Loved your comments! We're leaving tonight for a repeat visit. We fell in love with Bs As. Read about last year's trip on our web site. Click on "the tree": http://www.thetravelzine.com

I have a bunch of pictures of that tree. I shot them up close on B&W film. The gnarly shapes are really interesting.

Oh look it's Don and Linda from Canada. Seriously, how do these people find you? I looked at some of the deep data on my lame blog and found that someone from Tokyo found it after searching google for "the other other red meat". And someone from England found it after looking for "squagel". The world is getting tediously small.

Owlie, you should be nice to Canadians today. It is the anniversary of them kicking our butts after we invaded Quebec, after all.

Dear Editor,

My family lives in Finksburg, MD, and I lived for 15 years in D.C. I have lived in Buenos Aires for six years and i have a few observations to add to the nine observations.

The food in Argentina is drearily repetitive. Its the same thing over and over, restaurant after restaurant. Fresh fish is a rare find. Coffee is lousy and of cheap quality in my opinion. Ice cream is full of artificial flavor. In short, quality is low.

Buenos Aires is hands down one of the most polluted cities I have ever seen and I've seen many around the world, 46 nations in total. The massive clouds of black smoke, 3 stories high, that pour out of the public busses and trucks can't adequately be described. Streets are choked under a thick curtain of fumes, wafting around as if a building was on fire.

The noise is deafening as well. Busses roar like jet airplane engines, a high-pitched screech. Cars go BOOM shaking every building they pass and even in a shop, I have to shout to be heard. In my apartment there is no refuge. I'm breathing in putrid fumes as I type this at home, cars and trucks sound as if a train was going straight through my apt.

Why the many articles I read about Buenos Aires leave out these ever-present aspects of the city baffles me. We are assaulted daily by pollution and noise as vehicles aren't inspected and there is near total anarchy on the road. Factories and vehicles pollute without restriction. The mayors family owns major buss lines which torture the city's residents daily with its building shaking noise and belching fumes.

Further, the city is a mess of broken sidewalks with deep holes, a major shortage of coins, and endless, sometimes violent, protests. An old Tango song refers to the city as the City of Fury, which is apt in my opinion.

Jerry Gottlick
Finksburg, MD 21048

Great beef covers a multitude of sins...

It is the anniversary of them kicking our butts after we invaded Quebec, after all.

That never happened.

What Mr. Gottlick said. All true. I couldn't wait to leave. It's a giant stress machine.

Sorry, Owl Meat -- Lissa is right. See this Wikipedia entry as well as this Wikipedia entry on the 1775 invasion of Canada.

Our Canuckistani neighbours also kicked our butts in the War of 1812.

Well, since at the time, 1775, all of what were the thirteen "American" colonies and the "Canadian" colonies were all British and "we" were just starting what we would later call the Revolutionary War, "invading" Montreal and Quebec was not much different than "invading" Boston or Philadelphia. Just another front to keep the Redcoats busy. So I find it hard to say "we," not yet the United States of America, invaded what was not yet Canada.

Didn't the Americans rout the Canadian city of York and burn it down?

Only to rise later on with its Indian name of Toronto?

Perhaps hmpstd can help me here?

hmpstd,
Before you go hunting it down, I did a little research of my own.
Yes, the Americans did torch the city of York, later to rebuild and become Toronto. It appears that us Yanks were a bit rude and thus, precipitated their burning of Washington.
Here is Wikipedia's entry.

I can't believe you fell into my web. Canada was an English colony at that time. The soldiers were British, not "Canadian".

Owlie, some of those soldiers (and sailors) were Canadian militia, and fought as such. Many of them were the children of Loyalists who fled (or were driven out of) the former 13 Colonies.

We invaded Canada and burned York. In retaliation, they burned DC. They captured Detroit.

There was a lot more to the War of 1812 than a skirmish in Patterson Park.

I wonder if the Canadians would like Detroit back? Oooh, oooh, oooh, then we could call the money to the automakers foreign aid.

