I've got a good one for you!

As you surely don't know, the inhabitants of the Buenos Aires Province are about to elect their governor. While many of them are in competition, like Filmus or Telerman, I think that one of them has the power to get the Province out of its economic, financial, and social stagnation. This guy is called Cherashny, and his proposition is simple: Sex, joins, alcohol and rock’n roll. It is pointless to say that if I had the right to vote in this country, I would definitively go for this bloke. GO CHERASHNY, GO CHERASHNY, YOU ROCK!

Sport headline!

The highlights of these last days were the trek on the Perito Moreno Glaciar, kayaking on the Gutiérrez Lake, the bike ascent of the Cerro Cathedral next to Bariloche, the trek in the fresh snow of the National Park Torres del Paine, another trek in the National Park Los Glaciares. It was very pleasant and in addition to breathe fresh air, I got to know nice people. I will mention Paula from Canada, Mike and Victoria (resp from England and France), my first friends from Bermuda: Nicola & Haly, Alexandra and Fernanda from Brazil, Chem from Israel, Shona, Dany & Raj from England, Stasy from Australia.
At the moment I am enjoying the tranquillity of a place called El Bolsón with Chem. There is basically nothing to do in this hippie village except reading which is exactly what I was looking for after so much sport.

Ushuaia or the end of the world.

After the intense experience of skydiving, I decided to chill in Ushuaia. The town itself is not very interesting, but the surroundings are incredibely wonderful and peacefull. On the first day I went to trek with two German girls in the National Park Tierra del Fuego. But after one hour, we got lost and decided to split. I took a shortcut trough the woods while they opted for going back to the starting point.
One the second day, and after a big party the night before I joined my Brazilian, Israeli and Engish friends, for a cruise on the Canal de Beagle. In addition to great landscapes, we saw sea lions and cormorans resting respectivly on their small island on the canal. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed as I did not see pinguins because they had left a month ago to Antartica.

Back in the business!

I finally could put online my pictures of Bolivia; even tough some of them are missing, it is worth to have a look. On the top of that this last days I felt like a bird falling from the sky at 200km/h. Indeed, I decided to try skydiving. Enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow I am going to Ushuaia and promise more stunning pictures.

Mes chers compatriotes!

En ce jour de victoire, je pense a tous ceux qui se réjouissent de la victoire de notre chouchou! Vive la république et vive la France.

On the road again

With my friend Pierre, whom joined me in Buenos Aires, we decided to rent a car for a week in order to discover the West of Argentina. This allows us to stop wherever we want, and moreover to go wherever we want!!! We left on Saturday, and after cruising through the flat Pampa we stopped for the night in Rosario. According to the Lonely Planet, this town is “one of those places that you never want to leave”. According to me it is one of those places where you don’t want to go. Well, we left the city and drove further west to “Estancia Santa Catalina”; a lovely Jesuit ranch founded in 1622. At the moment we are in Córdoba, and we should stay there for one day or two.

I’ll tell you a bit more

These weeks in Bolivia were absolutely delightful. I saw ones of the best landscapes of my globetrotter’s life. After Sucre, we stayed 3 days in Potosi. This town used to be one of the richest in South America thanks to the “Cerro Rico”, a hill loaded with silver. From there, we took a three days trip in Uyuni. The first day we drove through the 12000km2 salar: an endless sea of salt. It was absolutely amazing. The second day we saw lagunas peopled with flamingos. And the third days offered us a nice bath in a hot water laguna (after 3 days without showering).
Then we headed to La Paz, but shortly left to the Lake Titicaca, where we slept on a peaceful island called “Isla del Sol”. There we ate trout until exhaustion, accompanied with Bolivian wine.
Back in La Paz, we took a bus to Santa Cruz in order to catch our flight. And guess what? The very day of our trip, we read in the news paper that a bus, of the same company where we bought our tickets, had an accident on the same road that we will take, killing 33 people and injuring 20 others. Moreover after two hours of trip the customs stoped the bus and founded 400kgs of coca leaves in the bus. It is absolutely legal to carry coca in Bolivia but over 1kg you need a permit. Thanks god we arrived safely in Santa Cruz with 3 hours of delay.
After three sunny weeks in Bolivia I am back in Buenos Aires where it rains cats and dogs. But I joined my friend Pierre, and we should leave in the coming week to Uruguay.
I hope you are all doing well. Besos

Amigos

My computer could not resist the pressure of the 5000m of altitude, the screen went rogue! I am actually trying to fix it in order to put online all the pictures of my last days in Bolivia. I promise that it is worth waiting.
I am actually in La Paz and should go to the lake Titicaca in the coming days.
Suerte

A bit of adventure!

