La Milonga de los Consagrados – Useful information

Saturday afternoons 4.30pm-10.30pm; Entrance fee of 10 pesos; Reservations: 15-5892-2056.

Reservations are really necessary unless you attend alone, and then they can squeeze you in someplace. Usually this tango salon is full (more than 300 people) by 8.00pm.

La Milonga de los Consagrados is organized by Enrique “Gordo” Rosich, and although it is officially in the barrio of Constitucion, it would probably be referred to as San Telmo by most (official barrio borders are largely ignored in Buenos Aires).

Same venues, different milongas…

As I pointed out in my overview on Tango in Buenos Aires, even if a milonga is in the same salon as another, each milonga will still have its own character depending on the day of the week, the organizer, the crowd, and if it’s in the afternoon or at night.

Los Consagrados is in the same salon as the famous Nino Bien of Thursday nights (in the wonderful Centro Region Leonesa), but it is a totally different experience. And to my mind, the best afternoon milonga of the week. The fact that it’s held on Saturday afternoons, the traditional “difficult” day for singles, makes it even more of a plus…

A perfect tango salon

For one thing, the salon is perfect: large wooden dance floor, high high ceilings with a skylight, a bar, red velvet curtains at each end, a balcony for smokers. It is old and elegant at the same time, with the faded ambiance that foreigners especially love about Buenos Aires.

This is not a tourist milonga by any stretch of the imagination, despite the fact that several tourists do find their way there. The majority of the dancers are locals and regulars – sitting at the same tables week after week.

The atmosphere is friendly and open (although the strict tango codigos do apply). Men sit on one side, women on the other, couples and mixed groups at either end. It is necessary to cabecear to get a dance. There is very little of the snobbishness and elitism that permeates milongas such as El Beso and Maipu 444 (to be reviewed shortly). There are also very few of the “bottom feeder” types, who come to prey on foreigners, such as can be found in La Ideal. The level of dancing is fairly high.

Well, almost perfect…

Because Pato (Patricia), a tall beautiful dark haired waitress, has recently taken over the bar, you must now be more careful with your orders! Every week I have to send back my glass of champagne because either 1) it tastes foul; 2) it’s not champagne, but Sidra; 3) it’s flat, or leftover from the week before. Pato also refuses to bring the traditional potato chips to accompany your cocktail orders, and serves peanuts – for which you must pay 3 pesos, even if your order of a bottle of expensive champagne or a large bottle of beer! [I've learned to bring my own bag of papas fritas these days ]

Unlike many milongas (Chique, for example), tandas of other rhythms are always played during the afternoon: a tanda of tropical (merengue and cumbia), rock ‘n roll (Dixieland to Elvis) and folklore (La Chacarera). The DJ is capable, but tends to be a little unoriginal and repetitive.

Finally, for added excitement, each week there is a sorteo, an entrance ticket prize draw, for a bottle of champagne or a snack plate. Best of luck!

Cherie’s Tango Services

If you are interested in trying out Los Consagrados, or indeed another milonga in Buenos Aires, you will be fine going along by yourself, even as a novice, and you will likely be warmly welcomed. However, we understand that some people are a little apprehensive about their first visit to a milonga, which is why Cherie and her partner Ruben offer to accompany you there and make your tango experience in Buenos Aires a fun and authentic one…

If you are interested in this, or want to find out more about their other tango services and tours, you can contact Ruben & Cherie on the following details:

• Email: BsAsMilonga@aol.com
• Telephone: 4932-5027 (from within Buenos Aires)
• Blog: Tango Cherie

[Note from Alan: Sorry for the long gap in posting here at the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide. But let's not dwell on that for too long, as here's a brand new post from Tango Cherie - author of our excellent Guide to Tango Salons in Buenos Aires - reviewing Chique, one of her favorite milongas in the city. And if you are interested in booking Tango Shows in Buenos Aires, let us know!]

Chiqué – Useful Information

Thursday afternoons 4pm-10pm (tango lessons from 2pm – 4pm); Entrance fee of 10 pesos; Reservations on 4201-7199 or 15-6140-7830

Organizer: Julio Auliel / DJ: Dany Borelli – “el mejor DJ de Buenos Aires” (and that’s the truth!)

Tango dancing in an authentic Spanish club

Chiqué is held every Thursday afternoon on the first floor of Casa Galicia, a Spanish club in Congreso (near the city center), and there is an elevator. A Spanish restaurant is on the second floor. The hall consists of a very old wooden dance floor in excellent condition, which is surrounded by tables with tablecloths, women sitting on one side, men on the other, and couples at the end in the traditional manner.

There is a small stage at one end where the DJ does his thing. The other end of the salon has big windows with a balcony. There is no physical bar, but waitresses (Pato and Vivi) take all orders to the kitchen where they are filled by bartender Armando just the same. There is a coat check, and a bathroom attendant. Julio, the organizer, and his wife, Mirta, are always there to welcome their guests. Patrons are expected to order drinks, from bottled water to champagne. Snacks are also available.

