Old Irish Monastery for sale

Last year we visited Carmen de Areco and its sorrounding areas, and discovered a beautiful old monastery in the middle of the countryside. It was quite impressive, its architecture and style made you feel as if you were in Europe. A perfect place to rest, to find peace and to feel as living in nineteenth century. As I found the monastery closed, I decided to go back to see if I could find someone who can tell me something else about it. I went back on february and asked to people from Carmen de Areco about the Monastery that had been sold to private hands. There were thousands of different versions around the town, someone told us they would built a Geriatric Hospital, others told us it was going to be a luxury hotel... Nobody knew well how, when, why and what it had been sold. This Saturday March 10th an article appeared in La Nación newspaper http://buscador.lanacion.com.ar/Nota.asp?nota_id=890203&high=monasterio%20areco It was confirmed the sale of the Irish monastery and also the remains of the missionaries and other religious workers buried there would have to be removed. The Organization Red Solidaria have joined the protests of the community and they are starting a movement to save the cemetery and monastery. You can write to them by e-mail: savemonastery@hotmail.com and salvemosalmonasterio@hotmail.com . It is a pitty the authorities and the responsibles for the sale do not appreciate the cultural and architectural treasures we have inherited and do not take care of protecting them, considering also that this place was donated by the irish community of the area. It is part and a legacy of a community.

A lovely romantic dinner

I love eating out and trying to discover new charming restaurants. Buenos Aires has a lot to offer for food lovers, and sometimes is hard to choose the perfect place for the perfect moment.
For this quests I guide myself with two tools Oleo, internet restaurant guide, and the blog "SaltShaker" . At Oleos guide you can find restaurants being clasiffied by price, place, food, etc.
SaltShakers blog offers detailed food descriptions and restaurantes revious of its author, Dan Perlman.
From SaltShaker I got the recomendation of Cabernet, at the corner of J.L. Borges and Pasaje Russel in Palermo Viejo. Good food, good place and wine!

Volvió el Bar Britanico

El Bar Británico, Bar Notable y uno de los iconos del barrio de San Telmo, ubicado en la esquina de Defensa y Brasil reabrió sus puertas.
A pesar de las muchas reformas que se le hicieron, se respetó el estilo original, la boiserie y la mesa debajo de la "B" pintada en la ventana (donde solía sentarse Sábato), aún permanecen intactas. La atención es muy agradable, los mozos son jovenes atentos y amables, que responden naturalmente a las inquietudes de los viejos visitantes, que se sientan a tomar un café con ricas medialunas, acerca de esta "nueva versión" del Bar Británico.

Quienes conocimos su anterior versión y clima de bar podemos asegurar que no perdió su espíritu original.

Tras una difícil historia hace unos meses atrás, el Bar Británico está de vuelta entre nosotros son sus imperdibles sandwiches de jamón y queso con manteca, en pan francés!

March, events and activities in BA.

While most of Argentines are returning from their holidays, the year is starting with its activities and its recovering its pace... March offers its people and visitors a lot of opportunities to explore the city, with its Lapachos Rosados and Palos Borrachos in full bloom in Plaza San Martín and Bosques de Palermo, and its cultural expressions:
IX Buenos Aires Tango Festival (Febr.23^rd. to March 4^th.) Milongas in Buenos Aires streets and parks, free shows of great tango musicians, exposition, tours throught the city to learn about tango`s origins and history, museums and expositions. This days everything will revolt around this dance.
29º Bienal de arte de Pontevedra
Centro Cultural Recoleta
March 8^th. to April 15^th.
Artists from Galicia, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay enters into dialogue about emigration.
South American Music Conference
Centro Costa Salguero
9th to 10th of March
International event with outstanding electronic music productors, artists and musicians.
Baires Beer Festival
Huergo 131, Palermo
March 1st. to 4^th.
A diversity of beers, shows, music, events all in one place.

International Jazz Festival
March 21st. to 26th.
ND Ateneo
- Paraguay St. 918.
Local and international musicians will give jazz concerts: Joe Lovano, Edgberto Gismonti, Alex Acuña, Walter y Javier Malosetti, Fattorusso, Botafogo and Pedro Aznar, among others.

Expo Tango
March 13^th. to 8^th.
Salón Com, Sarmiento 1867
4345 2533
Feria Puro Diseño Latinoamericano
March 30th. to April 9^th.
Costa Salguero, Avenida Rafael Obligado y Jerónimo Salguero
Products of different disciplines related to design: clothes, objects, furniture..
13º Fashion Buenos Aires
Feb. 26th. to March 3^rd.
La Rural, Avenida Santa Fe 4201 y Avenida Sarmiento 2704
4784-3205; 4782-2695

La mayor parte de los argentinos ya se fueron de vacaciones y volvieron con las pilas cargadas para encarar el 2007 con todo. Marzo es el mes para empezar a concretar la lista de objetivos que uno se hizo en año nuevo: anotarse en cursos, empezar el gimnasio, ir a aquellos conciertos u obras a los que usualmente nunca va, empezar clases de un nuevo idioma, etc....

Y Buenos Aires se presta muy bien para hacer un poco de todo... Marzo, con sus lapachos en flor de Plaza San Martín y los Bosques de Palermo (que por cierto son imperdibles), con los calores que empiezan a menguar su intensidad, llega con muchas actividades para ofrecer:

IX Festival Buenos Aires Tango

Del 23-02 al 04-03

Hasta el 4 de marzo, se realizará la edición 2007 de uno de los festivales más importantes de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se presentarán orquestas típicas, como la de Rodolfo Mederos, la Orquesta Escuela Tango, Sexteto Mayor, la Orquesta de Tango Buenos Aires, El Arranque, Cerda Negra, entre otras agrupaciones.

