¡Bummed!

As many things in life, the real outcome is far from the desired. But sometimes you have to make a bet in the name of heart and passion.

Germany won the first quarter final game against Argentina. That broke my bet with a final between Argentina and Brazil and a bronze game between England and Italy. It now looks like we'll have a Brazil - Germany final.

It was a nail biting game. The first half was slightly dominated by Argentina and the second half got off to a great start with a goal by Ayala 46 minutes into the game. Then Argentina started to play too defensive and let the Germans roll over them. The Germans are great at using their strong will and brute force to turn things around. And by God did they want to win this time.

Argentina came back nicely but it wasn't enough. Unfortunately El Pato got hurt and had to be replaced and that gave the Germans a great opportunity to even the score. The odds changed pretty quickly after that eventhough I think that the Argentina team played much more fun football. Their talent, passion and heart fell short of brute force, strong will and having the advantage of being the host country. Okay, okay - I'm being petty...

Ølsen - Pure BA Nouveau With A Scandi Touch

Ølsen is a well designed Northern European inspired restaurant in Palermo Hollywood. It's located in an old warehouse with a big welcoming patio. They serve vodka shots and their dishes are all served with a Scandinavian touch.

Ølsen has probably the coolest open patio in all of BA; very loungy with comfortable low chairs with leather seats. The interior design is very 70s James Bond with a fireplace and a metal chimney in the middle of the restaurant. The furniture is vintage Scandinavian.

They serve a 3-course lunch with a beer or a bottle of water for AR$20 per person. The dishes are often very eclectic. Today I had smoked salmon on top of a waffle with cream sauce, papas and a potato salad with avacado and boiled eggs. The Missus had the same except a risotto instead of the salmon.

As most of our favorite Boho restaurants in BA, Ølsen offers a bunch of fashion and pop culture magazines as an after lunch treat which extends the stay in this really comfortable and inspired enviroment. We are really looking forward to go there for dinner.

The World is Full of Philistines

"The Philistine not only ignores all conditions of life which are not his own but also demands that the rest of mankind should fashion its mode of existence after his own." - Goethe

I've travelled enough to know a Philistine from a true Traveler. Philistine tourists (fanny pack, shorts, trainers, white socks, cap, loud, demanding et cetera) add to the local economic activity by infusing new money into the system but thats it. It's a pure economic transaction. They view world as their playground, expecting people to cater to their needs driven by the price of things. The core expectation is that anything can be bought. They are always on the outside looking in.

A true Traveler - with bohemian qualities - on the other hand is breathing the true air of life. It's not about being serviced but connecting to the everyday life. It's about taking part, being humble, sharing and contributing. It's about being equal on a human level with whomever you meet. It's about an appreciation for life and not for being pampered. It's about a curiosity that extends beyond normality.

Life is full of Philistines with the sole ambition to solitify their position in the race for a middle class life full of percieved richness. They will do anything to impose their self-imagined superiority.

It's sad to watch but it's also what gives energy to counter culture reactions. But it's not just an anti-reaction but a voice of reason. Should money really be the currency in which we measure success, value and progress?

Brazil // France

Today we headed up early to have enough time to get breakfast before the 12pm game Brazil - Ghana. I cannot explain it but I'm comletely obessed by the current World Cup. There is so much passion and energy that is rubbing off on me.

The Brazil game was - as expected - a great football party. The Brazlians are so confident, playful and superior that there was no doubt who was going to win. The Ghana team did put up a great resistance though and played very well. Big kudos!

We took off for lunch once the Brazil - Ghana game had ended. We took the normal route: Avenida Las heras via Plaza Italia to El Diamante on Malabia. They served a great sauted veggie starter with an Ojo de Bife con Papas as main course. Delish!

We knew that Bar 6 on Armenia had a 42-inch plasma screen and headed over there to enjoy the second game of the day at 4pm. Crazily enough, the place was half empty and we grabbed the big purple sofa and a glas of red wine. There are few places left in the world where you can sip on one glas of wine and watch a football game for two hours without getting kicked out. Bar 6 is one of them. Recommended.

The French win came as a bigger surprise. My bet was on the Spaniards but they only succeeded to score on a penalty. The French played fenominally. Zidane, Henry, Rivery, Vieira, Sagnol et al were brilliant. The played on par with the Spainards during the first half but then accelerated into a league of their own in the second half.

