Counterintuitively, Bangkok hasn't always been the best place in the world to go for a high quality massage. Well, Bangkok, of course, is infamous for one type of "massage"-- the kind you get at joints like Lolita's and the Kangaroo Club in Pat Pong, the Johnson-waxing or pole-smoking (with or without icecubes), which inebriated German and Australian tourists seem to prefer. Me... I go for the old fashioned, legitimate, therapeutic massage where "happy ending" means limber muscles and a relaxed frame. In Bangkok that kind of massage hasn't been all that easy to find, at least not really great ones. Well, I have always liked the omnipresent foot massages. The bending and twisting stressed out ones you get at the wats... eh... not so much. And up at the traditional Thai massage school in Chiang Mai... you can definately get a first class legit massage there. And one year we even spent a week at a posh resort in Hua Hin called Chiva-Som and they had decent enough massages (in an uptight, creepy, over-priced spa atmosphere). But here in Bangkok, I always found the massage scene kind of seedy and... well, not serious or professional.

This year I came across a sparkling clean and new massage house on Silom Road just a few blocks down from Charoen Krung, Silom Bodyworks. I've had half a dozen massages there (so far) and I found the masseuses uniformly serious, knowledgeable and effective. The place features "modern Thai massage," especially the full body massage and the back, head and shoulders massage. No twisting you into a pretzel either. There are more exotic treatments as well, from ayurvedic massages, jurlique facials, crystal treatments, and Swedish aroma therapy to a "tropical fruit body treatment." I stuck with the more conventional hour and a half long full body and back, head and shoulders when ever I got the opportunity.

While I was traipsing around the Irawaddy Delta southwest of Yangon in Myanmar last week, the shock absorberless cars and the severely pot-holed roads conspired against my lower back. By the time I got back to Bangkok I was a (barely) walking disaster. A well-trained and intuitive masseuse at Silom Bodyworks had me all fixed up in just 2 sessions.

Have you ever wondered what a flight across the Antarctic would be like? If you answered yes, you'll want to check out the video below, which was shot by the Scott Expedition which is currently skiing to the South Pole and back. The video is a bit over four minutes in length and  manages to mix in some good information about the logistics of Antarctic travel with some excellent video footage of the frozen continent as well. This will give you a good idea of what it is like for the teams who are heading out for the start of the expeditions soon.

Guinea, not Jackson Heights

I'm in NYC this week and judging by the taxis, I really am in one of the most cosmopolitan, international city in the world. The guy who drove me from JFK to my hotel on the Upper West Side came here from Kandahar, Afghanistan. He came as an illegal immigrant, spent 3 months in jail and eventually was granted political asylum. Each of his two younger brothers came and remained here the same way. His wife and elderly parents are in Qetta in Pakistan and he's hoping to bring them here too. He works 7 days a week and sends a lot of his earnings to Qetta. The two younger brothers work in a fried chicken restaurant. They live in Queens. His American odyssey seems very much the same as the story of immigrants I've heard all my life.

We drove through Queens to the 59th Street Bridge through whole neighborhoods of Muslim immigrants, from Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India... some from Afghanistan, Egypt and other countries.

Last night my friends Charlie and Sharon got married and I dressed up in a Zegna suit and a Fray shirt, reminiscent of my old corporate days-- not something I thought would be the right dress for the subway. I waited for one of those van-looking yellow cabs. The driver, Mohammed, was also a refugee who sought and was granted political asylum. He was the first taxi driver-- or anyone else-- I had ever met from the small West African country of Guinea. When I was a child Guinea was granted independence from France and I remember the fiery president, Sekou Touré coming to the UN and pushing a socialist agenda. He was demonized by the American media. When he died in 1984, General Lansana Conté staged a coup and became president and still is. He's more pro-American and a pretty brutal, if ineffective, dictator. In 1998, Mohammed, my driver, was elected to the city council in Fria, just north of the capital, Conakry. Unfortunately for him, his party, the UPR, won the national elections and Conté decided to kill lots of them and... change the results. Mohammed was one of the lucky ones and he escaped to the U.S.