29º Bienal de arte de Pontevedra
Centro Cultural Recoleta
Del 08-03 al 15-04
En su 29ª edición, la Bienal postula el diálogo entre artistas de Galicia, Argentina, Chile y Uruguay sobre el tema general de la emigración.

South American Music Conference
Centro Costa Salguero
Del 09-03 al 10-03
Evento internacional que reúne a prestigiosos productores, artistas y músicos de la industria de la música electrónica.

Baires Beer Festival
Huergo 131, Palermo
Del 1-4 de Marzo
Un patio cervecero albergará gran diversidad de olores, sabores y texturas donde se ofrecerán cervezas de elaboración artesanal e industrial, con diferentes graduaciones. Por sus dos escenarios pasarán bandas de rock, pop y reggae, espectáculos de percusión, teatro y danza. Además, habrá dos pistas para bailar.

Festival Internacional de Jazz

ND Ateneo - Paraguay 918

Del 21 al 26 de marzo, figuras internacionales y locales del género se presentarán en el ND Ateneo, en Buenos Aires. Participarán el estadounidense Joe Lovano, el brasileño Edgberto Gismonti y el peruano Alex Acuña, Walter y Javier Malosetti, los hermanos Fattorusso, Botafogo y Pedro Aznar, entre otros.

Expo Tango Feria
13 al 18 de marzo
Salón Com, Sarmiento 1867
4345 2533
Exponen productores turísticos , culturales, artistas, diseñadores, modelistas, galeristas, joyeros, artesanos, vestuaristas, grabadores, escultores, pintores, y otros. Habrá mas de 25 expositores de productos y servicios de Buenos Aires. Entrada libre y gratuita.

Feria Puro Diseño Latinoamericano
30 de marzo al 9 de abril
Costa Salguero, Avenida Rafael Obligado y Jerónimo Salguero

Estarán presentes todas las disciplinas vinculadas al diseño. Habrá un sector de moda, de accesorios, joyería y equipamiento. Participarán diseñadores y empresas argentinos y de Chile y Uruguay.

13º Fashion Buenos Aires
del 26 de febrero al 3 de marzo
La Rural, Avenida Santa Fe 4201 y Avenida Sarmiento 2704
4784-3205; 4782-2695
Semana de la moda en Buenos Aires. Participarán jóvenes diseñadores argentinos y de otros países. También se realizarán desfiles de ropa, diseños de autor y nuevas tendencias.

Wine Tasting Class

Our most recent wine tasting event was held at La Recova - Restaurant and Tanguería- where somellier, Agustin Lerena took us on an imaginary trip to the main wine regions of the country: NOA -Salta-, Cuyo -Mendoza and San Juan- and Patagonia -Neuquén and Río Negro - . He explained the different characteristics of each region to us, which of the grapes is best cultivated in each region and introduced us to the main wineries. We tasted and were actually taught to appreciate the different variety of grapes: Malbec and Merlot for red wines, Torrontés for white wines, and Merlot for Rosé.The restaurant prepared an exquisite Argentine "picada" with which we concluded this wine tasting experience sharing a friendly conversation with Agustin and our newly made friends.
Don´t miss our next wine tasting event!

Gallery Nights

Gallery Nights ya es un clásico de la vida cultural de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Los últimos viernes de cada mes, a partir de las 19 hs, más de 70 galerías de arte, centros culturales, museos y anticuarios abren sus puertas en forma y libre y gratuita, para que el público pueda disfrutar de un encuentro con lo mejor y lo último de las expresiones artísticas de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se pueden disfrutar de muestras de arte, música en vivo y champagne. Comenzó en la Calle Arroyo, pleno barrio de Recoleta y Retiro donde se encuentran importantes galerías de arte de esta Ciudad. El recorrido se fue extendiendo y hoy abarca los barrios de Palermo Viejo y San Telmo además del clásico de Recoleta y Retiro.

Borges, but not Jorge Luis...

Who is Norah Borges?

The name Borges also evokes a most talented woman: A painter called Norah. Any relation to the man himself? Why,yes!
Most people are unaware that Jorge Luis Borges (Georgie) had an only sister. Her real name was actually Leonor Fanny Borges but her brother Georgie changed her name to "Norah".

She made illustrations not only for her brother's books, but also for Victoria Ocampo, Adolfo Bioy Casares among others. She was a very talented painter. Although as kids, she started writing before her brother when she realized that her little brother also took to the pen, she began to paint... Norah was a very spiritual woman. She painted angels, saints as well as landscapes, many from the different places she lived in (or sometimes imagined) during her life in Spain, Portugal, Argentina...Both siblings joined the vanguard movement called "ultraismo" which they introduced in Argentina on their return from Spain. Georgie through his writing and Norah with her painting.

In Spain, Norah mingled with the intelectuals, a group of people that introduced her to Guillermo de Torre, the Spanish literary critic and writer whom she married and with whom she had two sons: Luis and Miguel, the only descendants of the Borges family.

Those who knew Norah Borges remember her as a gentle, sweet person, inspiring both in person as well as in her work as an artist.

Her work leaves testimony of her personal life, trips and her family world.