A friendly, welcoming milonga

This milonga has a family feel – very comfortable and friendly. There are good dancers but people don’t go there to strut their stuff; they go to mix and mingle and have fun dancing. The Cabeceo (the inviting to dance with nods of the head) is strictly observed, but still the milonga feels informal and relaxed. There is no pressure or elitism.

A few foreigners attend, but the milonga is not dripping with them and those who prey on them. The dancers are well-groomed and well-dressed and generally between the ages of 50-80, but with younger exceptions. If a lady isn’t dancing much, Julio himself will invite her. Or Ruben Aybar might (my partner), who is an excellent milonguero and teacher.

Strictly Tango

Unlike some other milongas, there are no tandas of other types of music. It’s strictly tango (tango, vals and milonga) in Chiqué.

Chiqué used to be held at Club Español where it drew many more attendees due to the elaborate architecture. Many tourist groups would pay to go into the milonga just to gape at it’s beautiful gilt salon. This isn’t so in Casa Galicia, which is still very nice, but nothing extraordinary in terms of architecture. There is an image of Santiago el Major in a glass case on the wall, and several huge oil paintings of the homeland (which I suppose could use a wash). There are chandeliers and gewgaws on the ceiling, and Julio is planning on installing air conditioning soon.

DANY BORELLI – “THE BEST TANGO DJ IN BUENOS AIRES”

Help support Chiqué

What concerns me about this milonga, which is one of my favorites and one I never miss, is that with the move from Club Español, some people have gone elsewhere. And if more people don’t begin to frequent this new location, perhaps Julio will be in trouble.

However, as of now, Chiqué is a great place to spend a charming Thursday afternoon sampling the Buenos Aires milonga scene, before running off to dinner or to dance at a late-night milonga.

Cherie’s Tango Services

If you are interested in trying out Chiqué, or indeed another milonga in Buenos Aires, you will be fine going along by yourself, even as a novice, and you will likely be warmly welcomed. However, we understand that some people are a little apprehensive about their first visit to a milonga, which is why Cherie and her partner Ruben offer to accompany you there and make your tango experience in Buenos Aires a fun and authentic one.

If you are interested in this, or want to find out more about their other tango services and tours, you can contact Ruben & Cherie on the following details:

• Email: BsAsMilonga@aol.com
• Telephone: 4932-5027 (from within Buenos Aires)
• Blog: Tango Cherie

Dancing Tango in the Confiteria Ideal, Buenos Aires [Photo credit: Gerrysan]

Note from Alan – We are lucky enough to welcome a seasoned Buenos Aires tango and milonga expert to the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide, in the form of Cherie Magnus, from the Tango Cherie blog (see the end of this post for more info on Cherie). Her first offering is an excellent guide to the types of tango salon in Buenos Aires, for those interested in the real world of social tango dancing in the city. So, over to you Cherie…

If you want to dance tango in Buenos Aires, where do you go?

Actually it depends on many things: your age, what style you dance, what day or night of the week you want to go out, if you go with or without a partner, and so on…

Dancing social tango in Buenos Aires has nothing to do with the Tango Show Dancing on the streets of San Telmo, La Boca, calle Florida, or Recoleta, or the many Tango Cena-Shows with an orchestra, stage dancers and dinner. The first thing to know about tango is that what you’ll see in those places is a different dance – Tango for Export. And that is another post entirely!

Experience Authentic Social Tango in Buenos Aires

If you want to experience authentic social tango, you really need to know the best places for you to go to watch and dance. You could pick up one of the many free tango publications from shoe salons and hotels which list all of the milongas (places to dance social tango), but unless you have lots of time and money to explore each one, you can’t tell which is right for you. And that’s why Ruben & Cherie (as well as other bilingual local dancers) provide a service to help tango tourists get the most out of their visits to Buenos Aires. They know where you can have the most fun and how to break the codigos, and will even take you there themselves.

If you are interested in their tango services, you can contact Ruben & Cherie using the following details:

• Email: BsAsMilonga@aol.com
• Telephone: 4932-5027 (from within Buenos Aires)
• Blog: Tango Cherie

Click here to view the embedded video.

Types of Tango Salon in Buenos Aires

First, a tip: when checking where to go to mingle with the locals in Buenos Aires on the dance floor, remember that dances in the same salon vary greatly depending on the organizer, day of the week, time of day etc. In other words, every milonga at Region Leonesa or Canning will not be the same.

