Hello from my new abode in Palermo! I am no longer a resident of the America del Sur hostel in San Telmo, but have moved to the other side of town and am now renting a sofa-bed in a small flat in Palermo Soho - sharing with the owner, a 39-year-old Argentinian lady, and her cat Ramon.It's not that the hostel wasn't good. In fact, with its many facilities and activities it was pretty great (it's been ...
Read More Argentina , South America , Travel
Hanging out with the illustrious dead in Buenos Aires’ Cementerio de la Recoleta
There's a reason Buenos Aires is often called 'the Paris of South America': like the French capital, it boasts wide boulevards, hausmannian architecture, bright buildings and green spaces, and... one of its key attractions is a cemetery.The Cementerio de la Recoleta was my first destination when I started visiting BA last Saturday. I wanted to take advantage of the market that takes place outside the cemetery at the weekend, but frustratingly, I realized as soon as ...
Read More Argentina , South America , Travel
Buenos dias in Buenos Aires: my first days in the Argentinian capital
It had been my long-standing dream to make it down to South America, but when I first set foot on the continent last Friday, it was late, it was dark, and I was exhausted after a delayed, 13-hour flight with Iberia (which, by the way, is not the most modern of airlines - they still have collective TV screens...). So, after a long wait to get through customs and an expensive taxi ride, I was a bit underwhelmed and headed straight to ...
Read More Culture , Europe , Spain , Travel
Nay and yay: classical vs modern art in Madrid – episode 2, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Note: this is part 2 of my Match of the Madrid Museums feature, pitting classical art against modern art in the city's two star museums. You can read part 1 on my visit to the Museo del Prado here.After a rather underwhelming visit of the Museo del Prado - or rather, overwhelming in a bad way -, I was glad to go back to what I enjoy most with a visit of the ...
Read MoreI am writing this post from a taberna where I had to seek shelter from the rain, sipping on a freshly pressed zumo de naranjas (which is somewhat of a Spanish tradition - they sell fresh orange juice almost everywhere here, and it's so good!). We all tend to associate Spain with sun and warmth, or at least with a sunnier and warmer climate than in our parts of Europe, so it's a little bit gutting ...
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