The Missus and I really need the two days break before the quarter finals are starting this weekend. There are so many things we haven't seen yet and not being tied up for 4 hrs a day in front of the TV will definitely help.

My semi finalists still stand: Brazil, Italy, England and Argentina. That said, I hope I'm wrong and that we'll get a few surprises. As long as it's not Argentina since that would bum out our friends down here. I was in Venice in 2000 at the Eurocup final between France and Italy. I've never seen anyone so bummed out as the Italians after the defeat. Venice just died.

The Travel Guide I'd Like to Read

Everyone wants to travel. Everyone wants to write. Everyone wants to be a travel writer.

Travel writing is probably the most underestimated occupation in the world. Everyone and his uncle thinks he can do it better. Yours truly included.

Over the past 25 years of traveling the globe, I've lost count of how many times and how many people I have talked, brainstormed and dreamt about living off travel writing.

And yet, I have not found a good travel guide that meet my needs. They are in general, too general, trying to satisfy to many traveler's needs. Most of them cater to tourists, not travelers, and cover things that not even locals would recommend you to do. I call them guides to the Disneyland you'll never want to visit.

Who wants to be a tourist? A tourist to me is someone that is disconnected, travel in herds and wears a fanny pack. It's an ignorant observer who pays for excitement and casual insights. To be a tourist in life is a sad occupation.

I think they reason why there are no good travel guides is - as stated above - the general assumption is wrong. Travelers are no longer only foreigners, tourists or everyday sheep. A lot of people speak more than one language, have grown up, studied or worked in a 'foreign' country. The world is truly flat to them.

I'd like to experience a new city the same way as I experience my own: going to the bakery for bread, reading the newspaper at the coffee shop and grabbing dinner at a cool restaurant with great food. I don't need a travel nanny but someone that can give me directions to the things I'm interested in (music, movies, books, wine, cooking, food, bohemia, architecture et cetera).

The key is that a travel guide should be nothing less of a local guide and that's why I like the Time Out guides. They treat you, the reader, (almost) as a local. Sure, they need to attract a mass audience but all-in-all they do a pretty good job.

That said, I see a future in nisch guides that caters much more to personal interests than sights / attractions. Like Nota Bene (luxury guides) or The Other Side (guides for the clubbing aficionado).

Traveling is not about the ultimate experience but the experience that fits your desires, needs and interests. If you love food, then you want to know the good restaurants in Paris and could care less about the Mona Lisa, Eiffel Tour or Place Vendôme.

I guess that every civilization learns the things they need to know. That opens up for business opportunities.

Work to See The World

The most popular way to differentiate between people's view on life is to differentiate their work motive into two different beliefs: work to live or live to work.

Lots of people get sucked into the Lutheran belief that if you work hard you'll do the right thing, reach success and end up in heaven. In a corporate enviroment working hard is suicide, it's all about working smart and realize that Machiavelli was right. But if you believe in heaven - go for it.

Work to live sounds much more hedonistic and secular. It's actually the way that most people have survived throughout the history of the world. You work to survive, put food on the table and clothes on the bodies. What else is there? Right, the social ladder.

I see it this way: If I was the big kahuna, I would want my people to work hard, believe in loyalty and consume as much of my products as possible. I would encourage anything that would make my kingdom richer and more powerful. If that was to believe in God or in McDonald's - wouldn't matter.

Enters the third perspective. Mine. I work to enrich my live through the eyes of the world. I would avoid all social traps and beliefs of things that you have to have to be 'happy', live a fulfilled life and be successful.

I'm not that smart but I still can see that the middle class was the best thing that has ever happened to the rich and the powerful in the world. I mean, do you really want Paris Hilton to be the next president?

The City of Bookstores

It's raining in Buenos Aires (BA). Most people are sleeping in after the victorious game against Mexico yesterday. The streets are pretty empty and most stores are closed. It's Sunday and time to rest.

The pleasure of living in the center of one of the biggest cosmopolitan city in the world is that you don't need a car, everything is so accessible and you share your life with people from all walks of life. The latter is very important.

Once the England - Ecuador (1-0) game was over, we walked down to El Ateneo - the bookstore on Avenida Santa Fe - to grab some breakfast. At 2pm I might add (life here is lazy).

El Ateneo is one of the many, many bookstores in BA. I've no data that support this but my impression is that BA has the most bookstores per capita in the world. What makes El Ateneo special is that it's located in an old theater, with the coffee shop all the way in the back.

