the good

Armenian restaurant Sarkis in Palermo/Villa Crespo (Sorry Murph, we went without you!).  The food is spectacular, and it´s no secret, as arriving anytime after 8pm will see you waiting in a long line of people for a table.  I cannot belive I have been here 2 and a half years and have only just discovered it.  There are not a lot of options for international cuisine in BA that won´t cost you a fortune and is as authentic as it should be, and Sarkis is spot on.  I plan on going back next week for more! The icing on the cake was the Copa Sarkis, a HUGE icecream sundae consisting of vanilla and  chocolate icecream, chocolate syrup, some sort of liquor and walnuts, delicious!  Muy bien BA for keeping this restaurant affordable and not just for the people with dollars.

the good

Gay marriage and adoption in Argentina!

Enough said...

the bad/the ugly

The last time I checked, the correct thing to do was to cross the road when the light for the cars and the pedestrians turns green.  I am not saying that I always cross the road at the lights, but usually I do, not wanting to be another casualty of the dicey road system they have here.  But recently some particularly angry motorists have taken it upon themselves to give me a blast of their horn if they need to wait 5 seconds while I cross the road with the pedestrian light IN my favour.  Really people, is it necessary?  Are you so angry with your life that you need to show your anger in a situation where I am doing the right thing, and you are using your warning device in a way other than was intended?  Somebody needs to teach these motorists a lesson in etiquette, patience and manners or I may just ruin mine by accidentally kicking your car the next time it happens...

the bad

The prices and the attitude.  Apparantly, the more expensive the experience, the worse the service (or at least that´s the way they seem to fly in BA).  I had lunch at a cafe near work called Mua the other day, or at least I took my salad away because it cost an extra 6 pesos to sit down and eat it (cubiertos: this is what they charge for the cutlery for your meal).  So I bought a 33 pesos caesar salad and my friend bought a 38 pesos bagel with salmon and cream cheese.  And to top it off, they put a measley drop of dressing on the salad and served up a whole lot more attitude when my friend asked for more.  The cafe itself was lovely; a nice big open space with mismatching furniture, high ceilings, lunching mothers with babies and money.  But if you are going to charge me 33 pesos for a salad, at least dish it up with a bit of service, not just greens... Mua can mwah my culo...

the bad (or the frustrating really)

I like to walk everywhere, and try to avoid taking buses and the subway if I can walk somewhere.  Buenos Aires being the big and populated city that it is, is often short of footpath space and there is nothing that I find more frustrating than when someone is walking at the same pace as you, and you cannot pass them.  You have no other choice than to walk with them or painfully close to them, and then they keep turning around because they are paranoid about being robbed.  Usually I speed up my walking pace to overtake them but this morning I was wearing-in some new shoes and they were in the process of giving me blisters, so speeding up was not an option.  And the guy infront of me was in his own world AND walking all over the place.  Is it too much to ask that you walk in a straight line and if at all possible, not at MY pace?