Restaurante El Federal

We ended our first day in Buenos Aires with a tasty, imaginative, well-priced meal at Restaurante El Federal, on San Martin just a few short blocks from our hotel. It had a traditional horno oven, an intriguing daily menu on a blackboard in the dining room, a good selection of local wines, and a helpful, engaging waiter. We ate there again at the end of our trip.

Buenos Aires Galerias Pacifico

Perhaps the main attraction along Buenos Aires's Florida shopping street is Galerias Pacifico. It's basically a shopping center, but one housed in an 1890s Beaux Arts building, and adorned with beautiful stained glass and a dome painted by five of Argentina's leading painters. (Think a combination of the Sistine ceiling, Thomas Hart Benton, and the Mexican Muralists.) Its Christmas decorations only added to the over-the-top effect of the architectural decor and the stylish window displays.

Buenos Aires Shopping Street

Street life in Buenos Aires is much more focused on pedestrians than on cars. Our hotel was located near the pedestrian, Florida shopping street, which afforded a wide variety of window-shopping, eating, and people-watching opportunities, as well a chance to be photographed with sexy tango dancers.

Café Tortoni in Buenos Aires

Café Tortoni, established in Buenos Aires in 1858 and named after its Paris precursor (with Italian roots) has been called "the one café in Buenos Aires that you must visit." We happened upon it accidentally during our first day of walking around the center of the city. Its interior is wonderfully gaudy in 19th C European high fashion, augmented with 20th C models and sculptures to evoke its past. At the bar is a great, shiny coffee-maker. (We didn't visit the live tango performances upstairs.)

Buenos Aires Public Sculpture

Buenos Aires has the expected amount and type of public sculpture on its streets and parks. But from some viewpoints the city itself presents as sculpture. Then there are the smaller details of ironwork and door handles, to be appreciated for their own artistry or as backgrounds for personal interactions.

Waiting for the bus in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires relies heavily on buses for transport along its major avenues. Passengers line up quietly, without crowding, and in places are diverted by temporary sidewalk book stalls.

Buenos Aires Under Cover

My wife and I recently returned from a 3-week trip to Argentina. She gave a couple of invited talks at conferences, in Buenos Aires, and we have long had Patagonia on our travel bucket list. But being in the neighborhood, we explored Buenos Aires, the wine-producing region of Mendoza, and the neighboring country of Uruguay. Over the next month or so, I'll be posting photos from this trip, beginning with Buenos Aires - one of the most interesting and sophisticated cities in South America, with a distinctly European heritage and flavor.

One of the first things I was struck by in Buenos Aires is how pedestrians, and sometimes even cars, are shielded from the elements by canopies or roofed promenades. This is probably due largely to its European architectural heritage.

More Chinese Garden Monochromes

To end this series, a few more moody black and white images from the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

Rocks in the Chinese Garden

I went to the Lan Su Chinese Garden intending to photograph the striking gray rocks in black and white. For a while I got sidetracked by the colorful chrysanthemums and autumn leaves, but eventually returned to my original purpose.

Fall Colors in the Chinese Gardens

There were some nice remnants of fall colors in the Lan Su Chinese Garden - even if not chrysanthemums.

Chrysanthemum Festival

I stopped by Portland's Lan Su Chinese Garden in early November. I had intended to take some photos in black and white, and I did; but they were having their annual Chrysanthemum Festival, and the colors were too pretty to resist. So I'll post some colorful flower pictures first, then the monochromes later.

Seaside

On our way back to Portland, we stopped for look at Seaside, a small resort town about half an hour drive south of Astoria along the Pacific Coast. A short stop was sufficient,