay in bed for an extra hour if he wanted to do so. I hate that men take so little time to get ready, I wish I could be up and ready like them. I showered, washed my hair and shaved my legs. I meant business today! I had to get ready in the communal bathroom as everyone was still asleep in our room. The bathroom is stupid hot so I wasn’t looking forward to getting ready. I was hot from my shower already. I dried my hair and straightened it. By this time, I was bright red like a tomato and sweating from head to toe. I had to sit down in my room to cool down. I cant put makeup on with a SULA! (Sweaty Upper Lip Alert, in case you didn't know). 

Hair did, makeup done and dressed by 0845... I said to be down for breakfast by 0900 - I'm early. We went down and made some toast. I took advantage of the 'free breakfast' to make our lunch, too. I made ham sandwiches for the afternoon prior to the race as Steve was bound to be half dying from starvation and we had chicken, rice and peppers for after the race. Must. Remember. Forks. Thanks to the backpacker that left their fresh ham in the free food basket! Every hostel has a basket of food that people can leave if they don’t want it and/or moving on. You have to check this often and quickly as the good stuff goes fast. Mel found the ham and took it for us. It was a fresh expensive pack and she's vegetarian. She's a good’n. 

We finished our breakfast and sorted out our bag. Water, towel, food, jumper, lunch and dinner, GoPro, phones and tickets! We left and headed to the tram stop outside Flinders Street Train Station (lovely building, I will get a picture soon). There were loads of people going in the same direction. I love it when there's a massive event going on, the likelihood of me getting lost is minimal because I just have to follow everyone else. We squeezed onto the tram and headed towards St Kilda Road - Gate 8. The majority of the people on the tram got off at the Grand Prix gate 8 so they must've had the same idea as us. We stood in the queue for about 20 minutes. We were early so that would be why. The queue was ridiculously massive already - two streets long. We had to go over a bridge before getting into the gate. As soon as it hit 1030, the line was moving. It wasn't a slow moving line either so we were at the ticket barrier before 1045. Our tickets were scanned, our bags were searched and we were in! 

The skies were grey but Steve said it's meant to clear by midday. I was counting on that. We walked around for a while, looking at the stalls. We went over to a Merchandise stall and looked around. We bought a cap and programme. I was getting excited. It looked just like your average UK festival with Heineken tents, burger stalls, Police and Ambulance everywhere.

After our walk, we went to find our seat. I say seat like I could afford the $5,000 seat by the start/finish line... I meant the cheap one on the grass. We picked turns 9/10/11 area and it was on a hill so we could have a good view of the track sitting down. It was right by the front, too. We put our towel down and chilled out for a bit. They had pre-race entertainment. Other races were on-going, not that I knew what was going on. We had a good view of the TV, too so it was a perfect spot.

By midday, as Steve said, the sun was burning. I forgot sun cream. Honestly, I'd forget my head if it weren't screwed on... I forgot forks, too. Even though I remembered in the morning. GREAT. None of the stalls had plastic cutlery either, it was all finger food. God sake. 

Steve wanted to go for a wonder so I said I'd stay and sunbathe. It was annoying that there was only two of us, we couldn't go off together. I laid down on the towel and before I knew it, my phone was ringing. Steve said that he had just met Mark Webber and wished he had our programme there with him so he could sign it. Plank! 

Steve was on the opposite side of the track to me and we were waving to each other. I took everything out of my handbag that was important (Mac Lipstick, GoPro and Phone), put it in the backpack and went for a walk. 

If our towel and bag goes, then so be it. But I couldn't sit there for another 6 hours! We would find another spot if it gets taken.

I walked over the bridge to Steve and we went for a wonder. They had a lake in the middle of the race track in Albert Park. There was a bridge for people to walk over, thankfully. It was the weirdest bridge I had ever been on though. It was inflatables stuck together on top of the water. It felt like walking on a plastic water bed. I can't explain it. If you jumped, the water would ripple. The water was rippling anyway as there were so many people walking across at any one time. It gave a great view though, of the CBD. 

We wondered about the main part - the big screen TV, the Melbourne Walk (where the celebs walk past), the show cars etc. We stood at the Melbourne Walk for a while to see whether anyone came past, like Mark Webber again. Steve was the only person who knew who he was. The rest of the crowd was like "That's whats his name?". Steve had to tell them all.

Nobody past us for a good half an hour of waiting so we walked about again. We looked at the Jaguars as Steve wants one (a lad can dream). We took a few photos and headed back to the towel to see whether it had been taken. A few hours had past so I was sure it would've been. It wasn't... My bag and towel both in the exact same spot as I left it. I doubted Australian's. If that were England - gone within seconds! We sat down and had our sandwiches with a beer that Steve treated me too. It was roughly 1 hour until the race started. The planes were all out doing fancy patterns in the sky. It was great to watch, their formation was so good. After that, the fighter jet came out! It was so loud, it made my belly rumble. The ground was shaking and it was miles away from us in the sky. I got good videos of it but no video will ever show how amazing it was in real life. I was shaking from it!

