Tango is the heart of Buenos Aires

Its been over 18 months since I have last posted here and so much has happened in my life here since then. There have been many changes in my beloved city of Buenos Aires some positive and others negative . My own neighbourhood Palermo Soho has improved with a greater selection of restaurants, shops and improved services. The tourists are returning after a terrible winter that was dominated by Swine Flu and hysteria here in Buenos Aires. In the month of July 2009 the feeling was of melancholy and doom but today walking the streets of the Capital Federal the feeling is one of spring with the smell of jacaranda and flowers in the air and lots of green due to the heavy rain we had of late. I spend many hours on the streets here per day most of the time walking and fast as I had a goal to lose the spare tyre that I accumulated from the Bread and sugar diet that is common here. I have to say I was suprised how quickly I lost the weight just by cutting out carbohydrates and one hour power walks per day. Music was my inspiration and for me Newer Tango was the catalyst for my renewed motivation. Click on link to hear the excellent track from Gotan Project Last Tango in Paris

Argentina will be the Last Frontier

The world is in terrible upheaval at the moment and my feeling says that it is the end of the financial world as we know it. There will be great devastation in the coming months and I feel a severe war is just around the corner.

Its been such a long time since I have last posted but the urgency of this situation made me post tonight are at a crossroads and we all will be affected.

People ask me why did I move to Argentina and my answer is this I just had a tremendous urge to come here from a young boy and I remember saying to my mother that Argentina will be the last frontier where a new world will form from the dust of the old. Seeing what is happening now around the world I feel much safer here in this isolated but stunningly beautiful land that can sustain all .

Elections in Argentina

Buenos Aires is coming into Spring and man it feels great . To have warm weather, smiling faces and people outside again sipping coffee and enjoying the great parks here is bliss.

We are coming up the General Elections soon and we will be electing our new president who all are tipping to be Christina Fernandez Kirchner. Originally from La Plata Buenos Aires province she was a senator in her own right before meeting Nestor Kirchner and now making history.

Will she continue with the economic success that Argentina has enjoyed these last 5 years and will she make this country the place people have always had high hopes for . I beleive so personally. Lets hear your comments ?

Buenos Aires gets snow after 89 years

Today will be a day which will be permanently etched in the memories of all Buenos Aires citizens . It was independence day which has very special significance and is a national holiday for all Argentina.

The night before I felt very strongly it would snow here in Buenos Aires and remarked this to a few friends who laughed at the idea. It has been a exceptionally cold winter with record low temperatures. The situation has been exacerbated by the energy shortages which has caused the Argentinian government a loss of its support.

Monday the 9th of July 2007 started bitterly cold . I woke up shivering in the sub zero temperatures . The night before the beautiful city of Bariloche suffered its coldest night ever with temperatures of -20 degrees celcius. The streets were eerily quiet with hardly a soul in Palermo Soho as the cold scared away even the most avid visitor to this famous barrio.

Around 3pm with a great need of eating something I joined a friend to have a holiday lunch at my favourite restaurant in the world - La Cabrera. Within minutes of sitting in this magical restaurant I noticed a flurry of snowflakes painting the sky a gorgeous white . It truly was, for us who live and love this city, a magical moment. It was like seeing snow in Sydney Australia , or Los Angeles, California. The snow enchanted us all, and in the eyes of the older women and men here I could see a return to the fascination of childhood as they took in the increduluos scenes around them. It seemed that everyone was rejoicing in this historic moment. Gone if only for the moment were all the cares of the world: no thoughts of the upcoming election, or work....... just joy at the precious and historic scene.

The streets were full of tremendous scenes of laughing families, stunned tourists, and people clicking away hoping to catch every second before the snow melted away. But the snow lasted for 8 full hours and at midnight around Plaza Guemes in Palermo there were kids making snow men and throwing snowballs in the shimmering Antartic night.

It was a day I will never forget.

Armenians in Argentina

Walking around Palermo Viejo you will soon be aware of the tremendous amount of Armenian bakeries, restaurants and businesses. There is also a famous street in Palermo Viejo called simply Armenia Street where some of the community resides. There are about 13o,ooo Armenians in Argentina making them the biggest Armenian community in Latin America and one of the largest outside Armenia.

Their contribution to Argentine society is immense and includes several famous people. One of the most famous ones is David Nabaldian, one of the worlds best tennis players. They have permeated the culture in a positive way: their churches are beautiful, their restaurants are some of the cities best , their cake shops and bakeries personify the old world charm of a Europe gone by.

A Sex scandal that is keeping Argentine society glued to their seats

In Buenos Aires as well as the rest of Argentina we have all been waiting for close to 7 months to find some closure to a case that has made front page news. Nora Dalmasso was found strangled in a sex game gone wrong at her wealthy country home in Rio Cuarto Cordoba.

Rumours of sex orgies wife swapping and stories of multiple lovers have kept gossip magazines and news channels running hot ever since that fateful day.

It has now been suggested that dna found at the scene matches her son Facundo .
Dalmasso’s son Facundo Macarrón, 19, was yesterday accused of the murder and sexual abuse of his mother, although he is due to remain free as ruled by the Córdoba judiciary.
Dalmasso, aged 51, was found strangled last November in her house in the neighbourhood of Villa Golf, in Río Cuarto, Córdoba. Her son, a law student, was yesterday accused on charges of "minor suspicion" of "homicide and non-carnal sexual abuse."The measure was ordered after prosecutor Javier Di Santo saw the results of the DNA analyses, carried out by the CEPROCOR research centre, of the blood samples found at the crime scene, which are allegedly compatible with Macarrón’s genetic pattern. However, Di Santo said that he was still waiting for the FBI, which was also due to analyze the blood samples, to send a report with their results."The samples from the crime scene were taken from the victim’s body, her clothes and the bed sheets," said Facundo Macarrón’s lawyer Benjamín Sonzini Astudillo.The attorney added that the judiciary’s resolution was a "step forward" in the case since he said Facundo would be "able to prove his innocence." The lawyer ensured that there was "no conclusive proof" to formally accuse him but "only a genetic profile from the family" while Facundo’s own blood had not been analyzed."Facundo was in Córdoba city, where he lives and attends college, the night the crime was committed," the lawyer claimed.

The Big Chill

The big chill has left Buenos Aires today and temperatures have returned to normal.

Thermometers reached their lowest ever recorded in May with three consecutive days of below zero temperatures .

On Tuesday Morning walking the streets of Palermo I would have swore that I was in Antartica with the biting winds turning my face to ice.

The death toll from this ola de frio is over 30 which is a terrible tragedy considering that this is completely preventable .

Is Global Warming to Blame?