Best Parrillas in Buenos Aires - La Estancia - Downtown

La estancia is located  just a few blocks away from the "Obelisco"at calle Lavalle 941 in the pedestrian area of downtown Buenos Aires. It is a very well groomed tourist oriented "Asador Criollo" which is commonly used as a meat presentation card of the City.

Prices are fairly cheap considering its location, but I do recommend venturing into other "Parrillas" located deeper into the neighbourhoods for a better feel of the authentic parrilla.

Resting in "La Pampa"

When people talk about the pampas, they normally refer to its "empty vastness", an ideal place to rest while living the life of the"gauchos", the famed Argentine cowboys. Well i have to confirm that it really is an ideal place to rest, as experienced at an "estancia" (ranch) that I visited close to the city of Madariaga in the Buenos Aires Province.

there are many Estancias that offer hotel style lodging all over Argentina. The one I visited belongs to a friend and is a real ranch where they grow cattle and plant soy and sunflowers. Of course I rode horses, hunted, and did other rural activities, but as a photographer I also indulged in photographing the Pampean panoramas, that attract so many north Americans and Europeans  to this latitudes.

and also the chance of talking to the country folk that work the land and the herds. I recommend going there in spring, since all the animals are with offspring and it isn't as hot as in the summer.

Top 10 pizza joints in Buenos Aires - Los Inmortales - Downtown

Los Inmortales or "the Immortals" is dedicated to a generation of writers, artists and bohemians it Specialises in “pizza a la piedra” which basically is a hard crust pizza. Its flagship house is the one in Av. Corrientes which was founded in 1952. This is also a place to sit down and enjoy a full meal. The prices here are tourist oriented so you will pay the full price of a good pizza, this is the one on lavalle street.

 With 3 locations in the city of Buenos Aires, Lavalle 746, Av. Corrientes 1369 and Paraná 1209

In Passing Snapshot - the "San Lorenzo" Bus

Sometimes you snap a photo just cuz you like the shape or colour of something you see. On this occasion walking to a shoot in Villa Urquiza, y saw this red bus, and did some shots and was on my way. Upon further analysis,  I realised that this was an unique bus only to be found in Buenos Aires. First because its a classic Mercedes Benz "Colectivo" that circulated from the 60s till the early 90s in Buenos Aires. To such an extent that they even have one in the M.B. museum in Stuttgart. Secondly its painted with a red and blue theme dedicated to the "San Lorenzo" soccer club, that even has the Pope as one of its fans.

La feria Masticar - chew on that

Dropped by the 2014 edition of the "Feria Masticar" on its last day, since it ran only from the 16-19 October. As its name says, it specialises in chewable stuffs, as well as gulping fluids.



They had kiosks  with most of the famous eating joints in Buenos Aires along with others that sold raw ingredients, fruits and veggies.
Now the one that caught my Canadian eye was the beer tasting bar set up by Stella Artois, filled with thirsty customers waiting for a free glass of cold beer.
The guys tending the taps were quite friendly and instructed the drooling customers on the 9 step pouring ritual, which the beer maker uses on its worldwide add campaigns.
Overall the exhibition was well organised and the entrance ticket was around 4bucks. I definitely recommend checking it out on its next editions.

Top 10 pizza joints in Buenos Aires - La Guitarrita - Nuñez

Located at Cuba 3300 in the Nuñez neighbourhood home to the soccer team River Plate, it is worth visiting and can be accessed by subway.
I always like to try the house´s own pizzas when they have one, here you can check out "la Atomica" (Atomic) and the "Don Grillo", named after one of the pizzaiolos that worked there for decades, and also the fugazetta rellena, which is an onion pizza with cheese.

Decorated with a soccer theme, it has banners from most soccer clubs in Argentina, along with photos of their idols. The service is quite good and the place has transformed itself from a neighbourhood pizzeria to a fine eating institution in Buenos Aires.

The welcome wagon

Today I would like to share an unique experience which I only recommend to those with strong stomachs. It all started when I had to return to the city of Buenos Aires from Grand Bourg, a city in the province of Buenos Aires, named after the french city in which lived and died General San Martin, one of the heroes of Argie independence. So considering that the main highway that leads to the city was going to be blocked by one of the many protests that are regularly held here, I decided to do a train bike combo, that takes roughly 2hrs door to door, compared with the hour and change that it takes by car.
So I bike to the Grand Bourg train station that is part of the Gral. Mitre Line, which is one of the 7 train lines that serve the city along with the 8 subway lines and hundreds of buses, that puts Buenos Aires in the top ranking cities with good public transport, very similar to London or New York. Now having said this I will tell you the downside of the journey.

















When the train arrived I was told that the bikes must go in the "Furgon" which translates to waggon, that is a section of the train reserved for cargo. So the train has one up front  and one at the back, which was the one I caught. First obstacle is getting your bike up there cuz its one of those all style waggons, like the ones you see in the movies, that stand a good 3 or 4 feet up from the platform. So you either chuck your bike up or ask someone to help you from above. This was´nt a problem cuz the folks that were already inside helped me up, even though the place was packed with goods and people. Just to give you an idea, the "Furgon Area" takes about a 4th part of the car, which is aprox 10 by 6 ft. Now in that small enclosure there were already two full size supermarket buggies, three huge bags with flowers, 4 bikes and around 15 people, so yor have to stay where you land. Now that was´nt the problem I´ve travelled in crowded buses,trains,planes, all over the world. The scary part was the on board service which consisted of joints and beer being shared by the passengers, so the gentleman on my right was smoking one, along with the chap on my right and the guy in front of me, which left me with little breathable air, besides that there was a 1litre bottle of beer being passed around.
The conversation ranged from, places where you can buy weed to the stations to watch out for cops with dogs.
This were the conditions for the hour long ride, so I decided to elbow my way towards the open sliding doors on the side, under pain of falling off, to catch some fresh air. Fortunately a couple of stops later  the Furgon was practically empty.
Now do´nt get me wrong, the people at the Furgon were working folk, and very friendly and solidary, and if  you ride on the passenger section of the train you can sit and enjoy the view. all this for around 15 cents American.
I thought I´d share this just so  that next time you complain bout your suffering on your daily trip to work, you know what others go through.