We were out of water so I sent Steve to fill our bottles up. Australia has hydration stations almost everywhere which is brilliant considering one bottle is like $5. He returned, with no water and two Magnums... He is completely hopeless. They were thoroughly enjoyable in the heat though. We just sat on the grass watching the planes and listening to the commentary on the tannoy.

I then left to find water as Steve would probably return with two more beers if I had sent him. I found the hydration station after about 15 minutes of looking as lost as anything. I also found the Ambulance station where they were giving away free sun cream! Hallelujah. I mean, it was probably 4 hours too late at this point but anything is better than nothing. It was also 50+ so it should help for the next 4 hours of sun. I smothered myself in it and poured a heaped amount in my palm. I tried to carry two bottles of water and a dollop of cream in the heat over a hill. Then I had the difficulty of finding Steve amongst 1,000 other people. I found him eventually, and he smothered himself in cream. I put a load on the back of his neck and made him wear at hat backwards as it was bright red. I'm so thoughtful! 

The Australian National Anthem played and everyone stood up. We felt obliged to stand up too so we did. It was then announced that Dan Riccardo couldn't begin the race due to a faulty car from the practise lap... Aussie's were not happy. Before we knew it, the race had started. Two laps in and Daniel managed to start. He wouldn't get anywhere two laps behind but he couldn't not go in his own country. The little boy I was sitting next to was extremely happy he got to see him race. 

Hamilton was second to Vettel, who I placed a bet on to win. I wanted Hamilton to win obviously but his odds were like $1 as I mentioned. Steve's bet was out before the race had even started... 

At lap 47/57, we left our spot. We headed over to the main screen where the Melbourne Walk was. If we were going to get an autograph, it would be there. We watched the end of the race from behind the track - we could see the seats of the rich watching track side. We were behind the podiums which was better than nothing. Vettel won the race and I won the bet. We watched everyone running onto the track celebrating. Red everywhere! After about 40 minutes of the race finishing, they pulled the celebration poppers releasing all the confetti. I managed to catch one yellow strip and Steve caught a green one from the air. I put them both in the back of my phone case so I can always say that I caught them at the Grand Prix celebration.

We were one of the first at the Melbourne Walk but it started to fill up quickly. I'm pleased we got there when we did. We were right at the front. We were alongside some die-hard F1 fans which was half annoying, half good. They knew most of the staff and security by their first names and managed to get people over. They're obviously there every year without fail.

We waited about 2 hours and my feet were killing. I wanted to get my programme signed for my Dad. Standing in the sun at a gate was not enjoyable at all. It wasn't until Marcus Ericsson came out. He signed my programme and I was very happy (not a clue who he was but Steve said hold it out so I did). When I was about 3, my dad had stood in a queue for a teletubby teddy that I wanted for hours. This was returning the favour.

After Marcus, Felipe Massa came out. Again, not a clue on this guy but Steve said to hold it out so I did. Happily, he signed away. That was two autographs on my programme! I was almost ready to leave, I had been standing there few hours and it was 1900 already. The after party was starting and people in massively expensive cars started to turn up. The cars were that expensive, they were probably worth more than my house and life if I'm honest.

The die-hard fans told us that the two cars parked in front were for Daniel Riccardo and Lewis Hamilton. I was waiting for this! We were only allowed to wait until 2000 when the gates would start to close. Before I knew it, Daniel was standing in front of us! I was absolutely gutted when he missed out my programme. He must've signed about 20 but not mine. I was upset because he was the first person I knew of and it would've been nice to get his autograph. Never mind. 

We saw David Coulthard and Alonso too, but they didn't have time to stop for us... They both appeared to be massively miserable. We saw Nicky Lauda who got into a car but waved to us. Grosjean cycled past us, too. To confirm, I still haven't a clue who these people are. Steve is listing them for me. He told me when to hold to book out or not. 

It was dark and cold. I put the hoody on and I was seriously knackered. It had been a long day and we still had dinner to eat. The die-hard fans were talking to security. They were talking about how horrible Hamilton is now - that he used to be lovely before he got too famous and became an arse. He does what he can to avoid people but apparently, he's trying to change. Hamilton didn't come out for us which was a massive shame. His car remained parked in front of us but it got to 2000 and we had to leave. 

I rang my dad straight away to tell him how our day was. He's an F1 fan so he text when he woke up to see whether I enjoyed it. We jumped onto the tram (after asking someone for help like your typical tourists). 

We got back to the hostel by 2100 and microwaved our dinner. It was Mother's Day back home so I managed to quickly call my Mum and Stepmum. I love speaking to family, it's so difficult with the time difference. 

All in all, an absolutely brilliant day. I couldn't believe how much I had enjoyed it. I'm so pleased with my programme even if I have spilt my strawberries on it and ruined the top right corner (I was devastated, sorry Dad). We were both exhausted, in bed and out like a light before 2300.