Guinea is a desperately poor country and would like to encourage a tourist industry. Their propaganda refers to the country as the Switzerland of Africa, which is clearly absurd, although it does have mountains. The tourism industry has potential and promise but they only get about 100,000 tourists a year (few Americans). You can fly there from Paris. There aren't many hotels, though the best one in the country is a Meridien with 96 rooms and there is also a Novotel.

There isn't any major climbing news to report from the Himalaya today as most of the teams have either already left for home or are in a holding pattern while inclement weather continues to make things difficult. The cyclone that made landfall last weekend is still dumping snow and rain on the region and that is causing all kind of problem. But the biggest news comes from Everest, where there are four fatalities reported by a team that was camping and trekking in a restricted area and were struck by an avalanche yesterday.

Outside Online is sharing what few details of the situation are actually known about the accident. It seems that a group of ten trekkers ignored warning and defied regulations by moving into an off-limits area of Everest on the North Side of the mountain. They were there on Sunday when a large avalanche struck their campsite, killing three Tibetan guides and injuring a 60-year old from Australia. The Australian was rescued but later passed away from a combination of those injuries and altitude sickness.  Outside also reports that the same avalanche has left another 154 people stranded in the area.

Meanwhile, I'm also hearing reports that a number of trekkers and guides are out of contact on the South Side of the mountain as well. Reports from Nepal indicate that as many as 20 people are missing at the moment as the bad weather continues to dominate the region. Most of those are probably safe and sound in a tea house somewhere, but lets keep our fingers crossed for them none the less.

If the bad weather continues for much longer, I'm sure we'll see the final mountaineering teams pack it in for the year. Conditions have already been reportedly poor on a number of the big mountains, such as Lhotse where climbers haven't even been able to establish Camp 2 yet this fall. Heavy snows are only going to make things more unstable and time is starting to run short. I'll continue to keep an eye on the situation there and post updates as the news warrants it.

Boyle Abbey is the most important Cistercian Abbey in the west of Ireland, and dates from 12/13th Century. Boyle is the 'daughter house' of Mellifont Abbey, the first Cistercian Abbey to be founded in Ireland. The Cistercian Order was founded by St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Burgundy, Central France in 1098. St. Bernard believed that the other monastic orders had become dissolute and undisciplined, and he founded the Cistercians as an austere and hard-working order who focused on a life of prayer. 

The cloister area

The first monks arrived at Boyle in 1161, the powerful Lords of Moylurg, the Mac Diarmata (the MacDermotts) granted the lands to the Cistercians and became patrons of the Abbey.

In the nave looking towards the choir

Like all other Cistercian monasteries, Boyle Abbey was centred around a rectangular shaped cloister. The cloister had a covered walkway running around it known as a cloister arcade, but unfortunately nothing remains today of this feature as it was thought to have been destroyed in the Abbey's later history. A large cruciform shaped church was constructed on the northern side of the cloisters. The church is designed in typical Burgundian style with a pointed barrel vault and choir arch. An interesting feature of the church can be seen in the Nave, where you can see distinct differences in the design of the arches on the north side (pointed) and the south side (rounded), also by looking at the capitals on top of the columns that form the arches you can see some wonderful examples of medieval sculpture. These sculptures and designs are thought to have been the work of the Ballintubber Master, who copied some of the late-Romanesque design and decorated the columns with floral motifs, birds, beasts, and human figures. The picture below is one of my favourite depictions from Boyle Abbey, showing a poor dog who appears to be having a bad day of it. He is being bitten on his nose and his backside simultaneously by two other dogs. The poor fella has his tongue lolling out with the sheer bother of it all. 

Boyle Abbey was raided by the Norman Lord William de Burgh in 1202. It was recorded that he spent three days thoroughly ransacking the Abbey and its lands. The Annals of Loch Cé record that 'no structure in the monastery was left without breaking and burning...no part of the buildings of the entire monastery was allowed to the monks and brothers'.  
It was raided again in 1235 when Richard de Burgh launched his invasion of Connacht, and by the fifteenth century the importance of Boyle Abbey had began to wane.

The Abbey was one of the last to be dissolved during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, it survived the reformation for over forty years until 1584 when the last abbot of Boyle, Glaisne O'Culleanain was executed in Dublin for refusing to renounce his loyalty to Rome. 