Bored of the monotony of Buenos Aires, I swiftly left to Bolivia with 2 girls – Carina & Gabriela. I met them 2 weeks before in a bar in BA. Thursday I joined them in Santa Cruz. This city is the economic engine of Bolivia, but it could be a town in Europe. We arrived at the middle of the “semana santa” (a very important event in a country as religious as Bolivia). Lodging in a hostel next to the cathedral, we attended to all the events: mass, ceremonies… It was interesting but nothing very exciting! Therefore yesterday we took a 14 hours night bus to reach Sucre; the former capital of Bolivia. The trip was a complete quilombo (a mess). People were sleeping everywhere: in the corridor of the bus and in the hold of the bus. I could not believe it at first sight.
Anyway, Sucre is a city settled at 2790m of altitude, with white houses, and clean streets. The majority of the population is indigenous, and speaks Quechua or Aymara. They are small, tanned and dressed in a very folkloric way (see pictures). Needless to say that I am miles away from Buenos Aires! The food is very good here, which makes my trip even more enjoyable. Oh I forgot to say that they are all chewing coca. Henry – by neighbour in the bus-initiated me to the ancestral tradition. I have to say that it is nothing extraordinary, and it has a very bitter taste. When coca leaves are chewed, the extracted juice result in insensitivity to hunger, cold, fatigue and pain. In the city we walked a lot and went to the Museo de Arte Indigena*** and to the Museo de la Libertad**. The first one was very interesting and dealt with the indigene culture, and the second one with the political history of Bolivia.

Escaping Buenos Aires

Hola chicos! I hope that everyone is doing well. This weekend I went to Cariló, escaping the rainy capital federal. With my flatmate Karla, we took a train from Constitution and arrived 7hours and a half later in Pinamar. The same trip can be done in 5hours in bus, and 3hours in car. Anyway, although I won’t repeat this experience, I really enjoy the trip as according to me, trains have a magic that none others way of transportation have. In Cariló, the “novio” of my flatmate Mario hosted us in a very design house (see pictures).
Moreover that being a vacation town for the inhabitants of Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires, Cariló is a town focus on ecology. The streets are not tarred, and deprived of public lights. To be honest there is not much to say about the 3 days out of Buenos Aires, as we just relaxed and enjoyed the tranquillity of the place.

Asado y Polo: dos cosas muy argentina.

Friday, while I was looking for a museum, I finally ended watching my first polo game. Play occurs in seven-minute periods, called chukkas. Riders score by driving a ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet. While watching the game I had a though for my friend Manouch, whom is a polo player.
Then another great moment of my time here was to enjoy an “asado” with good friends. It is a local tradition. Needless to say that is a time where everybody drinks and eat a lot! The atmosphere was great, and when I am “un poco burracho”, I feel like I can speak perfect Spanish! This is obviously not true! But let’s get back to the asado. This asado is composed of carne vacuna (costillar, vacío o tira de asado), achuras, chinchulines, chorizos parrilleros, mollejas, riñones, salchichas criollas : to be brief a whole cow is roasting on the “parilla” or on a barbecue in English. Estuvo muy delicioso!

What I will remember from Chile.

I stayed in Chile for 10 days. Enough time to visit few cities: 4 days in Santiago, 3 days in Valparaiso - Viña del Mar and 3 days in La Serana – Coquimbo.
In all those cities, panoramas were what I enjoyed the most. Sitting on the top of Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago and watching the sunset was very unique.
After few days in the capital of Chile, I took a bus to meet up with Greg (a friend living in Medoza). In Viña del Mar, we did absolutely nothing except sunbathing, and it was good! When he went back to Argentina, I went north to Coquimbo – a very cute village built on a hill facing the Pacific. There I relaxed, ate fresh fish, and enjoy the fauna and flora (Sealions, pelicans...). On Sunday, I went to an observatory where I saw through a telescope Saturn, constellations, nebulas… Indeed, the centre of Chile is very famous for having a very clear sky most of the time in the year, making it a great place to study our universe. It is also the place of production of “Pisco”, a national alcohol distilled from grapes (it tastes a bit like whiskey).
Of course, visiting my photo section will tell you a bit more on what I’ve seen, on whom I met, and on what caught my eyes.