The following is a general break-down of the different types of places to dance tango in Buenos Aires, with some examples of each…

Salon de Baile

A formal atmosphere especially for dancing, with predominantly elegant attire, tables with tablecloths, uniformed waiters, tango codes are strictly respected, professional DJs play tango, vals and milonga music of the 1930′s-50′s, often with tandas of Latin and Jazz music. The public here is older (50-80) with an intermediate to high level of dancing in the close-embrace milonguero style. Women and men sit on opposite sides of the salon and use the cabaceo. The afternoon milongas tend to be more formal and traditional than the late night dances.

Examples in Buenos Aires: El Arranque, Gricel, Salon Canning, Viejo Correo, Los Consegrados, Maipu 444, Lo de Celia, El Beso, Chique.

Confiteria bailable

This old-fashioned type of salon has many of the same characteristics of the Salons de Baile, but also has a restaurant. The public is more varied, with lots of groups. The only example today is the Confiteria Ideal, which is famous for its long life and its architecture. Nowadays only a few Salons de Baile have restaurants, such as Nino Bien and El Beso, but they are milongas first, and only very few of the clients order food from the kitchen.

Club de Barrio

The dance floors are cement basketball courts or the club restaurant. Meals are usually available. Predominantly attended by the neighborhood families and older married couples; the music includes tango, jazz and tropical.

Examples in Buenos Aires: Sin Rumbo, Los Bohemios, Sunderland, Club Chicago.

Baile Joven

Informal atmosphere, young public (18-30), variety of casual dress, often with live music and dance exhibitions. More relaxed standards, a more diverse level of dancing, and more salon-style than close embrace. You will hear the music of Piazzolla, some rock ‘n’ roll, as well as salsa and cumbia.

Examples in Buenos Aires: La Estrella, La Viruta, Parakultural.

Aire Libre

Outdoor milongas that attract a wide variety of dancers.

Examples in Buenos Aires: La Glorieta and Plaza Dorrego (year round) and La Calesita (in summer).

An Aire Libre milonga in Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo [Photo credit: nyluke]

Practicas

Informal, bare-bones ambiance, no professional DJ.

Examples in Buenos Aires: Cochabamba 444, El Motivo, Tangocool, Soho Tango.

Gay Milongas

Informal, relaxed atmosphere, anybody can dance with anybody, alternative music along with the classics.

Examples in Buenos Aires: La Marshall, TangoQueer.

Coming soon from Cherie – reviews of different tango milongas around Buenos Aires…

About Cherie Magnus

Cherie Magnus is a published travel writer and dance critic from Los Angeles, and an expat tango dancer and teacher in Buenos Aires since 2003. She and her Argentine partner Ruben Aybar also do bilingual Tango Tours. Last year they were finalists in the Campeonato Metropolitano de Tango de Buenos Aires. She’s working on a memoir, The Church of Tango, and one of her pieces is included in a soon-to-be-published anthology on San Miguel de Allende. You can read more on her blog, TangoCherie.

Note from Alan: Taking inspiration from the fantastic team blogging efforts over at both Argentina’s Travel Guide and Expat Argentina, I recently decided to get some fresh blood on board to help with the creation of the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide. There are so many great places in Buenos Aires to review, and only one of me to do so… it would take years if I continued solo! If you think you have what it takes to be a contributer here, even if only for one ‘guest post’, please email me or leave a comment. Right now, I’d now like to cordially welcome our first new member of the team, Rachel Signer, whose bio you can find at the end of this article, and whose first post, about the Cochabamba 444 milonga in San Telmo, I hope you will now read with enjoyment…

An authentic milonga in San Telmo

For an authentic tango experience in Buenos Aires, you don’t necessarily need to go to one of those expensive places that offer Argentina Tango Shows aimed at tourists. Instead, head to Cochabamba 444, the San Telmo milonga where the city’s best tango dancers come to strut across the dance floor with people of all ages, walks of life, and nationalities. The bar is dimly lit by chandeliers with yellow bulbs, giving an aura of antiquity that takes you back to Buenos Aires in its Golden Age of high-society and sizzling tango bars. It’s located on a quiet street just three blocks from Plaza Dorrego, where the Sunday antiques fair is held.

Buenos Aires tango lessons

At Cochabamba 444, tango lessons are offered Thursday and Friday nights at 8pm ($10 pesos), although if you arrive a little late there’ll be no problem – this is Argentina, after all! The teacher gives the class in Spanish, but if your Spanish isn’t great have no fear, because there is bound to be some English-speaking expat or even an Argentine who will happily translate for you as you whirl around the floor (or trip over your own feet, as the case may be). There are indeed better places in Buenos Aires for instruction on dancing tango than Cochabamba 444 (more to come on those in a future post). What this milonga is really known for is its atmosphere and music.

Dance the night away, or just watch and enjoy

If you just want to come to watch the dancers and enjoy the music, you can show up around 10pm or 10:30pm and grab a table near the modest bar in the back. The bar serves bottles of wine for $10 pesos (try to find prices like that elsewhere in San Telmo!) and things to munch on like empanadas, matambres, and picadas (plates of meats, cheese, olives etc), all at very low prices, even by Buenos Aires standards. Overall, the bar is populated by Argentines who are serious about tango, but there are certainly some foreigners on the scene too.