Boyle Abbey was then leased to William Usher in 1589, and shortly afterwards it was used as a military barracks by Elizabethan soldiers. Much alterations and damage to the abbey happened at this time, especially to the cloister area where the arcade was demolished. In 1603 it was given to Sir John King and it remained in his family until 1892. It continued to be used as a barracks until the end of the eighteenth century. But despite its long occupation as a military base, the Abbey is still a wonderful example of a Cistercian monastery and is well worth a visit.

The site couldn't be easier to find, simply head to Boyle in County Roscommon and the Abbey is well signposted. It is now under the auspices of the Office of Public Works, and you can enjoy an excellent guided tour that takes you through the fafascinating history of the Abbey. Entry costs €3 per adult, €2 per senior citizen (over 60 years), €1 for a child/student and a family ticket costs €8. For more information and opening times see http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/West/BoyleAbbey/ 

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All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com 

The high cross of Kilree with the round tower and churchyard in the background.

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On a fine bright day in early December we decided to take a drive to visit an old favourite, Kells Priory in County Kilkenny. This massive walled fortress of a medieval monastery never fails to impress, no matter how many times I visit. After having a good walk around the site for a couple of hours, we followed the signposted up to Kilree Monastic Site, located just up the road (approximately 2km) from the Priory.

Though much smaller and less immediately visually imposing than Kells Priory, we found Kilree to be a really atmospheric and rewarding site to visit. Visiting the two sites in one day really does serve as a really fine contrast between the Irish monasteries of the early medieval period, and those larger, more formal and orderly establishments of the continental orders that came centuries later. 

Kilree from the road

To get to Kilree, simply follow the signpost up from Kells Priory, it is located only a short drive away. There isn’t much in the way of parking, so just pull your car off the road and cross the field to the churchyard (taking careful note of the beware of bull sign!) Entering the site through the small gate, an atmospheric hush falls over you as the trees that surround the graveyard block the wind. I believe that the churchyard is still used as a burial place, though most of the graves I saw dated to the 19th century. 

The graveyard

Kilree is said to have been founded by St. Brigid, though no remains dating from her time during the 6th century has been discovered at the site. One of the first historical features you encounter is the remains of a stone church. This church has architectural features known as antae, which are projections of the side walls past the exterior end walls, a typically pre-romanesque architectural style. The church was modified and expanded in later medieval periods and inside you can see some tombs of possibly late-medieval date.

The remains of the medieval church

The well-preserved round tower

The fine round tower stands on the boundary wall of the old churchyard. Apart from it missing its original conical roof, the round tower is in good condition. The tower stands nearly 27 metres (88 feet) tall, and is around 5m (16 feet) in diameter. The tower is constructed from irregularly coursed limestone, and has sandstone dressing around the doorway, that faces the door of the early medieval part of the church, a typical orientation of many round towers. What makes Kilree almost unique, is that the tower stands on a rectangular stone pad-foundation, only replicated on one other round tower – that of Aghaviller located nearby to the south-east. This possibly reflects that the same architect was involved in the construction of both towers, perhaps giving insights into the skilled craftsmen like architects, stonemasons, millwrights and engineers, who travelled around Ireland in the early medieval period, helping to establish the flourishing monasteries that sprang up around the country. 

Just near the round tower you’ll see a small stile that you can cross to leave the churchyard to access the field where the high cross stands. The delicate geometric design of the cross is similar to other examples in the western part of the ancient kingdom of Ossory, particularly those of Ahenny located nearby to the south. The fine geometric design might be following the tradition of decorative metalwork of the eighth century, with the large ‘stud’ like features representing the enamel studs on the decorative metalwork. The cross at Kilree, like those of Ahenny, might be some of the earliest stone high crosses in Ireland. 

Kilree really is a rewarding place to visit, with a distinct peaceful atmosphere. For archaeology & history nuts like me, a day out at Kells Priory and Kilree is hard to beat! 

Some Sources and Recommended Reading:

Bhreathnach, E. (2014) Ireland in the medieval world, AD400–1000: Landscape, Kingship and Religion. (Four Courts Press, Dublin)

Edwards, N. 2002. The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. (Routledge, London)

Hamlin, A. and Hughes, K. 1997. The Modern Traveller to the Early Irish Church. (Four Courts Press, Dublin)

Lalor, B. 1999. The Irish Round Tower. (Betaprint, Dublin)

Ó Carragáin, T. 2010. Churches in Early Medieval Ireland. (Yale, Singapore).

