Ser argentino y no conocer Mar del Plata, es casi como ser francés y no conocer la Torre Eiffel.


Por eso Mar del Plata era una de mis asignaturas pendientes hasta el fin de semana pasado.


¿Eso quiere decir que ahora soy un poquito más argentina?


Con frecuencia había escuchado hablar maravillas sobre esta ciudad costera 404 km al sur de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires sobre el Océano Atlántico: "es una pequeña Buenos Aires con mar," me decían, "es imposible no enamorarse de esta ciudad."


Personalmente prefiero los lugares más verdes, menos edificados y más tranquilos, sobretodo cuando me tomo unos días para descansar. Pero debo admitir que la ciudad tiene su encanto.


En el Puerto de Mar del Plata (pesquero, petrolero, y cerealero), uno puede observar lobos marinos que descansan y toman sol sobre las plataformas del puerto. Acostumbrados a los humanos, se muestran pacíficos y es posible acercarse para tomarse fotos con ellos. Algunos audaces hasta se animan a tocarlos. Aunque es aconsejable seguir las instrucciones de los carteles y mantener distancia ya que son animales salvajes.


Frente al puerto existe un mercado donde se comercializan pescados frescos y enlatados junto con sus derivados. Allí también es posible encontrar recuerditos de la ciudad.


Tanto en invierno como en verano, los turistas pueden deleitarse del mar mientras caminan por la Rambla.


Durante el verano, Mar del Plata recibe entre dos y tres millones de visitantes que disfrutan del "turismo deportivo, ecológico, aventura, pesca y eventos culturales" que ofrece la ciudad. Mar del Plata está muy bien preparada para recibir el migración de turistas provenientes de Buenos Aires y otras ciudades Argentinas. Según Wikipedia, la ciudad cuenta con "un total de 56.771 alojamientos hoteleros de diferentes características para la recepción de sus turistas. Además de 1.590 establecimientos gastronómicos con diferentes servicios de acuerdo a las preferencias de la demanda que abastece la ciudad..129 establecimientos tales como bares, discos, pubs y demás." Por si fuera poco, también cuenta con "el Casino Central..diferentes Bingos: del Puerto, el Peatonal, el Bingo del Sol y el del Mar."


En mi caso, no describiría Mar del Plata como la “Biarritz argentina” como hacen los amantes de la ciudad. Pero considero que es una ciudad interesante con una amplia y diversificada oferta de ocio para el turista.



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Primavera en Buenos Aires en Pleno Invierno

Primavera en Buenos Aires en Pleno Invierno

Este sábado nos visitó la primavera en pleno invierno en Buenos Aires, y aprovechamos para ir conocer el Parque de los Niños a orillas del Río de la Plata.

Detrás del golf del Círculo de la Policía Federal, entre Capital y el Partido de Vicente López, se esconden 24 hectáreas verdes con mesas para picnic, áreas de juegos, bicisendas, baños y hasta un anfiteatro.

El Parque fue inaugurado en 1999, y ofrece una alternativa diferente para disfrutar del aire libre sin salir de la capital. Es un hermoso lugar para jugar a la pelota, saltar en colchones inflables, montar barriletes o simplemente descansar sobre el césped observando los veleros que navegan por el río.

Pescaeneldelta.com.ar cuenta que el Parque también es un excelente lugar para pescar bogas que promedian los 3 kilos, mojarritas, mojarrones, bagres pequeños, doradillos y dorados.

Considerando que lo bien cuidado que está el parque, me llama la atención que tan poca gente lo conozca. Por eso les dejo indicaciones de cómo llegar y los invito visitarlo. Realmente vale la pena.

Cómo llegar:
Avenida Cantilo y Zufriategui (Av. General Paz y costa del Río de la Plata)

El parque está situado detrás del golf de la Círculo de la Policía Federal, junto al campo de la Armada Argentina.

Viniendo desde capital hacia la General Paz por Av. Cantilo, tome Vedia, la última salida hacia el río a su derecha antes de subir el puente.

Horarios: (según Clarín)
Lunes a viernes: 9 a 20
Sábados y Domingos: 9 a 23.

Entrada gratuita.

Otras curiosidades sobre el Parque:
Según Buenosairesbuendia.com.ar, es el único parque de la ciudad que “cuenta con una planta de tratamiento de los residuos cloacales. Esa planta filtra los residuos generados en los baños públicos, con lo cual los líquidos son arrojados al arroyo Raggio sin contaminación. Luego los barros contaminados deberán ser retirados por un camión atmosférico.”

