Argentina BLOG

Ushuaia: The end of the world

March 20, 2010 – 7:12 pm
After a 4 1/2-hour flight from Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, my plane headed for its approach into Ushuaia, the largest southernmost city in South America. Out the window, we could see the azure water of the Beagle Channel on the left and the snow-blanketed Andes Mountains on the right. The port of Ushuaia extended to the Andes foothills. For the past century, Ushuaia has been the last destination before reaching Antarctica. The plane tried twice to land from east to west; when it failed both times, the pilot headed for Rio Gallegos, about 200 miles away. When we landed, he apologized and told us we would have to travel to Ushuaia by bus. When Neyton Baltodano, a doctor in Clermont, visited Ushuaia, Argentina, he captured the city's spectacular view of the Andes on camera. Mount Olivia, the scalloped peak on the left, is covered with snow most of the year, as are the Cinco Hermanos ...

Posted in Argentina, Cape Horn, Cruises Argentina, Patagonia, South America, Tierra del Fuego Argentina, Ushuaia Argentina | No Comments »

Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2010

March 20, 2010 – 7:04 pm
The 12th Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Film unspools April 7-18 with a competitive lineup including Harmony Korine ("Trash Humpers") and Angela Bassett ("What's Love Got to Do with It") in attendance. Argentina's biggest fest, it will screen 422 films with a focus on new talent. Many of the titles in competition are first and second efforts, making the event a platform for seeing the latest out of Argentina, the most prolific production market in Latin America, and from elsewhere in the region. Eleven films in the Argentina competish will make their world permiere, and another two their Latin American premiere. "The festival offers around 100 films that are Latin American premieres, and 30 Argentine films making their world premiere," Sergio Wolf, who is directing the fest for a third consecutive year, told Daily Variety on the sidelines of a press conference. "It is big window for Argentine and Latin American cinema." Fest will ...

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Argentina for beginners

March 19, 2010 – 4:23 pm
Chris Moss offers a guide to Argentina, ahead of this year's celebrations to mark the bicentenary of Latin America's fight for independence. Argentina was ready for a scrap in the early 1800s but it took a couple of British captains to stir it into action. In 1806 and 1807 the porteños – as the residents of Buenos Aires are known – successfully resisted two separate invasions by British naval forces. On May 25 1810, a group of liberal Creoles led by Mariano Moreno, a Jacobin radical, formed a junta, rejecting the authority of Viceroy Cisneros. Revolution and the fight for freedom spread north from Buenos Aires. Manuel Belgrano and José de San Martín led armies in a series of wars with royalists between 1810 and 1818. Independence was declared – in the city of Tucumán – on July 9 1816. Top five attractions The Iguaçú Falls – on the border with Brazil, ...

Posted in Argentina, Argentine Northeast, Argentine Northwest, Buenos Aires Argentina, Iguazu Falls, Patagonia, Perito Moreno Glacier, Salta Argentina, South America | No Comments »

Via Australis Cruise in the South Atlantic

March 18, 2010 – 7:27 pm
The first thing to realise about expedition ship Via Australis, on which I recently travelled to Cape Horn, is that the name has nothing to do with Australia, except both share the same etymology - from the Latin for "south." The second thing I discovered was just how well this little vessel - a mere 2,716 tons and carrying just 125 passengers - could handle itself in the wild waters of the south Atlantic. The seas of Drake Passage, between South America and Antarctica, are some of the roughest in the world, and have claimed hundreds of ships and thousands of lives over the centuries. But with the help of a couple of Stugeron (just for insurance, I promise you) I felt no ill-effects as waves crashed over the bow and the ship heeled over in storm-force winds. The weather might have prevented us going ashore at Cape Horn, but we were soon ...

Posted in Antarctica, Argentina, Cape Horn, Chile, Cruises Argentina, South America, Tierra del Fuego Argentina, Ushuaia Argentina | No Comments »

Argentine Wines

March 18, 2010 – 7:20 pm
Two Worlds of Argentine Wines. Big growers thrive with input from abroad, but smaller artisanal vintners pose a challenge. The futuristic winery of O. Fournier is an apt symbol for the transformation of Argentina's wines. Resembling a flying saucer perched on massive concrete struts, the winery may as well have arrived from another galaxy. More than in any other wine-growing nation, Argentina's wines have been transformed by the capital, ambition and distribution muscle of Caesars from afar, most of them European. José Manuel Ortega Gil-Fournier doesn't look much like a Caesar, wine or otherwise. Bearded, modest in height, with a slightly rumpled, roly-poly look, Mr. Fournier, age 42, comes from a wealthy Spanish family of lithographers that, from 1832 until the 1980s, held the government-assigned monopoly for printing playing cards. O. Fournier Winery A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Mr. Fournier watched prices of collectible red Bordeaux rise and decided that ...

