Firstly, sincere apologies for the rubbish play on words in the title, on the almost certainly terrible (haven’t read it) but fairly famous novel by Miranda France: Bad Times in Buenos Aires.

So, moving swiftly on, it is thanks to Arjewtino (top blog, by the way) that I found a fun little tool that gives a film rating for your blog, depending on the number and variation of ‘bad’ words found on it. Although, as you’ll soon see, it does throw up some pretty off-the-mark results.

Buenos Aires Argentina Guide: Pure as Snow

Along with many other respectable colleagues in the Buenos Aires and Argentina travel-related blogosphere, such as Argentina’s Travel Guide, Goodairs, and Asado Argentina, I can happily say that I am pure as snow. We’re all goody-two-shoes Rated G blogs:

In fact, the tool even says that no bad words at all were found on my site. It’s amazing how different people are in blogging compared to real life…

Anyway, surely there must be some bad boys (and girls) out there in the Buenos Aires blogging world, and my job is to first track ‘em down, run them through the rating tool, and then name and shame ‘em. So, read on for a list of some extremely naughty Buenos Aires bloggers…

[Clearly I'm doing this for the good of all you parents out there worried about what your young children are reading on the internet ;)]

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Peru (corner of Carlos Calvo), San Telmo

[Photo Credit: Villamota]

El Federal: People watch, relax, socialize, or dine

Grab a buddy and head to El Federal, one of Buenos Aires’ most beautiful and classic cafes (in operation since 1864), for a relaxing afternoon coffee, lunch, or dinner. It’s a pleasure to sit in this café and admire the vintage ads decorating the walls, under a glow of soft yellow lights. Bar El Federal is a perfect example of how the city has made an effort to preserve its cultural patrimony by maintaining old establishments in good condition.

El Federal also has a beautiful lowered bar (giving you the strange perspective of looking down on the bar staff) with an amazing carved wood and stained glass arching mantel above (see photos later in this post), an open kitchen which you can sneak a glance into if you sit in the back, two rooms full of sturdy wooden tables, and even a quaint little bookstore hidden within. The crowd is a mix of porteños relaxing with friends and family, tourists with their heads buried in Lonely Planet guide books, and eclectic San Telmo ‘locals’ from all over the world.

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SOME EXPATS DO INDEED WEAR OMINOUS HOODS

Expat Life in Buenos Aires

My friend Nathan has a fun new blog called Exnat, which is well worth a read if you think you might be interested in “the existential crises of an expat in Buenos Aires at the beginning of the 21st Century”.

Anyway, as you might have noticed before, I am interested in stereotypes, and it seems Nathan is too - he, and his team of expert, expat researchers (i.e. anyone that comments on his blog), are putting together a list of the different types of expats, using generous helpings of stereotypical generalization as their main source of power.

So why not go over and contribute to this list of expat archetypes, and while you’re at it, stay around to read some more interesting expat commentary.

Defensa 695 (on corner of Chile), San Telmo

If you want to have an extremely authentic Buenos Aires experience, try whiling away an afternoon or evening having coffee, drinks, or a meal in one of the city’s famous “notable cafes and bars”. A few years ago, a city government commission drew up a fairly comprehensive list of 53 notable bars and cafes and awarded them this special status due to either their historical, cultural or architectural importance to the city of Buenos Aires. Many of these establishments have been in operation since the nineteenth century, and upon entering one of them you are quickly transported back to the city’s aristocratic roots.

One picturesque member of this exclusive club of bars and cafes is Bar Seddon, a San Telmo hang-out spot that was converted into a bar from a nineteenth-century pharmacy.

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