Santiago de Chile

I have just been few hours in the city, but I can tell that religion is a big thing here. Churches are everywhere. On the top of that, there are people praying, crying or asking a Saint a favour! This is a novelty for me as in Western Europe; churches are always empty outside of the masses hours.
My hostel is very nice; it is surely the best value for money that I experienced in my globetrotter life! I am next to the “Museo Bellas Artes” in the centre of Santiago.
The city is quite pleasant. It looks wealthier than Buenos Aires, in the sense that the underground and the buses are more moderns, the streets are in a better shape, the inhabitants are driving nice cars; but at the same time I went to areas where you can feel the misery. This feeling never occurred to me in Buenos Aires.
And I have to say that I really enjoy the view here. Mountains surround the city.
I’ll say a bit more, when I’ll know a bit more!

Alejandro Xul Solar (1887-1963) – Argentinean Painter

Do you know this guy? I did not until 3 days ago, and the strange thing is that he seems quite famous.
With a musician and architect formation Xul Solar finally decided to dedicate his self to art. He had a strong interest in astrology, Buddhism and believed in reincarnation. Some people say that his work is half way between Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Marc Chagall. According to me, the most interesting part about him is that he tried to propose an alternative world by inventing new languages, games and instruments.
One of the languages is a mix between Spanish and Portuguese: Portuñol; and the other one - Pan Lingua - was a system to communicate and link mathematics, music, astrology and the visual arts. He also imagined a piano, with three rows of coloured keys. This invention aimed at accompanies his painting (mainly aquarelles) with his own music. Finally his proposed a new version of chess that is named « non-chess ».
His friend Jorge Luis Borges, who was influenced by him, said: “Xul took on the task of reforming the universe, of proposing on this earth a different order. For that, among other things, he changed the current numerical system of mathematics to use a duodecimal system, with which he painted his watercolours.”

Impressions on the Porteños

As my knowledge of Argentinean is getting more and more precise I decided to talk a bit about them in this article.
What can I say about the Porteños & BA: what do I like and what do I dislike.
In general the Porteños are very nice, attentive and friendly people. They dress the European way with additional details. For instance, men like to clip their mobiles and keys on their belts. Unlike in many other countries, it is usual to see a man with long hair here.
The women know how to dress in a very sexy way, but according to me lack most of the time of elegance. They love to go to the hair removal centres.
The guys have the reputation to be very direct when approaching girls, and usually finish the discussion by insulting her if she refused the offer. The girls are said to be “hystericas”, in other words you think that everything is going well but when you are about to give her a kiss, she lives wishing you a pleasant night (I had the opportunity to experience it).

The inhabitants of BA are very paranoid: they always lock their front doors. Therefore, when you have a friend coming to your flat you have to go down to open him and accompany him when he lives. Sometimes it is a real pain in the neck, especially when you invited 10 friends for dinner.
They drive in a very silly way. Never stop at red traffic light during the night, never respect the speed limit, don't turn on their lights at night …
They enjoy drinking “mate” (kind of tea, made out “yerba”), drunken very hot in a “guampa” (recipient) with a “bombilla” (straw). The typical bistro in BA is called a “parilla” (big barbecue) where are cooked all kinds of meet: a paradise for meat lovers. I promise to invite those, who come to visit me to one of them called Peña.

Un dia de diluvio en Buenos Aires

Hoy, era un día de diluvio en Buenos Aires. Todo la ciudad, se quedo en casa. Fue también un buen día para los taxistas. Yo, después de mi clase de castellano, camine para mi casa, cuando encontré un restaurante muy porteño. Acá, comi agnelis mixto (mozzarela y ricotta) y tome una copa de vino. Después de mi almuerzo, yo fui a mirar con mi compañera – Monica - una película que se llama :

¿Quién dice que es fácil? :
"Aldo es obsesivo, tiene toda su vida bajo un perfecto control y no pretende que nada cambie sus días. Andrea pasó los últimos quince años viajando por el mundo, está embarazada y no sabe quien es el padre de su hijo. De repente algo se cruza en la vida de ambos: el amor."

Estaba regular. Después yo fui al supermercado para comprar comidas y bebidas.

Ahora estoy mirando un partido de fútbol: Boca (equipo muy famoso de la cuidad de Buenos Aires) contra Cienciano ( equipo de Perú). Nosotros somos también tomando vino: ELEMENTOS Malbec 2006.