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El Narguile: Cultura de Fumar

A narguile is a water pipe used for smoking flavored tobacco.

The word “narguile” comes from the Persian word “narguil”, which means coconut. This smoking instrument is also known as shisha (which means bottle in Arabic), Kalyan (Iran), hookah (India).

For North Africans, from Morrocco to Egypt, smoking shisha is a common practice. In the last decade, this tradition has become popular at “cultural cafes” around the world where they offer it as a diversion while their clients sip their tea, coffee or cocktails.

This curious pipe, has a base made out of glass, ceramic or metal, that is filled with water, or a mixture of vodka and water. Its body is made of metal and on the top there is a piece with holes in it where the humid flavored tobacco is placed. The tobacco is then covered with aluminum foil, where you place a piece of coal to heat up the tobacco.

Tobacco flavors are very varied: apple, peach, mango, strawberry, coconut, piña colada, coffee, vanilla, mint, cherry, lemon, coca-cola, banana and orange, among many others.

The smoker, needs to suction from a thin tube connected to the narguile. The aspiration enables air to circulate though the internal tube close to where the tobacco is located, to the bottom, where the tobacco mixes with the water and it “cleaned”, producing a thinner, but not less injurious smoke.

While popular belief indicates that smoking through a narguile is less harmful than other methods, there are studies that contradict this belief. Smoking is always damaging. Nevertheless, it is always interesting to learn about different methods and rituals used in different cultures.

According to http://www.aturquia.com/ a narguile is composed of the following pieces:

Lüle: Where you place the tobacco and the piece of coal.

Ser: The body of the narguile that is connected to its base.

Shishe (base): The part that is filled with water or a mixture of water and vodka.
Marpuch: Tube used for smoking.
Sipsi: The mouthpiece connected to the tube that is used for smoking. Aturquia recommends that each user utilizes a different one for sanitary purposes.

Unrolling Pasta Bundles

Last week, we tried to distinguish different types of “dry” pasta so we can stop asking the same questions every time we go to an Italian restaurant. But the truth is stuffed pasta presents the same confusion whenever we eat out.

That is why this week I decided to focus on this delicious dough once again so we can put it into place for once and for all.

Curiously, I found out that the recipe for the basic dough for all these different types of pasta is the same. The only thing that varies is its shape and its varied fillings: from traditional such as chicken, meat, vegetable and cottage cheese to more peculiar ones such as cabbage, blood sausage with apple, and eggplant with cheese and nuts.

Here are some pictures to help you differentiate different types of stuffed pasta so next time you visit an Italian restaurant you can venture into this delicious cuisine without having to ask about the difference between agnolotti and ravioli.








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Stop Repression in Argentina

After more than 90 days of conflict between the Argentinean government and Argentinean farmers, government officials ordered imprisonment of Alfredo de Angeli, one of the leaders of Federación Agraria Argentina.

While de Angeli was being taken away, in Buenos Aires, people spontaneously protested on the streets.

United for a federal Argentina. "Argentinean Farmland ¡Cheers!"




Argentinean ask for PEACE.

No more repression.

Italy: Solution for Pasta Mix-up

By Laura Vaillard

What does a university student and an Italian have in common?

They both place “pasta” in the center of their food pyramid. A student always has a pack of pasta on his/her shelf because it’s economical, and it’s a dish that easy to prepare. While Italians always have pasta on their shelves for cultural reasons.

In Italy, lunch in one of the most important meals of the day: they have a pasta dish as an appetizer, meat with a side of vegetables as the main dish, and sweets and fruit for dessert.
Since pasta is present in every Italian lunch, they invented an infinite number of pasta types to camouflage idea of eating the same thing ever day.

However, this excess of creativity tends to cause problems when we go to an Italian restaurant. What is the difference between rigatoni and fusilli again?

Here are some pictures to help you out next time you visit a trattoria:

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My Seven Wonders for 2007: Asia

Pictures by Laura Vaillard

Aisa: Indonesia, China, Malasia

This week I leave you my seven favorite pictures from my trip through Asia in 2007. These are my Seven Wonders. Enjoy!

Bali, Indonesia




Traditional Boat at the Summer Palace, China




The Great Wall of China




Rice fields in Bali, Indonesia




Bangkok, Tailandia




Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia




Sunset at the Fire Fly Park, Malaysia

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Porteños Smoked in Buenos Aires

There is no article for this week because it was impossible to find a new corner of Buenos Aires to write about, since the entire city was playing hide and seek with the smoke.