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Boca Vs. River Preview

March 18, 2010 – 10:11 am
Argentinian Clausura: River and Boca stuck in a rut When will Buenos Aires giants River Plate and Boca Juniors finally show their true colours, with the pair’s points tallies of nine and eight points keeping them way off the pace in 16th and 17th place respectively. Indeed, they are currently far closer to bottom side Atletico Tucuman, on five points, to the 17 points already accrued by pace-setters Independiente. This weekend Boca take on Tigre, with River set to host Huracan – the team one place above Los Millonarios in the standings. Independiente, for their part, will meet mid-table Chacarita Juniors. Player to watch: On six goals apiece Nestor Silvera of Independiente and Boca’s Martin Palermo are currently leading the Clausura scorers’ charts, though the veteran Xeneize star has recently admitted his goal-laden time at the club could be nearing an end. Could he follow the examples of club idols such as ...

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Carlitos Gardel Restaurant in Los Angles, Argentine home cooking

March 18, 2010 – 10:02 am
Think of the festive Melrose Avenue restaurant with flavorful steaks and more as a place for Argentine home cooking. For years, I wrote to the sound of tango music from the '20s and '30s — Don Barreto, Roberto Firpo, Ada Falcón and, of course, the king of them all, Carlos Gardel, who died in a plane crash in 1935. Not that I'd ever been to Argentina at that point: I just loved the music. And when I moved to L.A. and found a restaurant named for the singer near West Hollywood, I had to try it. That was 1996, just after the Bozoghlian family from Buenos Aires bought the place and turned it into one of the most welcoming, and festive, restaurants in town. Mention Carlitos Gardel to someone who knows it and you're likely to get an effusive recommendation. It's my friend Jimmy's favorite date restaurant. For another set, it's the ...

Posted in Argentina Abroad | 2 Comments »

Colon Theater (Opera House) in Buenos Aires to reopen on May 24, 2010

March 18, 2010 – 9:56 am
South America's most famous opera house will reopen May 24, nearly four years after it shut down for a monumental restoration that has run two years over schedule. Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri set the date in a Wednesday announcement revealing that the Teatro Colon is finally ready to again put on performances. The opening will come a day before Argentina celebrates the bicentennial of its independence. The 2,478-seat, gold-trimmed theater has hosted such opera stars as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Enrico Caruso, the tangos of Astor Piazzolla and ballet greats Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. _____________________________________ SOURCE: "Buenos Aires' famed Teatro Colon to reopen May 24" Wednesday, March 17, 2010 http://www.gazettetimes.com http://www.gazettetimes.com/entertainment/other/article_18720e4b-efe7-5426-868d-3aacea769d91.html

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Argentina’s wine culture

March 17, 2010 – 4:25 pm
The extraordinary “invasion” of outsiders into Argentina’s wine culture is resulting in surprising benefits One of the pleasures of my current prolonged stay in Argentina is that I’m a newbie. I’m hardly a newbie to wine. I have been writing about it for 32 years, after all. But I am a newbie to Argentina—to its wines, its culture, its language and to its unique perspective on the world, which derives in large part from its roller-coaster politics and economics. For although I knew a bit about Argentina’s wild economic swings, I hadn’t any feel for the profoundness of its effect on life here. For example, everywhere, U.S. dollars are happily accepted—in supermarkets, restaurants and for private transactions. Indeed, many individuals prefer being paid in dollars rather than pesos. In a nation that is nothing if not passionately nationalistic, at first I found this rather odd. What about the sanctity of the peso? Soon, ...

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Spring Break in Buenos Aires

March 17, 2010 – 11:29 am
Instead of spending spring break relaxing or partying, many Tulane students have opted to spend their break in service to the community. Groups of Tulane students will volunteer their time and service at several sites throughout the world March 27 through April 3. Students looking to avoid the conventional spring break experience have the option to participate in Tulane Alternative Breaks, a program that offers several service projects during spring break. “TAB is part of the national Alternative Spring Break movement, in which college students perform volunteer service rather than the traditional spring break experiences,” said Adam Pasci, a senior involved with the organization. According to the application for Tulane Alternative Break, “The purpose of TAB is to broaden Tulane students’ understanding of the world around us and build active citizenship.” Students may volunteer at Austin, Texas; Savannah, Ga.; or Miami, Fla., and participate in a diverse array of service projects at these locations, ...

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