ABBA Oro

The attack of the cover bands won't stop in Buenos Aires. First it was dueling Beatles bands and now an Abba group with some very authentic hair styling going on, altho there's something weird with Benny's nose. Too much plastic surgery perhaps. Still, I'd pay to go just to hear "Fernando" in Spanish.

Wire Spiderweb

In the microcentro wires connect the rooftops of all the buildings, crossing gaps like some siperweb laid across the city´s grid.

Casas in Caballito

Caballito is in the exact center of Buenos Aires, if you're looking at a map. It's center along Avenida Rivadavia between Parque Rivadavia and Primera Junta is as dense as Barrio Norte and almost a city unto itself. Wandering north or south, into the back streets of the neighborhood you encounter quiet streets, cobblestone streets and a very relaxed, barrio-feel.

New to the blogroll: On the Corner. Sartorialist for Buenos Aires. The fashions are interesting but I actually enjoy all the street scenes surrounding the figures even more. Sart is great but I get a little tired of parismilannewyork.

Ochava Shadows

Corner buildings are required to have a beveled edge, known as an ochavas, but only on the ground floor. When the sun is at the right angle you get these interesting trapezoidal shadows.

Tipas in Bloom

Spring in Buenos Aires is a march of successive blossoming trees. Tipas are one of the last with their small, yellowish-orange blossoms currently falling on the sidewalks all over the city.

Jacaranda

Buenos Aires is full of Jacaranda trees. While they are common in cities of similar latitudes [Los Angeles, Mexico City, Pretoria] they are actually native to Argentina. The purple flowers are brilliant but can be hard to photograph against a blue sky. The photo above is from my balcony. The dark green of the tree behind serves well to highlight the color of the blossoms.


In certain plazas the ground and sidewalks are carpeted with the fallen flowers.


And this was the gutter along Alcorta just outside the Bellas Artes museum.

New Sidewalks

The current city government is haphazardly replacing the old tile sidewalks with plain concrete ones. This is mostly going on around downtown and in front of a few important public buildings. Also, out in the barrios, just the corners are being replaced.

In the second photo you can see the new and the old side-by-side. On the left are baldosas or sidewalk tiles. Each property owner is responsible for choosing the style of tiles in front of their building and also paying for upkeep. Often this becomes a problem as certain buildings don't pay for the upkeep leading to broken and or loose tiles. The dreaded baldosa floja has been a tourists' nemesis for years.

I'm not sure how I feel about the new sidewalks. They are very practical and better than badly maintained baldosas but they also lack character or any connection to Buenos Aires' urbanistic heritage.

Chamuyar Obama

A post seen outside the old Molinos cafe just across the street from Congress. It roughly translates as "Cristina, go sweet talk the black-guy Obama into bringing some money. Rent is due." Presumably put up by people unhappy with her administration and proposed budget cuts fro 2009.

Pillow Fight Buenos Aires

Yesterday a couple thousand teenagers gathered in front of the Planetarium in Parque Palermo for a facebook-organized, flash mob pillow fight [lucha de almohadas]. Beatrice has a great set over at flickr and you should also check out this video from YouTube, it's from the pillow fight from 2006 but you get a sense of what it's like to be in the middle of it. The event also has it's own official blog, Lucha de Almohadas.

Casa on Helguera

Just a house on Helguera and El Ñandu. Boxy and simple. This is part of Barrio Nazca near the intersection of Avenida Nazca and Alvarez Jonte in Villa Santa Rita. There's a whole cone of the city between Caballito and Villa Urquiza that I'm just beginning to explore. For more on the area, please check out Robert Wright's incomparable Housing for the Masses series.

Warning Tape

Security tape, usually used to mark off construction areas is red & white striped, hastily tied around supports which are often just a metal rebar stuck in some small block of concrete.

Window Washers

Window washers cleaning a posh, new high rise in Belgrano. They look like they're having fun.