Once the music starts, people will whisk out on the dance floor and dazzle you with their grace, covert sensuality, and intensity. There’s a method to the madness, though: the culture of tango is outlined in strict rules that you can only learn from being a part of it. For example, the men always ask the women for a dance, and sometimes it’s done subtly with just a raised eyebrow. And once a couple is dancing tango, they will continue as partners for an entire song set.

Cochabamba 444: a performance worth coming for

Toward the end of the night, Cochabamba 444 will offer some sort of performance. It’s usually a traditional live tango band, who will bang out classic tunes with style on a stand-up bass, bandoneon (the type of accordion used in tango), and piano. Sometimes, however, you might get lucky and see a hilarious puppet show or a singer belting out some soul tunes. You never really know with Cochabamba.

Make note that Thursday nights are infamously the best times to go, although you will probably also see some spectacular dancing and live music on Fridays too.

Buenos Aires Argentina Guide Special Tip

At Cochabamba 444, dress is casual but it’s best not to wear jeans and sneakers, as tango culture is somewhat more refined and traditional. You may not easily meet other travelers or Argentines at Cochabamba, but you will certainly observe a beautiful dance, authentic tango culture, and stirring musical performances.

More about our new author, Rachel Signer

Rachel moved to Buenos Aires from Washington, D.C. five months ago, following her dream to live in the city that fills her with a passion for discovering life. She works as an English teacher, giving conversation and grammar classes in businesses all over the Capital. While living here, she began freelance writing for a number of online magazines and websites, and realized that she wanted to become a serious writer, so now she is following this path as much as possible. In her free time, Rachel volunteers a few days per week as an English teacher in a community center in Mataderos, explores jazz clubs and art exhibits, takes photos obsessively of city life and people, and enjoys the cheap wine, tofu, and pleasure of living in one of the world’s most colorful cities.

In her first month and a half in Buenos Aires, Rachel was lucky enough to live right in front of one of the most famous milongas in Buenos Aires (the one you have just read about). For the first couple of weeks, she could only sit on her balcony and watch the people filter in and out, absorbing the tantalizing sounds of the tango. Finally, however, she overcame her shyness and ventured into the milonga – only to discover that she makes quite a clumsy, ungraceful tango dancer. In the end, she still loves to watch the sensual dance with a glass of wine and some friends, but she doesn’t dare set foot on the dance floor after the first try. Everyone says to try again, and someday Rachel intends to do just that.

Sorry for missing a week folks. Without wanting to go into the details, it’s been a crazy and stressful time. Anyway, on with the show we go, with my picks from the Buenos Aires blogosphere from the last two weeks, and I’m going to to try and keep my usually meandering descriptions quite brief this time round…

My favorite Buenos Aires blog posts from the past 2 weeks

• Tango Cherie made an interesting post on the subject of tango ‘taxi dancers’
• Nathan from Trip Trap notices some funny goings on in the Buenos Aires section of Craigslist
• Robert’s map of Recoleta Cemetery is ready, and it looks beautiful
  

Things to see and do in Buenos Aires

• David Schneer goes in search of the Jewish underground in Buenos Aires (a series of posts, see links at top of the page)
• Saltshaker had an enjoyable and cheap day out at the races, at Palermo Hipodromo, a place that I also reviewed a while back on this blog: Palermo Hipodromo, Buenos Aires
• Highlights from Karine’s daily photos over the past couple of weeks includes a picture of the 15 year commemoration of the 1992 Israeli Embassy attack, and on a lighter note, one of the statue of General Alvear in Plaza Francia, Recoleta, and a nice aerial shot of the Retiro train station – I guess taken from the torre de los ingleses?
• Argentina’s Travel Guide covered a couple of popular tourist destinations in Buenos Aires… the Casa Rosada in Plaza de Mayo, and El Tigre, up on the delta to the north of the city

Buenos Aires news, info & general comments

• Argentina’s Travel Guide has some useful advice on how to get packages that are sent to you in Buenos Aires
• Disco Shawn reports on the recent ATM withdrawal problems for foreigners in Buenos Aires
• Will Bonner discovers that film director Francis Ford Coppola has just bought a petit hotel in Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires, to stay in when he works on an upcoming film in Argentina.. which On the Road Travel says will be called Tetro and filmed in Buenos Aires
• Yanqui Mike marks the 25th anniversary of the unfortunate Malvinas conflict with an overview of the history of the Malvinas islands
• Buenos Aires Spotting posts about some interesting underground street art viral marketing by the SUBA clothes brand in Buenos Aires
• Greek in Argentina notes that Buenos Aires came in at number 13 on a list of the wealthiest cities in the world, followed by some interesting discussion that continues on into a lively comments section