It's a heaven on earth for a bibliophile and polyglot. I can spend hours just browsing through the aisles, picking up books I've never seen and just forgetting about the world outside.

I was surprised by seeing a few of the books I've on my wishlist on Amazon.com (in English) being offered at a 25-50% discount in Spanish. That means that I can kill two birds with one stone at a rebate. These kind of arbitrary opportunities doesn't come around that often. Once the middle class knows more than one language and is indifferent to what language they use to consume knowledge this opportunity will disappear.

The Essence of Travels

Why do people travel when it would be more comfortable to stay home, enjoying a known and secure enviroment and save the hard earned money for 'better' things? Is it the desire to flee from the regular daily demands that the everyday enviroment imposes? Or is it just the lust to discover new places, people and cultures?

I ask myself the same thing everytime I press the buy button on Travelocity.com, United.com or Kayak.com. Why would you want to leave someting that is secure and good for something unknown and in many cases is an uncalculated risk? The risk-reward ratio is known and easily calculated in your comfort zone but becomes very volatile once you are outside that zone.

I know, I know - I'm leading you on. It's all about the uncalculated risk. Most people are okay with risk as long as it can be calculatd. But if you can calculate a risk that also means that the upside is limited.

The cool thing with traveling is that you'll never know what you might encounter. Every trip is a blank sheet that needs to be scribbled on. The pleasure of visiting a new city for the first time is awesome. If you have done your homework you'll know a few things but never enough to prepare you for that new experience.

Everyday is like being reborn, having the pleasure of starting over with a clean slate. Just finding a place to have breakfast at has it challenges. All your regular routines are being turned upside-down.

Traveling is the best cure for suburban boredom. Done right, it's the antithesis of calculated risk. It makes you more humble, more understanding and less of a know-it-all. It forces you to be open-minded and not take anything for granted. Traveling might make you really wise, in due time, if you are prepared to listen and learn.

Argentina - Mexico (2-1)

We went to La Chulita on Rodriguez Peña for a late lunch just before the big game. Before we knew it, the whole place was empty and we realized that the game had started. As much as we wanted to watch the game, we also wanted to walk around the central parts of the city to see if we could get some cool shots of people watching the game in public places. We did!

Most stores closed early and the ones that had to be opened were empty except for the staff who were glued to the TVs. At Masimundo (music and electronics store) we were almost greeted with a slight contempt. Who in there right mind a) is not watching the game and b) dare to drag the attention from the staff from the TV to attending their personal consumption needs? We just had to leave.

On the walk from Avenida Santa Fe to our pad we passed several hair dressers, restaurants and mini-mercados where people were focused on the TV screens as if we had come to the end of days. Most were dressed in the Argentina jerseys and some had their faces painted in light blue and white.

This is one of the top games of the World Cup, the others being Brazil - Spain, England - Portugal, and the semi-finals where I think we'll have Argentina, Brazil, England and Italy. The dream final would be Brazil - Argentina. Sorry, Alex, I don't think Les Bleus have it in them this time. Henry is too much of a whiner.

The Happiness of Discovery

Buenos Aires is one of the best cities in the world to discover by foot. Sure, some destinations are sometimes a little far away but most everything is within walking distance if you live in Recoleta, Barrio Norte or Palermo and have the luxury of time.

We live in Recoleta, on the border of Barrio Norte, right by Avenida de Las Heras. From there it's a straight shot to Plaza Italia and then down Thames to Placa Serrano in Palermo Viejo. It takes about an hour by foot to get there from our pad and that's what we did today.

We started on Pechego de Melo and walked towards Parque Las Heras and found several very interesting restaurants that we memorized local and menu. Once on Avenida de Las Heras the restaurants were fewer and the traffic much more intense until we got to Plaza Italia. There we decided to pake a pit stop at one of the many book stores in town, on Thames, and then down to Social Paraiso on Honduras for lunch.

They serve a fantastic 2-course lunch menu for 14 pesos (US$ 4.50). Today we could choose between an onion soup or quesedilla w/ salad for starter and a veggie wok or chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto w/ mashed potatoes. It was, as always delish.

After lunch, which also included a glas of wine, water and a cortadito, we walked around the Palermo Soho streets for a while and then headed back towards Recoleta via Avenida Santa Fe and Avenida Coronel Diaz. Just in time for our daily siesta!