Bolivar 1502 (corner of Brasil), San Telmo (Note: Manolo is moving a few blocks away to Bolivar & Cochabamba in December 2006)

Manolo is one of my favorite restaurants in Buenos Aires. It is also one of the cheapest (though not quite as cheap as your outdated paper guide books say - inflation is on the rise in Buenos Aires), and a place where you are assured of getting a true ‘Buenos Aires’ experience.

San Telmo Favorite

Located just a block away from Parque Lezama, San Telmo, the place where Buenos Aires was first founded by Pedro de Mendoza, Manolo (the name of the owner, aswell as the restaurant) has been serving up massive portions of meat (bife de chorizo/rump steak, lomo/tenderloin steak, asado/ribs…etc), pasta and fish dishes for so long that many locals assume he was part of that initial founding party back in 1536. Actually, Pedro de Mendoza could have done with a Manolo on his team back then - that founding failed due to a major food shortage - but Manolo is more than making up for that these days.

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Hot Hot Heat

The couple of days before today had been uncharacteristically hot for mid-Spring in Buenos Aires, but last night and today the storm rain came to wash the heat away, much to the relief of my poor english body.

And what’s more, the tail end of the storm clouds combined with the setting of the sun to produce the beautiful reddened sky captured above, taken from the window of my office in Flores, Buenos Aires.

Thomas, an english co-worker, saw me sneakily taking pictures out of my window and falsely accused me of being a voyeur. Of course, on any other occasion he may have been right…
For more about the weather here, check out my earlier post: Buenos Aires Weather.

For those of you that stumble upon my Buenos Aires blog out there in cyberspace, and can’t find the information you wanted (this is a new blog after all, I am still building content), here are a few other online resources you may find useful…

Wikipedia

Always a good one if you are looking for factual information about the city, is Wikipedia Buenos Aires. The great thing about Wikipedia of course, is that if you don’t agree with something, or see an area missing that you know all about, then you can edit it yourself for the good of everyone. And don’t just stop after looking at the Buenos Aires page - there are many other interesting Wiki pages related to Buenos Aires, including the extremely thorough Argentina page, pieces on barrios such as Recoleta and Palermo, and this great article on Admiral William (Guillermo) Brown, the Irish-born seadog that effectively founded the Argentine navy!

If you really want to help out, you can also sign up to the Wikiproject Argentina page and start contributing to items on the ‘things to do’ list.

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Posadas 1086/88 (between Cerrito & Libertad), Recoleta

Check Room Rates & Availability

The Four Seasons is one of the most expensive luxury hotels in Buenos Aires. But does it live up to it’s high price tag? Read on for my full review…

Four Seasons Location

It is equidistant between the heart of Recoleta and the Microcentro, and so it is within walking distance of many major attractions (i.e. Recoleta Cemetery, Teatro Colon, The Obelisk, Avenida Alvear, Florida Street, Puerto Madero, Plaza San Martin). Obviously it is also perfectly placed for a very short and cheap taxi trip to any of these places.

The Four Seasons is found close to the end of busy Avenida 9 de Julio, but at that point the noise is not really noticeable. In fact quite the opposite - it is a peaceful, nice area to stay in, where you would not realize how close to the center you actually are. Add to the mix the fact that some of the best (high range) shopping and restaurants are in this area, and you have one of the best hotel locations in Buenos Aires.

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Living in Buenos Aires, you are guaranteed to see a funny, creative, or just downright weird occurrence at least once a day. It’s a given here, and something the locals are almost certainly desensitised to!

Weird BA

Here was today’s helping of Argentine oddness, found on the back end of a bus (’colectivo’) in Buenos Aires…

Certain Kings…don’t travel on camels

Apparently, Kings in Buenos Aires travel by bus. And it’s a bargain too…at just 80 centavos (err…25 US cents) to travel as far as you want within the city, or just 75 centavos for under 15 blocks…big saving…or even the large outlay of 1.25 pesos to travel in greater Buenos Aires or on a toll road!

In today’s economy, a King has to be prudent with his savings, what with the world dromedary shortage forcing camel prices up!
(See the comments on this post for further explanation of the camels quote! Thanks Nico…)

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