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All photographs © Neil Jackman /abartaheritage.ie

MountEverest.net has posted an update on Annapuran where teams having been moving up the last few days to get into a position to make their summit push.

Yesterday thre were ten climbers on the mountain, all working together to go for the top, but the spent much of the day climbing around a dangerous serac that hung over the route. When they got past that section and looked up, they saw that the path ahead was quite exposed and offered more dangerous climbing. At that point, six of the climber elected to call it a day and retreat down the mountain, discretion being the better part of valor. However, Andrew Lock, Ivan Vallejo, Serguey Bogomolov and Fernando Gonzalez Rubio have all decided that the rewards outweigh the risk, and they will cointinue up to the summit with the intent of topping out sometime tomorrow.

It should be noted that Annapurna is notorious for it's dangerous climbing near the summit. The mountain is prone to avalanches and giant seracs collapsing. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for these four as they go up. Hopefully everyone will climb safe and make it back in one piece.

This is an expression of unbridled gratitude to the half-baker's dozen who dismissed my posts as rants and "pontifications". As promised, I've changed the banner of this blog to include this lovely descriptive word, which suits my blog and posts just perfectly.

I regret not having thought of it first, but a banker-turned-photographer is not necessarily a wordsmith.

No, that's not really what they called those things. But it was kinda what their "Balsamic Tomato & Mozzarella Soft Taco Wrap" was, even if was drizzled with balsamic vinegar and had no basil. And no, I didn't intentionally come for this either. I was just running errands nearby and needed a quick top-up after lunch, so I grabbed this, which really wasn't anything that I'll get again. Indeed, that flour wrap and tangy balsamic reminded me more of Peking Duck than a caprese salad. Note to self: don't expect to eat quickly here since I always get major brain freeze from those smoothies.

Photo © Matjaž Krivic-All Rights Reserved
Matjaž Krivic describes his whereabouts as traveling with his camera somewhere between the Sahara and the Himalayas...and having seen his portfolio of photographs, I believe him. He just returned from an overland road trip from Slovenia to Nepal via Senegal (Dakar to Katmandu), which took him 13 months of living and photographing out of a 4x4 Nissan Patrol.

For 20 years, he globe-trotted the world capturing the personality and grandeur of indigenous people and places, and found the time to be awarded many prizes, and recognized in various venues and exhibitions. He traveled in Yemen, Mali, Tibet, North and West Africa, Iran, Mongolia, China, Nepal and India.

I particularly liked his lovely Earth Temples portfolio, which consists of over 60 photographs of various temples, places of worship and still (or silent) places in India, Tibet, Morocco, Bolivia, Nepal and Kenya...to name but a few. These are so beautiful that I wish they were twice the size to appreciate them even better.

Photo Courtesy The BBC
The BBC reported that an elderly Greek discovered that his image was being used to sell Turkish yogurt in Sweden, and considered not only a personal affront, but a breach of his right to keep his image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation.

Minas Karatzoglou claims that his likeness was used without his permission by Lindahl's Dairy of Jonkoping in southern Sweden, and has commenced legal action against the company for compensation for the amount of $9 million.

On a prima facie basis, this appears to be a simple matter of some photographer not having the requisite model release...however there's more to that than meets the eye, because Karatzoglou is an ardent Greek nationalist who harbors deep-seated rancor against Turkey for its occupation of Greece. His grandfather and great grandfather took part in the War of Independence, which began in 1821, which ended centuries of Ottoman rule, and led to the formation of the modern Hellenic state.

In fact, Karatzoglou wears a panoply of 19th Century flintlock pistols and a curved dagger, which he claims have killed Turks.

The Swedish company claims that it bought the photograph of the mustachioed Karatzoglou from a Spanish photo agency, and that it has all the appropriate rights it needs to use this picture commercially.

I wouldn't like to be in the photographer's (or the head of the yogurt manufacturer's) shoes if he had to travel to Greece. These flintlock pistols seem to be in good working order.

I've posted my thoughts and recommendations on model releases in a 2008 post titled POV: Model Releases.