Buenos Aires restaurants, food and drink

• Robert posts up more reviews of wines available in Buenos Aires in Divino Vino #10, this time with more misses than hits
• Miriam makes some interesting comments about Dining Out in Buenos Aires in her blog, ‘South for the Winter’
• Argentina’s Travel Guide reviews an ‘all you can eat’ (tenedor libre) restaurant, Gourmet Porteño, in Puerto Madero, and Katmandu, an Indian restaurant in Almagro
  
• Saltshaker reviews Barbacoa parrilla and Caballito pizzeria, both in Barrio Norte, followed up by a trio of short Buenos Aires restaurant reviews in one blog post
• Ken posts about our beer tasting visit to Antares in Palermo (including pictures of both of us in silly hats), which I swiftly followed with a review of my own: Antares Pub, Buenos Aires – and Ken also posted his thoughts on tipping in Buenos Aires

Funny or Odd Stuff in Buenos Aires

• Diva returns to form with posts suggesting that virginity is a scarce commodity in Buenos Aires and her thoughts on Catholicism in Argentina
• Ken notes that the fairly regular lack of customer service in Buenos Aires can feel quite odd to us extranjeros, and also rounds up some interesting signs he has seen around the city
• Nathan from Trip Trap has some interesting stories from the supermarkets of Buenos Aires

Thanks for reading everyone!

For your information, I’m writing this week’s Buenos Aires blog roundup slowly in between itching the many mosquito bites that have ravaged my poor body. Unfortunately we have a bit of a mosquito invasion here in the city of Buenos Aires at the moment, although at least it looks (correct me if I’m wrong) like there is no risk of Dengue here in the city (unlike in parts of Buenos Aires province, and further north in Misiones). Still, the bites don’t half itch a lot, so apologies if my itching-triggered lack of concentration causes any errors in this roundup…

Buenos Aires Blog Posts of the Week

• This week’s top posts are about three new things that I’m pretty certain I will love. First up, Robert points out that a cafe has just opened up on the ground floor of the Palacio Barolo, a building that fascinates pretty much everyone, including Robert and I. It looks beautiful in Robert’s pictures, and despite the hefty, touristy prices (9 pesos for a cafe con leche with 3 medialunas!!!), I will definitely be checking it out in the near future
• Secondly, Dan from Saltshaker has been privy to a sneak preview of the food at an authentic Indian restaurant that will apparently be opening in Barrio Norte (Laprida and Charcas) later this month. It will be called Tandoor, and hopefully will provide the quality Indian food many of us expats have been missing since arriving in Buenos Aires
• Thirdly, Disco Shawn (still my vote for top blogger pseudonym of the year), introduces us to the Chilean indie musician Javiera Mena, who will be playing in Buenos Aires this Friday, March 16th at Club Niceto in Palermo Hollywood, during their indie music night Compass. From the tracks linked to in that blog post, her stuff sounds pretty good (I like my “cute, keyboard-driven pop goodness”, as Shawn describes it), so I will probably try to make my way to Compass this Friday

Things to See and Do in Buenos Aires

• Karine has yet more lovely pics from around Buenos Aires, this week including two stunning city monuments: El Monumento de los Españoles in Palermo, and the monument to General Jose de San Martin, in Plaza San Martin (where else?!), Retiro – a fitting tribute to Argentina’s main independence hero
• Argentina’s Travel Guide has some interestingly varied things to do in Buenos Aires this week, ranging from the “Thursday night transvestite party” at Club Niceto to attending an Argentine league soccer game (in this case at the River Plate stadium), and finally taking in a trip to a meditation center in Palermo after to reflect on what sounds like a very interesting week!
• For all of you budding Tango dancers on your way to Buenos Aires to strut your stuff, Tango Cherie provides the inside knowledge of what NOT to wear to a milonga in Buenos Aires… please take note!

Buenos Aires Information, News and General Comments

• Great news: everyone’s favorite trilingual blog, Trendy Palermo Viejo, celebrated it’s first anniversary of blogging this week, and long may Dalila continue bringing us the coolest shops, restaurants and more from this most happening of Buenos Aires barrios And what better way to celebrate than with a post recapping the latest shops that have opened in Palermo Viejo?!

