[8th - 21st January 2007]

Hello Buenos Aires blog fans. I still don’t have internet access in my new apartment, and probably won’t for a while, which explains my lack of posting at the moment. Hence, I missed last week’s blog roundup, and am combining it with this week’s instead.

So, here goes two weeks worth of Buenos Aires bloggy goodness…

Things To See & Do in Buenos Aires

• Robert drove south to show us some photos of the ‘real’ city of Buenos Aires, with photos and comments about the lesser-visited (by tourists) barrios of Barracas, Parque Patricios, Nueva Pompeya, and Villa Soldati
• Loads of great photos,as usual, from Karine recently in her Buenos Aires Weekly and Daily photo blogs, including ones of some coffins in a worse for wear Recoleta Cemetery mausoleum, the Palacio de Justica building in Plaza Lavalle, a rosy cloud view from the top of the English Tower in Retiro, the Japanese Gardens in Palermo, the stunning Palacio de Aguas Corrientes building on Av. Cordoba, and finally, some varied photos of Recoleta and it’s Basilica, Nuestra Señora del Pilar. Nice shots Karine!
• The fantastically named ArJewTino wrote an interesting alternative 12 step guide to having fun in Buenos Aires, which certainly raised a smile in places, and followed it up with a few more thoughts on BA
• At opposing ends of the Buenos Aires activities spectrum, the Buenos Aires Zoo and the Art Scene in Buenos Aires are both given the review treatment by the Argentina travel blog writers
• Dan has pictures and comments on the ‘changing of the guard’ ceremony at the Malvinas War Memorial in Plaza San Martin. Having seen this myself a few times, I can recommend you take the time to view it… although if you are British like me, probably best to keep a low profile when you do
• Robert Wright comes up with the (blogging) goods once again, this time with another of his excellent Buenos Aires, then and now posts, comparing past photos of BA buildings to what is seen in the present day. Not to be missed! He follows up with some pictures and info about the other famous cemetery in Buenos Aires, Chacarita, after his unplanned trip there (and he’s not the first to make an unplanned trip to the cemetery, I’m sure!)
• Diva would be happy to give you a tour of Chacarita cemetery, but only if you’re cool enough (I’m not!)
• Dalila puts up a slide show showcasing the many different types of doors in Palermo Viejo - no sign of Jim Morrison though She widens her scope a bit with her next slide show, which is of some of the beautiful houses in Palermo Viejo [no, can't think of a decent joke here Anyone else?]
• Buenos Aires Spotting (please note the new name AND URL folks, for what used to be Buenos Aires Trendhunter) spots (what else?) that Resfest 2007, a hip digital arts festival, will take place in the equally hip Malba art museum, on the last weekend of March
• Jude takes a trip to the Abasto shopping center for some AbFab-type shenanigans… WARNING, please do not click her link if you do not want to see some, ahem, ‘Camel Toe’! If you want more info on this shopping center and its architecture, check out my earlier post on the Abasto Mall
• My new friend Ken has a post about our weekend trip to the races at Palermo Hipodromo, and it seems he already knows more about horse racing in Argentina than I do! All the same, feel free to check out my past blog post on Palermo Hipodromo too!

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Sizzling Buenos Aires

Stan Stalnaker’s website Hub Culture has come up with a ‘2007 Zeitgeist Ranking’ for world cities, and our own Buenos Aires put in a respectable performance, sliding in at number 6.

The website states that Buenos Aires is…

“So hot! The Argentinian financial crisis has faded, but the incredible value of Argentina as a destination remains. This is fueling a buying boom in urban real estate as Europeans and North Americans establish summer homes and secondary residences here. Business remains slow, but BA is the hot spot of Latin America. Panama and Sao Paolo have heat, but BA sizzles. It’s the hottest “second city” in the world.”

Not all that interesting…I mean, basically it just says a lot of rich North Americans and Europeans are buying property in BA because it is cheap to do so. Not exactly something that makes for a cultural center. Personally, I think it is more likely that the slightly less well off natives and skint expats that are using their creativity to make Buenos Aires a ‘hot cultural center’. But anyway, getting this kind of ‘award’ has to be good PR for Buenos Aires, and is therefore not to be sniffed at…

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Question: Who is the most famous Alan in Buenos Aires?

Answer: According to Google, it’s me, Alan of Buenos Aires Travel Guide “fame”!

A quick Google.com search for Buenos Aires Alan (and many similar variations) puts me at the top of the pile, ahead of one of the most famous and stylish people in Buenos Aires, Alan Faena…former fashion designer, Puerto Madero property mogul, and the man behind possibly the most swish hotel in Buenos Aires, the simply fabulous Faena Hotel + Universe (one of my top 5 luxury Hotels in Buenos Aires, no less!)

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[1st - 7th January 2007]

Hello, and welcome to the first Buenos Aires blog roundup of 2007! This week I got back to Argentina from a short Christmas holiday in my native UK, went straight back to my very busy day job to construct an entire new website for our company, moved apartment from Abasto to Recoleta (I guess that could count as ‘going up in the world’…but I liked Abasto), and still even found time to write one proper blog post! Lets see if I can manage two this week (I already have one quite silly post up my sleeve).

Maybe the rest of the Buenos Aires bloggers have been as busy as me so far in 2007, because there was not so much posting action this week. But oh what quality action it was…

Things To See & Do in Buenos Aires

• Karine has taken some wonderful photos of Cafe Tortoni, the cafe in a city of cafes, and tells us a little bit about the place and its history
• And she’s certainly been covering the tourist staples this week, with some pics and info about Plaza Dorrego, which you can read a lot more about, if you are so inclined, from a post I wrote a while back: Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo
• Isabelle from Argentina’s Travel Blog has obviously been partying it up in BA over Christmas and new year, and why not? - read her reports on Buenos Aires Nightlife and New Year’s Eve in BA
• As I’ve said before, I just can’t wait for Robert’s map of Recoleta cemetery to come out….it’s looking fabulous, I have to say
• And Robert’s also been taking some great pictures of Buenos Aires lit up by night too
• Not Buenos Aires city as usual, but instead Buenos Aires province…I’ve been following Dan’s informative posts on his trip to Mar del Plata this week

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Av. Corrientes 1368 (between Uruguay & Talcahuano), City Center

The Best Pizza in Buenos Aires?

To save you from reading the whole review, the answer is yes… Guerrin is, in my opinion, the best place for pizza in Buenos Aires. This is a major accolade in a city where Italian food is so popular and widespread, due to the history of Italian immigration that provides the back bone for much of porteno culture. To read a little more about the Italian effect on culture here, check out my previous posts on Banchero Pizzeria and Caminito, both in the barrio of La Boca, which is traditionally the main Italian community of BA.

But today’s blog post is all about Guerrin, and its fantastic Pizza, so read on to find out why this restaurant is a must visit if you are ever in Buenos Aires.

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