Long time readers of my blog probably have heard me mention my pension for buying new backpacks. I have five that are in semi-regular rotation already, and I've pretty much banned myself from going near the packs in REI when I visit the store these days. However, it came to my attention on Kilimanjaro that I actually really do need another pack! The daypack I was using on that trip was a bit too small for the amount of gear we needed to pack along with us, and I often found myself stuffing my lunch into an already overstuffed pack. The solution seems simple. I need a bigger day pack!

Fortunately for me TrailSpace.com has posted a 2007 Daypack Review page with some thoughs on some of the hot new daypacks hitting the market now. The reviews aren't long by any means, but the give nice, concise, thoughts on each pack and what it's strengths and weaknesses are and the activites that they are best suited for.

I'm already eyeing that Black Diamond Demon pack or perhaps the Osprey Talon 33. Hmm... so many choices!

When television host and adventure traveler Richard Bangs goes fishing, he doesn't mess around. He recently visited Bradenton, Florida – located in Manatee County – to reel in some mackerel and king fish. If the video below is any indication, it looks like he picked the right place to throw his hook in the water, as the fish look plentiful, big and tasty. Besides, anyone who can work a Jaws reference into his travel clips is all right in my book.

There was a special on grilled salmon heads for lunch today, so I grabbed one and started gnawing away on whatever meat and skin that I could get out of this thing, most of it being from the collar. Yes, it was tasty, but I've had so much fatty food lately (especially when digging for crab butter last night) that by the time I finished, it was just a bit too rich for me. Then again, I suppose that salmon is supposed to be the good kind of fat, right?

MountEverest.net has posted another one of their Himalaya wrap-up articles with the big news beingt that summit bids on Dhaulagiri could come as early as tomorrow, Saturday April 21st. A team of seven climbers, lead by Spaniard Iñaki Ochoa will begin their assault on the summit with the hopes of putting some or all of them on top by Monday. Good luck guys!

In other Himalaya news, the teams on Annapurna have begun the process of fixing ropes between Camp 2 and Camp 3, while teams continue to arrive in ABC over on Shisha Pangma. Cho Oyu offers similar news, with teams arriving in Base Camp on the Chinese side, while Gavin Bate reports that his team hasn't reaced C2 yet, contrary to other reports. They're stalled out at 6800m and watching the weather. Forcast calls for snow over the weekend.

I had heard about this for a while now; apparently Asiana is known for serving bibimbap in economy class, and now was my chance to finally try it. Yes, it was fine: of course it wasn't anything better than what you would get in a restaurant, but ultimately it did seem to be a very fitting meal for an airplane. Note to self: next time you're in Seoul, see if the team can take you to the place that was serving sea urchin bibimbap.

Photo © Saleem Ahmed-All Rights Reserved
Nirja Desai is a follower of my blog, and suggested that I take a look at Saleem Ahmed's photographs. I did and immediately agreed with her that his work would be shown on this blog which is one of the platforms for emerging photographers to get some additional exposure.

Saleem is an undergraduate student (photojournalism major) at Temple University, and has a passion to do something for the world and tell stories. He traveled to a number of countries to include the Bahamas, Egypt, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, UAE, Switzerland, Spain, Syria, the UK, Iraq and India.

There's a multitude of gallery choices on Saleem's website, and I was especially attracted to his Japanese travel work. Kyoto, Yokohama, Miyajima, and Hiroshima are all galleries of his travels in Japan that I recommend you look at. His photography is a combination of street, lifestyle, and environmental portraits.

I hope Saleem's work gets seen by magazine photo editors, and gets them published.

I can't think of a better way to wrap up the week than with this fantastic video of the Northern Lights eerily dancing across the sky in a timelapse format. The images in this video are simply breathtaking and the music that accompanies them is perfect too. Enjoy!

sixth element from Level 4 on Vimeo.

A lot has changed in my life. When I first started my travels I was hitchhiking and sleeping wherever I could find a free spot to curl up. I remember as a teenager having a step (on a steep staircase) in a Haight Ashbury crashpad I could call my own for a week. I never even imagined there might be something better. Come to think of it, there probably wasn't-- not for this person at that time in that place. But as Fate bumped me along in life, many things did change substantially and one was my ability to afford to stay anyplace I want. Especially as the president of a large corporate record label I started getting used to my corporate expense account and what it could get me in terms of amenities. It became easy enough to justify staying in the most expensive hotels and eating in the very best restaurants in order to make an impression on business associates. (That worked out well, except healthwise, where all that rich food doesn't do anyone any good.)