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food and Drink

• Yanqui Mike made his way to the last night of the Buenos Aires beer festival, but as I had suspected, it was more of a glorified rock concert than anything else, and even worse, Mike came away disappointed without even a drop of beer passing his lips. Considering the festival organizers obviously know the rules about not serving alcoholic beverages during musical performances here, you have to wonder why they bother having live music at what is, after all, supposed to be a beer festival. Or change the name to something less misleading. Bad show all round
• Dan from Saltshaker posted a review of Piola Pizzeria in Recoleta this week, giving you another (more qualified!) viewpoint on their pizza in addition to my recent review of Piola Buenos Aires. For the record, I enjoyed the Pizza more than Dan, but he experienced far better service than I did. Now if only they could get both things right at the same time…

Funny or Odd Stuff in Buenos Aires

• In the Argentine Metropolis discusses the English words that have been making their way into Argentine Spanish over the past few years, and also in the same post overhears a really funny conversation between a middle-aged woman and her father in a Palermo fashion cafe… frapuccino indeed!

Not too many posts this week… did I miss anything, or were you all just as lay as me this week?

As for my blog, I promise that very soon there will be some other posts on this blog apart from the weekly blog roundups… I’m sure I can at least manage another bar review or something, you know, for the benefit of my readers… nothing to do with my hankering for a few decent beers now and again of course!

Well, amazingly, I made it to ten weeks of this Buenos Aires blog roundup. Quite an achievement for me, because each one involves a hell of a lot of reading, selecting, writing and linking each week. But I enjoy doing it, and it keeps me up to date with a lot of what is going on in Buenos Aires, plus I get to read so many interesting opinions about the city, and often see some absolutely stunning photos of BA.

So, onwards I go, with Buenos Aires blog roundup number 10…

Buenos Aires Blog Posts of the Week

• This week, my favorite posts are all about cool, hip things in Buenos Aires. And they don’t get much cooler than this: look at the new Adidas “I Love Buenos Aires” line – I really want the blue sneakers in the second picture! Thanks to Buenos Aires Spotting for noticing that, and for generally just being far to trendy for their own good…
• I am a big ‘indie’ music fan. Until this week, I thought there was no indie music in Buenos Aires… until Disco Shawn came to the rescue, and pointed out that a (possibly regular) indie night is starting this Friday at Club Niceto. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get to it, if any of my resident stalkers want to know where to find me this week
• Now, what could be cooler than some tips on how to pick up girls in Buenos Aires, I ask? Well, how about some crazy & funny tips from one of the girls herself? OK then, just don’t blame me or Diva when you get slapped five times in one night for trying her advice!

Things to See and Do in Buenos Aires

• Robert has some great photos of the life cycle of the Palo Borracho trees that you see so much of in Buenos Aires, which bloom a lovely pink, but also cause Robert a nasty allergy. Still, nice to see someone suffering in the name of good blogging!
• Ian Mount, on Gridskipper duty, notes that Buenos Aires’ supposed “Tango season” is almost upon us, starting with the annual Buenos Aires Tango festival from 28th February to 4th March, as is also noted on my own Buenos Aires events page
• Isabelle Lagarde has been busy Learning Spanish in Buenos Aires, and then spending her free time in buzzing, bohemian San Telmo on Sundays, then even finding time to write about it all. How does every else but me manage to be so productive? Hmph. Anyway, for more information along the San Telmo Sunday theme, you might want to check out my old post about Plaza Dorrego and the Feria de San Telmo
• My favorite pictures from Karine this week are of a plastic surgery clinic on top of a cafe in barrio Belgrano – hitting two of BA’s biggest vices in one fell swoop, some assorted pictures of the relaxing Palermo Parks, one of the cruise boats moored in Buenos Aires that have caused an invasion of 10,000 tourists into the city (just think of all those tango shows and steak dinners!) and a picture of a Persicco Ice Cream Parlor in Belgrano, which reminds me, I need to get back there to make a review soon, and of course to help feed my ice cream addiction further
• Ken takes a walk through the Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur, a haven of peace and wildlife just a few minutes from the smog and craziness of Buenos Aires City Center. Next time you go Ken, I definitely recommend trying a Choripan from one of the stalls down there on the Costanera, delicious…
• Ken has been very active this week it seems, because he also took a four hour bike trip tour up to the north of Buenos Aires to Tigre and San Isidro (note – he didn’t cycle all the way there and back, that would take a lot longer and be quite dangerous I would guess! Of course, they took a train…)

Buenos Aires Info, News & General Comments

• Not only did Dalila’s Trendy Palermo Viejo make it into Clarin recently along with the rest of us Buenos Aires bloggers, but she also got featured in the New York Times last week. Now that really is hitting the big time! Congrats Dalila…
• Tango Cherie has some good tips for ladies, and a link, about how to present yourself at a tango milonga in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food, Drink & Places to Stay

• El Desnivel is a great place for some traditional Buenos Aires steak or choripan (or indeed, assorted grilled animal organs) in San Telmo. Argentina’s Travel Blog has a nice review of it this week. However, in the area of hustling, bustling San Telmo parrillas, I still prefer Manolo. Has anyone checked out its new premises yet?
• Good news for us Brits! (even though it has nothing to do with us apart from its name…) Bar Britanico, that old San Telmo favorite, is back, as noted by Blog Pasa en Buenos Aires (Spanish) and Yanqui Mike. Fans of Che and The Motorcycle Diaries might be interested to know that the cafe scene at the start of the movie was shot in Bar Britanico.
• Matt Bites has a great review of Home, the boutique hotel in Palermo. It looks so great from his words and pictures that I wish I could afford to stay there to try it out. If the owners (fellow Brits, I believe) are reading… freebie night in exchange for a blog review, maybe?

