The Silver River - Buenos Aires Daily

The End

2009-05-05T18:20:00.003-03:00

As I'll be leaving Buenos Aires and returning to London in just over a week I am going to stop posting to this blog. I've had a wonderful time here and have enjoyed delivering this blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it.

I have started a new London Photo Blog which you can check out here:

London Daily Photo

As a final post, I was delighted to discover the joys of Rafaella Carra the other night at Sitges. Where has this woman been all my life?

Daily Pic(s) 143 : Spicy sauces in a Taco Restaurant

2009-04-29T23:03:00.005-03:00

Labels on both sides to help you find the sauce you're best suited to. Predictably the mildests is best "For Argentines". Sweet.

Films

2009-04-29T23:00:00.002-03:00

Chris and I went to watch X-men Origins tonight... I know! Although it's not my kind of film I really enjoyed it. Fun and games.

One Friday we are going to watch Hedwig, which they are staging here. I'm rather looking forward to that... we're going with Alejandro and Julio.

Today Chris and I took the train up to Martinez and took a stroll down to the river, it was all very pleasant indeed. It's Chris' last week so I think this weekend will be quite busy, Julio is it town too.

Daily Pic 142 : Taxi on 9 de Julio

2009-04-28T10:02:00.002-03:00

Dada

2009-04-28T09:58:00.003-03:00

Last night Chris and I went for dinner at Dada and I have to say that this time it wasn't great. My steak was really bad, fatty and stringey! Disappointing. After that we popped to Jamie's bar and had a couple of drinks, all in all a pleasant evening.

Daily Pic 141 : El Ateneo on Santa Fe

2009-04-26T11:10:00.002-03:00

This used to be a theatre and as such is one hell of a bookstore. It's remarkable.

Standard

2009-04-26T11:05:00.002-03:00

Last night I went to Standard in Palermo Hollywood for dinner and it was divine. I had the best pasta I've had in Buenos Aires, really delicious. It's also quite small and sweet, maybe a little too well lit, but gorgeous. It's odd that I have never gone there before now but will hopefully be able to squeeze in another visit before I leave.

This weekend has been quiet and slow, I have been working on my London photo blog, trying to work up a new template. I'm a bit thick with those things so it's taking a while.

Tonight, Chris and I are taking Janer (our Peruvian friend) out for dinner at a Peruvian restaurant. I have to confess I don't know what Peruvian food is like, but am interested to see. I suspect it will be quite an early night, which is a good thing!

Daily Pic 140 : Rosario

2009-04-23T15:17:00.000-03:00

The Shamrock

2009-04-23T15:03:00.002-03:00

Last night Chris and I met up with Rienk and Elserieke for a quick drink or two at the Shamrock in Recoleta. That place is way too loud... or maybe I'm way too old. Anyway, we had a nice night, despite the venue.

Chris and I popped to Rosario on Tuesday for one night. Although I'd been before, Chris wanted to see it. It's only a 5 hour bus ride, so really close. It's a sweet town.

Daily Pic 139 : Yellow

2009-04-21T09:09:00.002-03:00

Yesterday Chris and I took a long stroll. Along the way we came across and area (just near Abasto) with thousands of shops selling store manequins. It was very strange indeed. In this city it seems that stores of a type seem to be located in the same area... all medical supplies in one place, all wool shops in one place and now these.

Daily Pic 138 : Plaza Serrano

2009-04-20T11:32:00.000-03:00

Daily Pic 137 : Teatro Opera

2009-04-19T15:09:00.001-03:00

La Fantasma de la Opera

2009-04-19T14:44:00.002-03:00

Last night I went with a friend to watch La Fantasma de la Opera. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the musical but it was fun to see. The art deco theatre (El Teatro Opera) was beautiful and the production was good too. Good fun.

Festival de Teatro de Sudafricano

2009-04-17T14:44:00.003-03:00

Spotted this poster on my walk this morning. Three South African plays being staged next week at the Borges Cultural Centre. Will have to check it out.