El Tigre

Today after a long night chatting with my flatmates, I decided to go to El Tigre*. None of my flatmates wanted to come with me, but now I understand why: there is nothing to do there! Nonetheless this place is very famous as it is the Porteños’ predilection place to escape the noisy capital.
After 40 minutes in a train, resembling more or less to the French underground, I arrived in the city. El Tigre is located in a delta (30kms north of BA); therefore it is great place for rowing, and peaceful ballads along the canals. One can also enjoy a pick nick, or a mate with friends next to the canal, or simply sunbath.
And I have a new flatmate. She is called Carla, and she is from Ecuador. Sooner or later all the Latin America nationalities will be represented in my flat! I promise to post picture of them, before some of you start to fantasize.

Merging with Buenos Aires

My Spanish is getting better and better despite there is still a lot to do. Since I last wrote, I met Portenos, and visit new places and museums in Buenos Aires. On of them is the Botanical Garden**. This place is very special in the sense that it is a paradise for cats. They are everywhere, fooling between exotic trees and statues. In spite of this particularity it is a nice place to escape the noisy streets of Buenos Aires. I have to say that I had to get used to the noise in the Capital Federal. The buses (colectivos), which are coming from another epoch, are sometimes as noisy as a 747 taking off.
Another particularity of Buenos Aires is that some of the inhabitants always keep 20 centimetres between their head and their cellular. I could get an explanation yet.
Finally after a huge party with my flatmates on Friday I went to the Museo National de Bellas Artes**. The museum was interesting but I think that the real curiosity lies behind the MNBA. It is huge steel and aluminium sculpture by Edouardo Catalano: Floralis Genérica***. Its six petals open each day as the sun raises and close at dusk.
Find new pictures in the photo section (link in the right column).

I just moved in

After visiting many flats in Buenos Aires, I finally found one that suits me perfectly. Indeed, all the apartments, I visited, reminded me my linguistic trip in East Berlin: 70 years old lady living in lugubrious flats, with knick-knacks all over the place. Anyway, now I am settled. I am leaving in the city centre with Monica from Peru, David from Salvador, and Mario from Colombia. Needless to say that this is perfect to practise my Spanish.
Besides this I continue my Spanish lessons, continue to discover the city. Now that I found my home, I can not wait to discover the surroundings of Buenos Aires.

VIEW All MY PICTURES

To view all my pictures just copy the link in the right colum in a new window. Enjoy

Puerto Madero

Life goes on in Buenos Aires. But one thing changed since my last post: I started Spanish lessons. I have two teachers: Gisela and Romina for a total of four hours a day. I am starting with the basics, the present tense, how to introduce myself… I learn quite quickly as French and Spanish are quite similar regarding many aspects. But I have to say that I am really feeling like a kid when the teacher claps because I have said something the right way.
In spite of my lessons I continue to discover the city. The last Barrio (district in Spanish) I have been to is Puerto Madero**. This posh area counts many restaurants, and buildings of international companies. It is a bit the Canary Warf of BA. There is especially one restaurant I have been to with two Israeli friends called Siga la Vaca** (meaning catch the cow). This restaurant is a tenedor libre (meaning free fork). In those restaurants, very famous in Argentina you can eat as much as you want for a fixed price, wine included. Not all of them are good, but this one offered very good meat.

Cumpleaños felices

cumpleaños felices a usted, cumpleaños felices a usted, cumpleaños felices a Edouard, cumpleaños felices a usted!! Tenga un fantastico cumpleaños!

New stuff!

Please find a new section in the right column: Extraordinary Events. For you pleasure I am working on a picture bank; it should be ready within 2 weeks.

MALBA and Palermo

The Museo de Arte Latinoamerica de Buenos Aires (Malba)** hosts many artistes like Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego de Riviera, Antonio Berni, Xul Solar… My favourite is Wilfredo Lam (a kind of Cuban Picasso). For the record it is not the first time I’ve seen his painting as he is also at the Tate Modern in London. After the visit, I had lunch at the cafeteria of the museum; it was good but nothing exceptional.
Then I discovered the Palermo District***. This might be the area I want to live in. It is very calm with a lot of trendy shops, parks, bars and clubs.
On the student side, I think I know where I will take Spanish lessons - I should start on Monday. I am still looking for a flat, but an Argentinean couple invites me tomorrow for diner, as a friend of them has a flat to rent. I keep you up to speed on this one.