Due to the burning of grass in an island close to Zarate, in the provice of Entre Rios, Argentina, and the lack of governmental action, the capital city and hundreds of other cities hid behind the smoke for over a week.

In the statue, one of the Argentinean heroes is raising his spade to proclaim victory, while in the picture, it appears that he is trying to cut through the thick smoke to liberate its people from this cloud that transforms porteños into smoked, red-eyed, taciturn zombies, tired of forcing their sight to see through the smoke.

Unplugged in El Tigre

Desire. What an ambiguous word!

Despite its various meanings, many of us share the desire to slow down during the weekends so we can spend more time with our family and friends, and travel to a world without deadlines and worries, like El Tigre, only 33 km away from Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

This place over Parana River, is a labyrinth of canals and islands, ideal to escape from the boisterous capital.

According to enargentinaturismo.com.ar “The Delta of Paraná is the world's fifth biggest delta, it begins in the port of Diamante (close to Parque Nacional Pre-Delta ) and continues towards the southeast up to Río de la Plata, so it is the only one that flows into sweet water.”

Once you reach El Tigre, you can select among hundreds of options to entertain yourself.

Those who enjoy shopping can visit Puerto de Frutos del Tigre, and get lost among a rustic world where you can buy wickerwork and wooden furniture, a wide diversity of handmade adornments for the home, hammocks, and paintings, among other things.

Adventurous people and lovers of aquatic sports may want to hop on a canoe or a kayak for an excursion along the river, practice rowing, water sky or wakeboard, for example.

Those interested in nature, may want to explore the interesting flora of the place, totally different from the one found in Buenos Aires, or enjoy bird watching.

While those interested in resting or having a romantic outing, may want to take a boat along the river or spend the day in one of the "recreos" of Delta.

Whatever you choose to do, El Tigre is a great option to unplug yourself from Buenos Aires.

Attractions according to enargentinaturismo.com.ar

Estación Fluvial Tigre: (Mitre 305) Located on Tigre River, a short distance from Lujan River.
El Museo Casa de Domingo F. Sarmiento- Monumento Histórico Nacional:(Over Río Sarmiento and arroyo Reyes) A small wooden construction built in 1853 for Sarmiento. The house is protected by a glass structure that surrounds it.
Paseo Victorica:(Lavalle Street)
Museo Naval de la Nación: (Paseo Victorica 602) originally founded in 1892 at the Naval Center. In en 1948 it was relocated to the Marina de Tigre, where it is found today.
Ex-Tigre Club: (Paseo Victorica 972) Built in 1900 and inaugurated in 1912. In 1910 the country's first casino operated in the bottom floor; the casino was then transferred to Mar del Plata.
Parque de la Costa: (Calle Vivanco 1509) Amusement park inaugurated in 1997.
Casino Trilenium: (Calle Perú 1385)
Museo de la Prefectura: (Avenida Liniers 1264)
Museo de la Reconquista:(Calle Padre Castañeda 470)

Buenos Aires takes a Nap while its Plazas Party

The Capital sleeps while its plazas come to life every weekend.

I visited Parque Centenario for the first time, and even though the park was not the same I frequently visit, the scenario was still the same: girls sunbathing, groups of friends dirking mate, circles of boys playing guitar, and clowns performing in between the people (sometimes entertaining, while others disturbing).

A couple of years ago, the government of Buenos Aires began to renovate the park to transform it into a welcoming place for family recreation.

The first stage of the renovation, already visible, began with the reconstruction and restoration of the lake’s section and its surrounding area. While the second stage, still in process, comprehends the periphery of the park, surrounded by the following avenues: Antártica Argentina, Ángel Gallardo, Díaz Vélez and Leopoldo Marechal, limiting the neighborhoods of Caballito, Almagro and Villa Crespo.

According to the government's webpage, “The job was adjudged to Teximco S.A. for $15.867.770,34 (pesos).” The project was previewed that the restoration would be ready in 2006. However, there are sections of the park that have not been renovated yet, The question is, why is it taking so long?

Around Parque Centenario you can also find many other attractions like the famous fair of used books, and the artisans fair (a bizarre combination of San Telmo, Recoleta and El Rastro of Madrid: you have people selling empty perfume bottles, used toys, used clothing, DVDs, old CDs and cassettes.... A giant garage sale!

Around the plaza, you can also find the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, the Hospital Oncológico Marie Curie, the Fundación Instituto Leloir (scientific research institute), and the Asociación Argentina Amigos de la Astronomía, among others.

Visit the plaza during the weekend to se how different groups of people go to the park when the city takes a nap.