If Your Compass Could Talk…

We recently reported that Argentina would start charging reciprocity fees to Americans and members of other countries at the cost of US$130 starting soon. News recently released reveals that this fee will be enacted starting Jan 1st, 2009.

Pay up travelers! But don’t fear, this pesky travel fee will be valid for years after payment.

Buenos Aires is a popular hub for art, theatre and dance (hello, tango!). But aside from the glitzy-glamour of the artists emerging in galleries there is a pusling art scene of street artists and graffiti artists who are tagging the city of Buenos Aires, as if it were their backyard cavas playground.

For the most part, it is. Street art and graffiti are popular in any urban city but what is unique about Buenos Aires are the murals of well planned, and week-long endeavors that are popping up nearl railroads, popular restaurants the long wall in your nieghborhood and much more.

The underground culture of art is pulsing into the mainstream with the voice of these artists marking up any cement or drywall that they can find to portray their artistic vision to the bigger city. Some of it is grotesque, some of it beautiful, all of it impossible to ignore.

Its another piece of the Buenos Aires puzzle.

purple trees blooming in Buenos Aires?

These goregous trees are famously lined on Avendia Libertador, Sarmiento, Alcorta and others in Buenos Aires north of Palermo. Also scattered throughout the city, taxi drivers love to comment on the beauty these trees bring to the BA landscape and when they bloom (with very little leaves) there are blossoms of purple flowers all throughout the branches.

If you want to sound like a super-savvy-porteno then throw out thier name which is: Jacaranda. 

Me encantan los arboles Jacarandas.

Attention nature lovers. Now is the time to head south into Patagonia. The weather is improving and the hikes in the south and the whale viewing in Puerto Madryn are ripe for the taking. Its one of Argentina’s most popular travel destinations and I’m there now, checking it all out!

Whale watching and seeing the Penguins in Peninsula Valdez is truly incredible and can be accessed by a simple overnight bus trip from Buenos Aires. The buses are super-luche and the 18 hours, although it sounds funny – will fly by. Many of the hostels offer programs for seeing the wildlife and veiwing the peninsula.

I would highly recommend staying at Hi Patagonia Hostel in Puerto Madryn. The climbing wall, barbeques, helpful staff and gorgeous locale only begin to describe the wonderful experiences you can have there.

Enjoy gorgous Argentina!

Film nut? Who isn’t. And who doesn’t love a good film festival.

The Mar del Plata film festival is very famous in Argentina and abroad. Movie stars such as Tommy Lee Jones (who is currently living in Argnetina) goes every year among popular others. The festival this year is running the 6th – 16th and delivers films from Argentine film makers and shows foregin films as well. The categories running include: foreign short, documentary, full length feature and local short.

Besides showing the festival in Mar del Plata’s downtown the city is a favorite for summer visitors from Buenos Aires. Soak up some sun and enjoy the movies in Mar del Plata!

If you’ve lived in Buenos Aires for any length of time you may have noticed the serious lack of GOOD music on the radio. In addition, there is very little talk radio.

Gringo Radio on 89.1 from Radio Palermo broadcasts some great music and English talk radio on Monday nights from 7-8pm. Check out the tunes and the refreshing take on expat-radio Buenos Aires style.

Buenos Aires has just opened its second Starbucks. If you’re looking for some flavor from home and don’t mind waiting in a line that might take an hour or more… join the club and head down to one of these two locations:

Callao y Viamonte – located in between Recoleta and the Centro

Alto Palermo Mall – you can’t miss this location… this popular locale always has a line.

Enjoy reading up on your current politics over something frosty!

Millions of us are bound in our love for travel. Being away from home sometimes means seeing history made from thousands of miles away. However, here in Buenos Aires a family of expatirates number in the hundreds cheered and jeered as they watched the election unfold.

Barack Obama was elected the new President of the United States as travel weary backpackers and expatriates watched on in awe.

Congrats USA!

It’s election day tomorrow. You know what that means? A media scramble, a scramble to the polls, a scramble to see who will be the next President of the United States.

This election has been anything but ordinary. The political atmosphere is absolutely charged in the United States and has been since the beginning of the primaries. If you’re in Buenos Aires and want the play by play, there are a few places offering specials of the political sort for Tuesday’s events:

SUGAR (CostaRica y Armenia): SUGAR will be showing all the election footage from CNN. All day pints are $5 pesos and if you order food, well drinks and pints come complimentary! Check it out.

SACREMENTO (Palermo Hollywood): SACRAMENTO has the big screen of big screens and it is easy to see from the entire venue. Its been up on the political campaigns of both clients and has shown all three debates to large house crowds.  The election material will be showing there throughout the day.

VOTE!

In a city of 3 million and with the greater surrounding area home to another 10 million, transportation in Buenos Aires is a huge issue. For most people in the city (many of them who don’t have a car) the use of trains, buses, taxis and the subway is the most common way to get around. It is popular to carry around a Guia’T (pictured below). These city guides have every side street and avenue well documented and is a popular reference for guests as well as locals.

A Guia’T can be picked up at almost any kiosk for no more than 4 pesos and is updated each year with new routes and bus lines. The grids on the Guia’T pages tell you which buses go where and helps you to unfold the labrynth of bus routes that exist in Buenos Aires.

For a clearer look at how exactly to get from point A to point B, you can use www.comoviajo.com. This site allows you to enter your destination and point of origin and in just a few clicks pumps out the best route you can use for travel.

Additionally using the SUBTE (subway) can sometimes be guess work as they often have delays and problems. Using www.INFOBAE.com will update you on the state of the subways before you leave your home each day.