[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!

Tours and Trips in and around Buenos Aires

• Dan took a trip up to the delta, just north of the city of Buenos Aires, and wrote about his time in Tigre, at the Parque de la Costa amusement park and then on a boat trip
• It isn’t strictly a tour yet, but Robert is giving us more sneaky peeks at his upcoming map of Recoleta cemetery, which would surely help you tour that amazing attraction by yourself when it becomes available

Buenos Aires Info, News & General Comments

• The government’s Blog Pasa en Buenos Aires (Spanish) writes something on Buenos Aires’ famous pedestrian Florida Street, including the statistic that half of all visitors to the city go shopping there, and consequently, that it is the most expensive street to rent space on in Buenos Aires. It also finishes the post with a nice summary of all the key sights along the street… which is a must visit while you are in BA!
• Blog Pasa didn’t want the other pedestrian street in BA, Lavalle, to feel left out. Especially when it intersects Florida, and could be subject to some snide remarks from its more famous cousin. So they wrote about Lavalle’s pedestrian area being stretched right down to Leandro N. Alem, where it has gained some steps down the slope, of the sort that Florida can only dream about…
• I wrote about Buenos Aires being recognized as one of the hottest cultural centers in the world…. clearly that is something to do with Sandra Bullock deciding to visit BA to film a tango picture, as Laura writes (/sarcasm)

Places to Stay in Buenos Aires

• For those coming to Buenos Aires on a budget, the Argentina Travel blog has a nice review of San Telmo’s Hostel Inn that may be of interest to you

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food & Drink

• Dalila did a short, honest review of the La Escondida parrilla in ‘Trendy Palermo Viejo’, which seems like a bit of a mixed bag, and then one of the Chef Yusef Lebanese and Armenian restaurant, also in Palermo Viejo, which sounds a lot better – especially the super sweet pastries for dessert!
• The traveling writers of Argentina’s Travel Blog are clearly are bunch of alcoholics. In swift succession, they partook of beverages in, and subsequently wrote reviews of, Job’s Pool Bar (which is really in Recoleta, not Palermo as they say. Although others will just call it Barrio Norte), the El Taller Bar in Plaza Serrano, hip cocktail bar Mundo Bizzaro, at their new premises between Plaza Serrano and Av. Cordoba, and finally, the secretive Bar Ocho7Ocho in Palermo Soho. After all of that heavy drinking, I guess they decided to kick back and relax among friends a little, with their post on Drinking Mate, the bitter national drink of Argentina
• Dan at Saltshaker continues his high quality reviews of Buenos Aires restaurants, in the last two weeks providing the low down on Jangada, a fish restaurant in Palermo Viejo, and Irifune, a Japanese restaurant in the Microcentro (both recommended), and also Al Galope, a kosher parrilla in Once, which he says is only ‘okay’, but may be of interest to anyone looking for kosher eats in BA
• Robert posts up Divino Vino 8, with reviews of more wines that are available in the supermarkets of Buenos Aires – this time the focus is on Malbec Rose

Funny or odd things in Buenos Aires

• Diva is back. Which is lucky, because her blog posts basically constitute the whole “funny or odd things” section of this roundup
• Although actually, I suppose I can be funny myself from time to time. Or, at least, quite odd. The case for the prosecution: Is Alan Faena the most famous Alan in Buenos Aires? Guilty as charge, m’lud.

Buenos Aires “Meme” Update

• Tango Cherie joined in on the Perfect Day in Buenos Aires meme, with her no-nonsense perfect day in BA, which of course includes a little bit of Tango… thanks again Cherie!
• Dalila does a top job of her Perfect Day in Palermo Viejo, with visits to some of its most trendy cafes, restaurants and shops. Sounds great! It is also accompanied by a nice slide show of pictures
• Diva tells us five things you may not know about her, after I tagged her for that meme. Which of her versions is really true? As if anyone cares…

A warm thank you to all for reading. If I missed any Buenos Aires blog posts of interest in the last couple of weeks, please share their links in the comments below.