Buenos Aires is one of the world’s top photography locations. The combination of open and friendly people, accessible locations and rich culture, makes the city a photographer’s dream. However, its the wonderfully diverse neighbourhoods that Argentina’s capital offers up, all within a tiny area, that make it that extra bit special.
In Buenos Aires, fitting in is a more complicated process than simply knowing your steak, wine and football, or becoming a pro at multiple-dog walking, staring and protesting. Here are some ways you can act, live and love like a local. If you follow them you might just avoid men on passing motorbikes hollering “Gringa!” (but probably not). Whether it’s their amigo, boss or total stranger, Argentines peck each other once on the right cheek to say hi and bye…
There’s a serious rival for Malbec’s quality crown in the shape of Cabernet Sauvignon. This scion of the great vineyards of Bordeaux has proved a happy émigré to Mendoza and elsewhere in Argentina. And, like Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon has taken to the high altitudes, ample sun and rocky soils with gusto, producing similarly aromatic and generous wines, packed with ample fruit and spicy notes, well-structured yet drinking well when relatively young.
London, New York, Paris, Milan. No need to name any more cities here – you know we’re talking fashion. Although Buenos Aires might not be the most obvious design capital in the world, it racks up loads of points for originality and style, and Palermo is the BA fashion Mecca for boutiques, market stalls, second-hand stores and street vendors flogging their creative wares. So it is of little surprise that Buenos Aires also holds its own catwalk extravaganza, fondly known as BAF Week…
Wines are like X-Factor contestants: the crummy ones are sometimes more popular than the good ones, and at the end of a Saturday night, you may feel like you’ve had too much of them. However, it’s trickier to judge a wine than it is to judge a singer. While anyone can hurl jibes at a television screen, it takes a certain level of nerve and know-how to summon the sommelier to one’s table and tell them that the single-vineyard Malbec they recommended…
You will have heard Gustavo Santaolalla’s music. He may not be a household name everywhere, but his prodigious talent – some have argued genius – has been one of Argentina’s greatest musical exports. Where to begin? Well, there was an Oscar for Ang Lee’s gay cowboy epic Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. Oh, and there was another one the following year for…
Buenos Aires: a bike-friendly city? It’s early days, but the wheels are certainly in motion. Back in mid-2010, the city government launched its Mejor en Bici (Better by Bike) campaign to promote the advantages of cycling and improve facilities in the traffic-choked capital. Recently, bike lanes have been springing up across the city almost overnight.
Mendoza has been described as ‘the Napa of the South’ and it’s easy to understand why such parallels are drawn. With both sitting at 33 degrees of latitude there’s a neat symmetry at work for anyone with a smidgeon of interest in how the world’s great vineyards lie. Add to this the regional eminence of both Napa Valley and Mendoza, each celebrated as the most famous quality wine producer in their respective American hemispheres, and such comparisons seem almost inevitable.