Funny or Odd Things in Buenos Aires

• I always end up putting Diva in the ‘odd’ section just for the sake of it. I hope she doesn’t mind. Anyway, she needs, and deserves, a logo for her blog… hopefully some good design-minded soul out there will help her with this, on her way to achieving world domination before the year is out
• I think it’s extremely odd for people to come and live to a foreign country, like Argentina, and then moan about it all the time. I mean, what the hell are you doing here if you think everything is so bad? Go home! Fortunately, Miss Tango in Her Eyes seems to agree with my sentiment, with her post on how not to behave in a foreign country. Moaners, please take note…

Thanks again to all Buenos Aires bloggers for blogging, readers for reading, and bus drivers for getting me to and from work on time. Without you all, my world would be a sadder place… ’til next week, blog fans…

Sorry I’m late with the Buenos Aires blog roundup this week guys… I have been busy as usual, and at the weekend wrote what would have been one of my best blog posts of all time (seriously!), only for my PC to crash just before I clicked publish, losing the whole thing! I was so annoyed that I couldn’t bring myself to try posting something again until now… that will learn me for not updating to the new version of WordPress (my blogging software), which apparently has an auto-save feature. Silly me.

Anyway, onto the blog roundup, which this week inaugurates a new feature… a section for my most favorite posts of the week!

Buenos Aires Blog Posts of the Week

• I just loved Ken’s description of the dog walkers in Buenos Aires and the accompanying picture, though not quite as much as I love to see the dog walkers with their huge packs of mutts each morning as I walk to catch the bus to work
• I always like a good post about the prevalence of mullets in Buenos Aires. And Isabelle Lagarde’s blog entry in this field certainly doesn’t disappoint
• OK, so Buenos Aires isn’t Paris. But it does have some lovely Parisian-esque domes, which came into Robert’s ‘Line of Sight’ this week. I hope he didn’t get a crick in his neck…

Things to See and Do in Buenos Aires

• My favorite pictures from Karine this week were of colorful Caminito with La Boca’s symbolic old transporter bridge hiding away in the back, an amazing traffic jam on Av. 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, a shot of the idyllic Palermo parks, and a nice collection of riverside Puerto Madero pictures, from the newest, and most expensive, barrio in Buenos Aires
• Being a lazy so and so, it certainly isn’t on my list of things to do in Buenos Aires, but the Argentina Travel blog wrote a post on where to run in Buenos Aires, for those who are that way inclined. Suitably, in this sweltering weather, the post was soon followed by advice on how to escape the Buenos Aires heat. At this time of year, I would certainly recommend the latter over the former
• Riding the bus in Buenos Aires, when it’s not too busy, is something I usually enjoy doing. Jeff evidently thinks so too, at least enough to start a blog post series called “On the Bus in Buenos Aires“
• Tango Cherie has a tip for those thinking of taking Tango classes in Buenos Aires: remember that you get what you pay for with Tango classes, as in most of life
• Ken has a nice post on the pedestrian shopping street Florida, where you can buy tacky Buenos Aires fridge magnets to your heart’s content

Buenos Aires Info, News and General Comments

• Karine notes that an International Living survey and article has rated Argentina in the top ten countries of the world to live in. Yet more good press for Argentina!
• Deby from Tango Spam provides some interesting food for thought for those thinking about coming to BA for good with her three post series entitled “Why do you want to live here?” Here is Part 2 and Part 3
• Apparently, Palermo Viejo is up there with the likes of Milan for fashion these days
• Diva gets a link to her blog from the official city of Buenos Aires government blog. I make my plea to them now: please link to me too! I would do a little dance…
• There is a new Buenos Aires blogger in town, with a great/lame (delete as appropriate) name to boot: Disco Shawn. He thinks that Buenos Aires is getting a little too over hyped, and I agree to an extent, though personally I always like to see BA getting good press, even if it is not giving a 100% true picture of the city

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food and Drink

• The Argentina Travel Blog has two good restaurant reviews this week, of Business – Sushi Libre, a pretty good all you can eat Sushi establishment in Recoleta, and Manos Costumbristas, a place for simple Tucuman province food near the Microcentro, which sounds quite interesting in that they only have two things on the menu – empanadas and tamales, and apparently they have proper hot sauce too – a valuable commodity for expats in Buenos Aires
• Fernet Branca. Try it when you’re in Buenos Aires, if you dare. And yes, that’s me in the comments section saying that Fernet ‘tastes of Catholicism’. It does!