Anyway, long story short, I long ago went from sleeping in a crashpad to sleeping at a 4 Seasons or Ritz. My old Warner Bros corporate travel agent still helps me with reservations-- bless her heart-- and she has a tendency to push me into old habits... not that I'm all that resistant. When I was planning out my Argentina trip, she kept telling me that the best hotel in this town and that town was below my comfort level. Actually, all of them were just fine. And some of them were superb, like the Posada de la Laguna in that wetlands I visited.

When I first got to Buenos Aires I rented an apartment-- and I'll write about that experience next week when I'm back home-- but the minimum for an apartment rental is a week so when I flew back to Buenos Aires for a few days here and a few days there in the middle of my stay in South America, I stayed in hotels. First up was the hotel of preference for the music industry, the Caesar Park in Recoleta, a block from the apartment I had rented. It was luxurious without being over the top. And the staff was down to earth and friendly. It's owned by a Mexican chain and I found it a very simpático place.

My wonderful travel agent had convinced me, however, to spend my last few days-- after returning from the rigors of Tierra del Fuego and before returning to L.A.-- in the "best hotel in Buenos Aires," the Park Hyatt. This was a big mistake for me. It's a temple of conspicuous consumption. I checked in... and checked out. Let me tell you why.

First let me say that the rooms and public spaces are absolutely gorgeous and top notch, as good as any Park Hyatt anywhere (and don't mix up the Park Hyatts with any other kind of Hyatt-- night and day. The Park Hyatt in Tokyo was my favorite there and the Park Hyatt in Hamburg has been tied for my favorite there, though both, I might add, were paid for by my company.) The price, including tax, even after a corporate discount rate, is $460/night, about the same as a week for the apartment down the street and almost double the price of the Caesar Park. Now, granted, the rooms are way fancier at the Park Hyatt-- but not double fancier. But that isn't why I checked out so fast.

The Park Hyatt is primarily one thing: America in Buenos Aires. They have done everything they could to make the hotel as comfortable as possible for people who aren't particularly capable of cultural emersion. This is like Buenos Aires on pablum. And those were the kinds of people it attracted. I've been in Argentina for over a month and this is the first hotel where I heard more English-- American accented English-- than Spanish. And the place positively reeks uptightness in every way. I hated it. I actually hated everything about it (except for the giant monitors on the computers in the business center).

On top of that, the rush to make it a technological wonder has left it difficult in terms of functionality. It took me an hour to figure out how to operate things like the lights and I never did get the phone system down! (Which is just as well, since the one call I managed to make-- a local call that would have cost me 30 cents anywhere else, cost me $2.00 there, nice and American: lookin' for profit centers everywhere. No one in their right mind other than an American with money to burn would stay at this place.) Nice gigantic big screen TV that came on to CNN no matter what you were watching when you turned it off though. But simple little things that turned me off to the hotel were the fact that it was noisy as hell and that I couldn't get to sleep 'til after 2 AM, even though I was on the 9th floor. (I think some Argentine team had won a soccer match and it was another excuse for noisy parties in the streets. And Argentine teams win soccer matches every day or two, believe me.) Even worse was the exquisitely appointed baño. Yes, the bathroom is gorgeous; unfortunately everytime the upstairs neighbor used his, you were treated to a symphony of plumbing-related noises in my room.

And at check in I was informed no late check out (my plane leaves at 10:30 PM so that's a real inconvenience), no breakfast included-- probably the only hotel in South America with this policy-- and, of course, no upgrade, something I can always live with. Fortunately, my pals at the Caesar Park, approximately 40 steps down the street, had offered me an upgrade to a suite and the far more important late check out (not to mention their lavish breakfasts). So here I sit, in the Caesar Park business center where my old pal Diego, the business center manager, makes a great research assistant for my Down With Tyranny blog. And at half the price. And with no corporate expense account... well, everyone loves a good deal.


