Happy 2015

Buenos Aire´s Middle Eastern conexion

I´m not one of going out to restaurants and I normally like to eat mostly local food when visiting different cities. Now when it comes to middle eastern food, I have developed a taste for it since it is practically a local food in places like New York,Ottawa, or Sao Paulo.
In Buenos Aires there is quite a big Colony of Lebanese,Syrians and Armenians, that used to live in the "Villa crespo" neighbourhood, around the Cordoba and Scalabrini Ortiz intersection.
Now the hood has changed and is an extension of the fancy Palermo hood. In any case you can still find good ethnic restaurants like "Sarkis" which specialises in Arab-Armenian food. If you crave for some sfiha or Kibe, this is the place to go. Located at Thames 1101 in Villa crespo, it serves most of the Armenian and Lebanese dishes that you probably know, and also the price is quite cheap considering its location.
Be advised that you will probably have to line up to get in, since the tourist crowds from Palermo also tend to go there.

In Passing Snapshot - The street signs

Over the years I picked up a habit of photographing various objects in different cities like licence plates, traffic signs and street signs. Some I take for stock, or to remind me of the cities I´ve passed trough etc.
One consideration bout the street signs, something that is merely practical, but in many places they date back decades even centuries, is the way they replace the old with the new. Sometimes they keep the old ones, that as I said before have some historic value, and sometimes they just replace them with the new ones, or with new elaborate ones, and some times, like I´ve seen in south America, they just randomly ad them to the old ones that have´nt fallen off or been ripped off.

From the Past - Lima´s Churches - Peru

In anticipation of my next trip, here go some pics of Lima´s most beautiful churches.
See the Pdf here.
Also seen at: https://500px.com/photo/77757699/bas%C3%ADlica-y-convento-de-san-francisco-de-lima-by-dario-ricardo?from=user_library

Top 10 pizza joints in Buenos Aires - El Cuartito - Tribunales

Located at Talcahuano 937 close to Estacion Tribunales (linea D). Here you can enjoy media masa and molde pizzas, even though they do not use a wood oven, which may offend some purists, they still turn out a fabulous pie. It’s always crowded with locals and tourists, hence its name, the little room, it boasts a very typical Italian pizzeria decor, They also serve a mean Flan co dulce de leche dessert.

El cuartito, es otra institución porteña en  materia de pizza. Una parada obligatoria para quien trabaja o hace tramites en la zona de tribunales.

In Passing Snapshot - Retiro Terminal train station

As I get more acquainted with Buenos Aires, Baires as some locals call it, I have discovered that the urban trains get you faster to certain places than the subway, some times a couple of blocks off, but much faster. on arrival at the Retiro station of the Belgrano Railway y stopped to let the crowds that descended from the train pass by, and was left with this tranquil scene worthy of a photo.

Also seen at : https://500px.com/photo/92520635/terminal-retiro-by-dario-ricardo?from=user_library

In Passing Snapshot - The Christmas tree

Yes its December and here in the southern hemisphere it is summer and they still call it Christmas season, not Holiday season or any other PC nonsense. This Christmas tree is located at "Galerias Pacifico" located in downtown at Florida and Cordoba, one of the many shopping malls that you may bump into in B.Aires, Unfortunately the Christmas season here is quite bland, with everyone thinking on their summer vacation due in January or February, but there are still some beautiful nativity scenes to be seen.

From the Past - Iglesias de Puebla, Mexico

Check out some of the nicest churches in Puebla, mexico. See the Pdf.