I have to agree with Mr. Gottlick. I know Buenos Aires very well and it is true that it is a highly noisy and polluted city. Buses spew out great clouds of black fumes. It's terrible. As for the rest of Mr. Gottlick's comments: ice cream can be excellent if you buy it from one of the high end ice cream shops like Freddo. In restaurants it is invariably low quality - the same for what they sell in supermarkets. Though Argentines drink a lot of coffee, the quality is usually quite poor. Some Americans mistake strength for quality. Argentines like strong coffee served in little cups. The coffee, though, is toasted with sugar to conceal the bitter taste associated with low grade beans. Mr. Gottlick is right about broken sidewalks. Mr. Gottlick is also accurate in his remarks about the sameness of the food and the Argentine penchant for blandness. There are, however, some good restaurants to be found if you do a search. I disagree that the beef is so great. I have had better beef in other countries including the US. The only Argentine cut I care for is "bife de lomo". The rest tends to be tough.

I loved your article about BA.
We are native Texans and your know how proud we are as a group. We lived in BA for 3 years from 1998 to 2001 and loved the country and the city of BA. BA is a city with many faces; compared to many of our US cities it is a very friendly and warm city. Good wine, good beef and great people. Argentina also has many great golf courses which can be played almost year round.
Don't overlook Paris of South America when you plan your travel.
Dave Wyatt

There was a lot more to the War of 1812 than a skirmish in Patterson Park.

The Battle of New Orleans, as told by Johnny Horton

Technically, the Battle of New Orleans happened after the war ended.

Actually Johnny Horton recorded two versions of "The Battle of New Orleans" - One from the American perspective, which is the one we all know, and on from the British perspective, which is less well known.

Technically, the Battle of New Orleans happened after the war ended.

True. Brings to life the advances in communication, huh?

For sure, Eve. Big difference between sending a message and sending a messenger.

Posted this last night. Watch it come up twice.

Johnny Horton recorded two versions of The Battle of New Orleans: One from the American point of view, which is the one we all know, and one from the British point of view, which is less well known.

I love Buenos Aires and find it a peaceful gorgeous city. I live on Avenida Libertador in Palermo and walking on this Boulevarde past the Rose Gardens, Flor Generis . The numerous parks and art galleries must be one of the best walks in the world.

Regarding Jerry he is a mean spirited man who lives in a villa miseria from what I have been told. His opinions are not valid or representative of the realities here.

Regarding Jerry he is a mean spirited man who lives in a villa miseria from what I have been told. His opinions are not valid or representative of the realities here.

Oh yeah, Jerry. Everybody in Argentina knows Jerry.

"Boulevarde"? Hmm... not a Spanish word. I sort of doubt that Mr. Fink is blogging from his "villa miseria". Not a lot of good wireless connections in shantytowns. Of course, if you are extolling the virtues of a city, you might want to leave out the abundance of shantytowns. Okay "john".

Owl Meat is a mean man; do not listen to him. I live on the planette called Earth and he does not represent reality nor does he validate.

He lives in a shoe with a giant egg-man. No one can reconstruct his misery. It is an Omletteville tragedy. Everyone knows that he does nothing but eat parsnips and listen to the Ting Tings all day. Spurn him; he is not one of us.

For further research on the War of 1812 I suggest reading "Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812" by Donald R. Hickey.

so funny. i've really enjoyed all the comments regarding the post from "jerry." so, for my two cents: i've been living here for five months and i've begun to get bored of jamon y queso and ojo de bife. the meat here is fantastic, if you go to the right places, but even fantastic things can get repetitive. other than that, i've been underwhelmed by the culinary scene. the pizza is terrible, the worst thing i've ever put in my mouth. the "good" restaurants all tend to be excruciatingly overpriced and serve the same, albeit tasty, things. however, cooking at home is a joy if you can find a supermarket that carries all the spices and herbs you need. also, some vegetables are nonexistent here..... and i really really miss fish. they are right about the potholes and the stink and the otherwise abhorrent condition of the public spaces of the city. oh and they forgot to mention the dog refuse EVERYWHERE. i just want to sum all of this by saying..... it's not america, it's not britain, it's not france. buenos aires is the capital of a third world country. nothing here is perfect, almost everything foodwise is locally produced and therefore limited to the extent that nature can provide in one location. love it or leave it. it is what it is. and it is beautiful for what it is. who needs a planet full of cookie cutter cities with perfect streets and perfect people where you can get whatever you want whenever you want it. break out of your spoiled, limited shell, breath in the bus fumes, step in a pothole, eat some shitty pizza and LIVE a little.

"break out of your spoiled, limited shell, breath in the bus fumes, step in a pothole, eat some shitty pizza and LIVE a little"

I'll pass.