San Telmo

Besides searching for a flat, and for Spanish lessons, on Monday I went to the Museo Històrico Dr Arturo Jàrechte*, afterwards I took the undergound to the San Telmo District**. The museum was interesting in the sense that it enlightens on the economical history of Argentina. The thing to remember maybe is that just before the crash of the pesos in 2001, you could find 1.000.000 notes in the country in order to keep up with a skyrocketing inflation. No country in the world has bills of that amount. Of course it is no longer the case.
Then I walked to San Telmo, a district full of charm with pavement streets and tattered mansions. There you can escape all the noise and pollution from the city centre.

The Hassle

After 9 great days in Brazil, problems started. On the 26th, someone stole Roberta’s bag (car keys, mobile …) in Lapa (RJ). Therefore I had to take a bus to Sao Paulo in order to prepare my backpack as I was leaving the day after for Buenos Aires. I arrived in SP at 0300 in the morning and I had to be at 0630 at the airport. Despite the language gap everything went smoothly.
So, I arrived yesterday in BA, and after 3h spent in the city my wallet just disappeared with all my credit cards. Here starts my learning of Spanish. Indeed, I had to explain to the policeman what happened in Spanish. This was very funny!
I succeed in sorting everything out, but my only concern is that now I just have 400 pesos to leaving for 1week. This could be a bit short; maybe I will have to work as a gigolo!
Anyway, the city seems nice, for the little I have seen and I am now looking for a flat and a place to learn Spanish.

The Beach

Samba!

What a great dance. It has been created by poor people from Favelas 70 years ago. It is now danced by every one, in couple or alone. Yesterday after a very tiring day, we all went to the cradle of samba. The samba played there is called the samba for workers. All the musicians are seated around a table, facing each other. Everyone can take the microphone. The people are aged from 7 to 77.
As my friends told me, the songs are about funny stories and the arrival of black people in Brazil. I have also been to another samba place: Mangueira***. This is one of the biggest school of samba in Rio. At the moment, all the schools are rehearsing for the Carnaval.
Samba is, according to me, a dance that flows into your body. Even the most reluctant to dancing would not be able to stay stoic.
Despite dancing, I enjoy the beach the the culinary treasure of Brazil.

Leaving to Rio de Janeiro

I am leaving to Rio today, I will be back on the 26. Be patient for stories and pictures. Program: Sea, Samba and Sun! Bejos.

The Sunburn

Today I caught a bad sunburn walking in the street under an aggressive sun. I walk a lot from the heart of the city to the most famous avenue in SP: Av Paulista. For your information, Paulista is the name of the inhabitants of SP. Along this walk, for your pleasure, I took the picture of a traditional SP house and another of the MASP*** (Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo).
There I saw an exhibition on European and Brazilian painters: Poussin, Murillo, Lucientes, Delacroix, Corot, Van Gogh, Vuillard, Cezanne, Monet, Degas, Matisse, Renoir, Modigliani (one of my favourite), Ernst, Soutine, Bonnard, Portinari, Di Cavalcanti, Segall, Malfatti, Constable, Turner. Then I went to the Museum of Industrial Design*, this was not that interesting as they are all the same around the world. And tonight I am going to dance Salsa. I am so excited about it, and I’ll try not to step on my partner´s feet!

2nd and 3rd days

On the 17th and on the 18th I went to visit few museums.
On the 17th Roberta accompanied me to the Pinacoteque of SP* and the museum of history of the Portuguese language***, after a nice lunch in the food market** of SP. We ended the day by a marvellous dinner that her mother cooked for us, at her parents place with her friends.
The 18th was the occasion for me to see the city on my own. I visited the MAM***: museum of modern art (see the picture above) followed by the museum Afrobrazil**, both located in one of the biggest park of SP, called Parque do Ibirapuera. Both were very interesting with a remarkable architecture.
Just a little comment on Brazilian girls before I leave: they totally deserve their worldwide reputation and they are, on the top of that, very friendly.

First Day

My first day was very calm, Roberta (picture above) showed me the city and we ended the day in bar called Sasha***(www.bardosasha.com.br) that I recommend to every person that stops in SP. It was the occasion to see most of my former flatshare (Raphael with the black curly hair, and Dani the smiling tanned girl in the back) and to drink few beers and the local cocktail: caipirinha, accompanied with traditional food.

Arrival In Sao Paulo

Hi everyone,
My first days in Sao Paulo have been great!
I would like to start this blog by expressing my gratitude to Roberta, my former flatmate in London, and her family for the astonishing welcoming they offered me for my first time in South America. To be honest, I have never seen that in my entire life. I attached a picture of my room.