UPDATE: WHEN IT COMES TO RESTAURANTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, BUENOS AIRES' BEST DO NOT DISAPPOINT

Argentina is blessed with a very high quality of food-- lots of delicious fruits and vegetables, the best meat in the world, great seafood. Whenever I go to a grocery store and ask if they have organic stuff I'm usually told most of the fruits and vegetables are raised without chemical fertilizers. I don't know if it's true or not, but it sure gets repeated all the time. As for the restaurants, the level is generally pretty high. Every European tourist I talk to mentions that the food is way better than what you get back home.

I'll do a report on the health food restaurants of Buenos Aires in a few days. But I did want to mention a couple of haute cuisine places I've discovered in Buenos Aires that everyone should try out. Because they are all catering primarily to middle class Argentines-- rather than tourists-- the quality is superb and the prices relatively low (think of a peso as a dollar in terms of buying power-- and we get three pesos for a dollar). Portions in Argentina always seem huge. These people enjoy their chow and they serve lots of it. So we're talking about high quality, low cost, big portions.

Now when we get to the best restaurants in town, we're in the realm of stuff worth writing home about. Started-- and still run, 30 years later-- by 2 sisters, Tomo 1 is generally considered the best restaurant in Buenos Aires. It's in the Panamericano Hotel near the Obelisque (a kind of town center in some ways). The philosophy of the restaurant is really simple: buy the best and freshest ingredients, prepare them with loving care and skill (one sister does lunch and the other does dinner), make sure everyone concerned is thoroughly professional. I ate there last night. The philosophy works. Everything was mouthwateringly delicious, including a sample of the absolute best tomato soup I had ever tasted, an endive and pear salad I would like to eat again right now and a fish I had never heard of, a "lemon fish." The waiter told me it's in the tuna family and the quality is that of sashimi. Completely scrumptuous!

click so you can read the menu

Just as good-- some say better-- is a less "establishment" restaurant in Palermo, Casa Cruz, where I ate a couple weeks ago. This one was more about combining ingredients into artful ways, artful, unique and delightful. I tried getting another reservation for my last dinner in Buenos Aires and, as usual, it's booked solid. My suggestion is that anyone coming to Buenos Aires make a reservation asap for Casa Cruz. I think I tucked away a menu in my luggage and when I get home I'll photograph it and append it to this report.


UPDATE: I NEVER WENT OUT CLUBBING IN BUENOS AIRES, BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON

Sunday's NY Times gets right down into it, at least from an ex-pat point of view.

“There are expats everywhere tapping into the city’s thriving cultural and arts scene,” said Grant C. Dull, Zizek’s founder, who also runs the popular bilingual Web guide WhatsUpBuenosAires.com. “And it’s not backpacker types, but people with money and contacts.”

Drawn by the city’s cheap prices and Paris-like elegance, legions of foreign artists are colonizing Buenos Aires and transforming this sprawling metropolis into a throbbing hothouse of cool. Musicians, designers, artists, writers and filmmakers are sinking their teeth into the city’s transcontinental mix of Latin élan and European polish, and are helping shake the Argentine capital out of its cultural malaise after a humbling economic crisis earlier this decade.

...Comparisons with other bohemian capitals are almost unavoidable. “It’s like Prague in the 1990s,” said Mr. Lampson, who is perhaps best known for winning a Bravo TV reality show, “Situation: Comedy,” in 2005, about sitcom writers. Despite his minor celebrity, he decided to forgo the Los Angeles rat race and moved to Buenos Aires, where he is writing an NBC pilot, along with his Web novela, www.historyandtheuniverse.com. “Buenos Aires is a more interesting place to live than Los Angeles, and it’s much, much cheaper. You can’t believe a city this nice is so cheap.”

Just a brief site update this morning to let regular readers know that this week and next I will be traveling some which will prevent me from making regular updates on Thursday and Friday of both weeks. The next few days I'll be busy with work and at the end of next week I'll be busy with a relaxing escape. I will be back with regular posts next Monday through Wednesday before returning to my regular schedule the following week.

In the meantime, get outside and enjoy some adventures of your own. Here in the northern hemisphere we are well into the fall now, and the crisp air, cooler temperatures and wonderful autumn colors should be savored. Get on your bike and go for a ride. Gather up some friends or family and take a hike. Go for a long run. Do anything that gets you off the couch and outside for a little while. It'll definitely be worth it.

I have a few updates scheduled for today. After that, I'll be back next week. See you soon!