Funny or Odd Things in Buenos Aires

• ArJewTino has some fun putting last week’s Clarin story about Buenos Aires bloggers through the misfiring Babel Fish online translator. Although now he has me wondering too… maybe Ian of Goodairs really does talk like that?
• Diva writes in her usual irreverent style about the tourist dress code in Buenos Aires
• This strikes me as quite odd, but interesting all the same: the Buenos Aires Subte is holding a love letter contest, as noted by Maya of the Sexy Spanish Club.

Thanks again to my readers for reading and the other Buenos Aires bloggers for their continued hard blogging – without you, I would be nothing. Or at least this blog roundup post would be.

[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.

It’s back…what is surely already your favorite weekly round-up of the Buenos Aires blogosphere…putting aside the small issue that it is the only weekly round-up of the Buenos Aires blogosphere! We made it to a 2nd week, which is a mild surprise because last week’s instalment took so long to write due some heavy blogging in the Buenos Aires area.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, there were less relevant Buenos Aires blog posts to report on this week, but still a fair amount for you to get through, partly thanks to my hyperactive blogging this week. Here they are…

Buenos Aires Sightseeing

• As I was saying in this week’s post on Caminito, there is more to La Boca than touristy tack, and these photos reveal some of the gritty modern reality of this famous barrio.
• I wrote a post about the history and modern day use of the wonderful El Mercado de Abasto building.
• All about El Cabildo, the government house during colonial times in Buenos Aires.
• The Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens are a nice place to relax in an oasis of Zen tranquillity. The Buenos Aires city government (blog in Spanish) also notes that the gardens are in a top ten list of the best places to read in peace in Buenos Aires, along with the Botanical Gardens and Plaza San Martin.

Info, News & General Comments about Buenos Aires

• Diva has her finger on the pulse of the BA festival calendar – urging us to go to Mutek for ‘emerging music, digital art & new technologies’, and Cambalache, a ‘non-touristy tango festival’, if there could ever be such a thing…
• News just in, it’s Christmas time….in Palermo Viejo! With snowflakes, despite the fact that temperatures here are in the mid 30s (Celsius)…
• Trendy Palermo Viejo also reports on the ‘Festival de Buen Dia’, it having occurred, where else but in Trendy Palermo Viejo, and not just any old place, but Plaza (Trendy) Palermo Viejo itself!

Where to Stay in Buenos Aires

• I suppose you could plan where you stay here depending on where all the famous people in Buenos Aires live. Many are in trendy Palermo, it seems.
• The Argentina Travel blog has some extra advice on renting an apartment in Buenos Aires, which will come in handy if you want to live near those celebs in Palermo, I guess.

Buenos Aires Food, Drink & Restaurants

• Winners of the hotly-contested (literally ‘smoking’) Argentine Asado contest are announced.
• Saltshaker reviews the Empire Thai restaurant in the Microcentro, which is is one of the better Asian restaurants in Buenos Aires, and Chere Sophie, a decent restaurant attached to a school for hotel, tourism and restaurant management, just about in Recoleta.
• Yes, you can get Belgian chocolate and beer in Jumbo, the Buenos Aires supermarket with most variety = expat heaven. It imports Duvel and Chimay, two of my favorite beers of all time! Bit on the pricy side though…
• And if that isn’t enough good alcohol-related news for you, Robert Wright published the seventh instalment in his Divino Vino Buenos Aires wine review series, all (cheaply) available in supermarkets here.
• The best ice cream / gelato in the world, in Buenos Aires? Oh yes! And you can even just about see the place to get it in one of Karine’s daily photos this week!

Strange things in Buenos Aires

• The BA city government steals a Buenos Aires blogger’s photo of a milanesa napolitana.
• American adverts are being shot in Buenos Aires, presumably because of the nice cityscape, good looking actors, cheaper production costs and readily available supply of milanesas (if not their photos).
• Common pitfalls of using public transport in Buenos Aires
• While not stealing innocent blogger’s photos, the city government blog is telling us when we can watch meteor showers in Buenos Aires (in Spanish). Hang on, doesn’t that photo look familiar too?
• Comically astute social commentary on the differences between tourists and locals in Buenos Aires.

And what’s all this about a Buenos Aires ‘Meme’?

• I wrote a post about ‘My Perfect Day in Buenos Aires‘, and invited, no, urged, all other Buenos Aires bloggers to do the same. This is called an internet meme, IF it spreads. And I think out of it will come many interesting ideas for things to do and see in BA…
• No bites yet, although Diva, Karine and Laura have all kindly displayed an interest
• Come on the rest of you…please don’t ignore me, I won’t go away that easily!

Thanks for reading! Please add links to any interesting Buenos Aires blog posts I missed this week in the comments below…