Living with art and antiques and travelling the south of South Amercia. Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay

Falling in love with ArgentinaFalling in love with Argentina
Topic: Argentina
Loving Buenos Aires and learning to work the love

In these days of cheap peso, glowing Argentine culture and hundreds of social and cultural options is hard not to LOVE the city of good airs. The sophistication and beauty of this South American capital has become even more appealing to Americans in recent years because they conceive it as a new found paradise long term second home. Attracted by a number of different features, hundreds of middle class and upper class Americans find in Buenos Aires a perfect place to enjoy safely and broadly the life experiences of their dreams.

Unlike Europe, which has become sort of impossible to visit unless you’re a truly rich person; Buenos Aires, and Argentina in general, have become a brilliant alternative to great cultural and social trips.

If once upon a time, Paris was the land of lovers and Rome that of seduction, nowadays that is Buenos Aires. The sexy sensual Argentine dance of Tango is an everlasting magnet that has mutated from a short escape to a need, hence a long term relocating option. Knight Ridder Washington newspaper has broadly developed this matter throughout its pages lately.

Other major American papers such as The Times have also began to inquire about this new and interesting global world phenomena that is so appealing to average culture lovers Americans.

Since the crack down in 2001/2, Buenos Aires has resurged from the ashes as the Phoenix becoming a major world pole in terms of culture and investments. And it’s not only about the money bringing more money, for the city of Tango’s unique flavor in terms of Latin and European perfect blend shaped in the best Argentine feel interests in far more deeper ways than profitable investments. Buenos Aires has become the symbol of a self investment in enjoying life’s pleasures. Its fine dinning, gorgeous people, posh culture and moneymaking investments all converge into pointing Buenos Aires as a dream goal. It’s easy to access, and enjoyable to the most. Whether you have a million dollars and come to Buenos Aires to live like a magnate without worrying about work or problems; or you’re just on a good budget and turn to the southern capital for a lifetime experience, this is a city where you’ll find all what you’re looking for and much more than you’ve expected.

A true sense of “Argentine” has developed as an outcome of the last breakdown.

Sensed both by locals and visitors –even more those who from visitors become newcomers, and soon turn to be a typical local Porteno as we refer to those who were born and raised in this portside city.

When importations became too expensive, and the global culture turn to be hard to approach in a complicated financial situation, locals turned to their roots and brought them to the third millennium. Fashion, arts, crafts, culture in general was re-born in a fascinating way. From eating traditions, products and cooking skills to fine artists and painters, the cultural world of Argentina developed at a fantastic rate chipping into the world’s culture basket with its own flavor and at a Tango rhythm.

Palermo Hollywood & Soho, Buenos Aires

Santiago de Chile for Art and Antiques
Topic: Chile

Art and Antiques from Santiago, Chile
Art and Antiques fro Chile, Santiago de Chile. First set of a series of articles and useful tips and information for those travelling to Santiago, Chile and looking for Art and Antiques.
Santiago de Chile is the capital city of the narrow and elongated southern country limiting with Argentina to the East, crossing the imponent Andes Mountains, and Peru and Bolivia to the North… to the West, the everlasting emerald colored Pacific Ocean.
This capital, very much alike Buenos Aires and Montevideo, is a cosmopolitan metropolis of crossed influences featuring a strong modern style at the time it blends the influence of millenary indigenous cultures. Under that first impression European feel, Santiago is very much part of Latin America in its culture, social standards and way of life.

The busy area of the Plaza de Armas, downtown Santiago featuring yuppies, working men and women in expensive designers’ suits, cellular talking people rushing from one place to the other, contrasts with Santiago’s most important marketplace: Bio Bio.

While first impressions are very important, we feel that in order to truly grasp the feel of Santiango one needs to go under the skin of those first impressions to find the substance of the being Chilean.

Following the route of marchants, dealers and collectors we tend to enter a world of amusing cultural contradictions where the old becomes antique, and a dirty warehouse becomes the place you’ve been dreaming on in your way up to Chile. Bio Bio is known as the Persian market of Santiago, for it shares the main concept of those Middle Eastern markets where you can buy and sell almost everything, where bargaining the prices is a must in order to establish a good negotiation and end up with the item you want, and also, where the local culture is more vivid and lively. At the Bio Bio market traditional local food and drinks blend together with original 18^th century antique furniture, collectible china memorabilia of all kinds and brilliant antique toys. The sounds of modern Chile merge together with traditional string quartets at the time a passerby salesman offers you to follow him to the best stand of the fair.

Bio Bio is not tidy, it’s not neat, it’s not gringo suited tailored to portray a strange conception of the “authentic Chilean”. Bio Bio is authentically Chilean, messy, noisy, filled with new and interesting smells, chaotic and absolutely brilliant. It’s a place where locals and visitors who want more truly get in touch with the Chilean culture, and of course it is by far the best place to hunt down one of a kind collectibles and rare antiques.

The Persian, as locals refer to it, is located in the outskirts of Santiago, in what used to be the Slaughterhouse area, out of use for over three decades. Easily accessed by using the extraordinary Metro –subway- system, this market opens Saturdays at 10 AM.

Originally set back in the early 30s when the world was undergoing a terrible economical crisis, the Market was a way thru which most locals could find some extra cash by selling some of the family’s relics… back then the Franklin neighborhood where the Persian stands today was undergoing an era of splendorous work and profits, thanks to the input of Chilean leathers and meats to the World’s Market. But tables changed only three decades later when that particular industry dropped dramatically and went practically out of use. By 1979 the former Slaughterhouse neighborhood was abandoned, and the area began to change into a Persian neighborhood where not only the Market is the place perfectly suited to find extraordinary bargains, but also the surrounding houses, shops and warehouses.

The terrible economic crisis of 1982 was the final addition in this neighborhood’s transformation.

Today the market is constantly expanding around the area and the related shops from food and beverages to music and cultural shows make of this a must do activity when trying to discover the beauties and treasures of Santiago.

See Chiloe, Chile, for Modern Art:
Interested in Modern Art and all in an outstanding natural location, then see The Modern Art Museum of Chiloe, Chile. PRESS HERE

Selling Art & Antiques andTravelling Argentina Chile and Uruguay for them by Bob Frassinetti

About Us: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

The Big Island of Chiloe, Chile.