Asado

2009-04-17T14:41:00.003-03:00

I'd read about construction workers and the sort making impromptu asados wherever they fancied, but I didn't think it was true. As mentioned earlier, it seems to be the season for roadworks so I guess I'm more likely to witness this particular local custom now, while the streets are full of road workers. This guy (on Gurruchaga) was obviously expecting quite a rush.

Daily Pic 136 : A Whale

2009-04-17T01:13:00.001-03:00

Spotted this fella on Honduras.

Roadworks

2009-04-16T13:49:00.004-03:00

What's with all the roadworks in Buenos Aires? Everywhere I look the streets and pavements are being dug up. Although, I also recall that around this time of year in London the same thing happens. Something to do with the end of the financial year and local authorities frantically using up their budgets. I wonder if it's the same story here.

Annoyingly when they dig up the pavement here they tend not to replace the floor slabs they just removed with like, but instead whack down concrete. The pavement outside my building was pristine until two days ago.

Daily Pic 135 : Graffiti in Palermo Soho

2009-04-16T00:58:00.000-03:00

Daily Pic 134 : Abasto

2009-04-14T21:37:00.001-03:00

Daily Pic 133 : Waiting at Parque de la Costa

2009-04-13T09:28:00.000-03:00

Sucre in Buenos Aires

2009-04-13T09:15:00.003-03:00

Okay, so since, I've been here I've been wanting to go to Sucre. It's considered by many as the place to go. "The" restaurant of the moment. I was disappointed.

The design and ambiance of Sucre is gorgeous, all concrete and brutalist, sadly it's a bit of a tired design and is almost becoming the norm for restaurants of this nature. The huge bar that everyone raves about is gorgeous and very big, but that's kind of it, just a big old backlit bar with lots of colourful bottles, you can see that in so many places in Buenos Aires and anywhere in the world.

The cockroach walking up the wall next to our table was a particular delight and at times the service was so slow I was tempted to see if he could take out dessert order.

The menu was varied and covered a lot more than just steak. However, I had the Ojo de Bife (Rib eye) and it was kind of gross. Ribeye steak varies dramatically and I would have thought ordering one in a restaurant of this calibre would have been a safe bet. It was stringey and tough and a large part of it inedible. The person I was dining with had the same problem with his.

Our desserts, when they finally arrived were good.

At the end of the meal, getting 40 pesos change was tiresome with three staff members rattling through a little tin money box for what felt like a lifetime. Logistics somehow incompatible with the restaurant's ambition, stated in it's design and boldness.

Easter weekend

2009-04-13T09:09:00.002-03:00

Well, I'm better! My ailment didn't last long, thankfully. As a result I was able to enjoy the weekend. On Saturday we went to Parque de la Costa which is in Tigre, large amusement park. Chris has a friend visiting and we thought we'd head up that way. Janer came too. It wasa fun day although I think I might be a little old for that sort of thing. It was 48 pesos to go in and that pretty much included all the rides. In the evening we went to Ambar la Fox, which is always fun.

Yesterday was quite low key for me, I had a delicious avocado and bacon salad at this little café down the street from my apartment a long walk. After an afternoon snooze I met a friend of a friend (from London) who is here on holiday and we went for dinner at the restaurant, Sucre.

Daily Pics 132 : Parque de la Costa

2009-04-12T06:33:00.001-03:00

Daily Pic 131 : Aguero Subte Station

2009-04-11T08:29:00.002-03:00

Flu

2009-04-10T23:27:00.003-03:00

So, I'm sick. Buggery bollocks. I had a fever last night and glands the size of golfballs. It's all very pleasant. So I've been laying low, which is a pain because I had such high hopes for the weekend. Had to cancel my cocktails with Mia on Thursday night, but it was for the best. I stayed in and slept.

I'm hoping it will pass soon and I'll be able to enjoy the tail end of the weekend.