Carnival Gualeguaychu Argentina

Every Saturday for two months Gualeguaychu in the province of Entre Rios celebrates carnival ('carnaval' in Spanish). I tried to see this last year but it was rained out not once but twice :-(( but we went on Saturday and the weather was well behaved this time.

A three hour bus ride from Buenos Aires gets you to the small spread out town of Gualeguaychu (pronounced Wally-wy-chu). The Carnival takes place on Saturday night but there are plenty of riverside beaches with bars and cafes to head to during the day.

Well enough of the tourism pitch and now for some photos. I have a terrible habit of cutting people heads off in photos as you're about to see.

Tags: .Carnival Carnaval Gualeguaychu Argentina..

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Bailando por un Sueno - Argentina

The economic situation in Argentina is much worse than previously reported. Don't expect to see this reported on CNN, BBC, Sky or Fox News as this is an exclusive.

I previously reported on the food shortages due to the farmers strike but what I've recently uncovered is much more serious. Although there has been no official comment from the government or the mainstream media here, I have obtained irrefutable proof of the seriousness of the economic situation.

Having personally reviewed hundreds of hours of raw footage from the most popular TV show in Argentina - Bailando por un Sueno, I have discovered the most shocking of facts, that when brought to light will have serious ramifications both financially and politically, here in Buenos Aires and far beyond. This is a Paddy in Buenos Aires exclusive newsflash.

Clothing in Argentina is now in critically short supply. The poverty stricken individuals below highlight the seriousness of the issue. The shocking plight of these poor souls is broadcast 24/7 on TV. I've been so moved by this travesty, I can barely get a wank of sleep. Rest assured, I will continue to monitor the situation VERY closely and keep you posted.

Warning: Some images below may be disturbing to some viewers.

Dangling on the poverty line

Poor girl can't afford material and paints her clothes on

Poor critter could only afford 1/3 of the skirt

I also uncovered further proof of individuals being stripped of their bare necessities below.

The following videos are rated PG (Perverts Galore!)









This is Paddy in Buenos Aires for Bloggers Anonymous and now back to Dick in the studio.
Tags: Bailando por un Sueno Argentina, Sexy Argentine chicas, women argentina,Bailando por un sueño (Argentina),

tv argentina

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FREE BEER! - Yes You Heard Right !

I like (actually I love) to go for a quiet pint every now n' then and just stare into the deafening silence and hear the hypnotysing clock on the wall "tick- tock - tick- tock!" There's something therapeutic about it.

When I want to go out for a pint somewhere with some atmosphere, it gets a bit more complicated. For one thing people don't go out here until LATE, VERY LATE! - They eat late, they drink late, they party late. They go to work late! - A city of vampires if ever there was one!

Bars mid week are empty until 11pm so forget about the after work tipple. If your lucky the bar will get some traffic just before midnight.

Clubs don't open at weekends until 1 am and won't be busy until 3am and wrap up somewhere between 7-10am. Siestas are a way of life and one which I've adapted to....zzzzZZZZZZZZZ!

....Where was I? ah yes....

There is an exception however......


From the same person who brought you 24 Hour Alcohol Delivery comes the true story a local bar that is offering the following:

FREE BEER !!!

For Girls : Free beer and free national drinks everyday noon to midnite
For Guys : incredible HAPPY HOUR with free pizza - 3PM-8PM.

Chicas Argentinas
Photos Courtesy of 'El Alamo Bar': Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Night is Bikini Night!

Full Details Here

Shoeless Joes El Alamo Bar

Address: Uruguay 1175 (between Santa Fe & Arenales), Recoleta

Photos of signs courtesy of Buenos Aires Tours

• Free Beer for everybody with lunch.
• Free domestic booze for the ladies until 10pm.

Before I get slapped for being a sexist pig (again) - I am really only doing this as a public service announcement for you thirsty ladies. - SO ENJOY!

Thanks to fellow blogger Julia at Evans Gate for reminding me about this den of inequity.

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Argentinian TV - What's on your Box?

Photo: TV Show - Bailando por un Sueno

Television has changed a lot since I was an innocent wee lad back in Ireland. As a very young lad, I remember watching TV programs like The Waltons (good night John Boy!) and then in my late teens watching Beverly Hills 90210 (I had the hots for Kelly). We had some great home grown soaps like The Riordans and Bracken where none other than actor Gabriel Byrne started out. Then there were those nice 'wholesome' shows like One Man and his Dog where you watched a farmer control his dog solely by whistling and the dog guided sheep thru an obstacle course and into a pen (riveting stuff I kid you not!)

Then came the advent of Reality TV with Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor and that god awful horrible series called The Swan where contestants were competing to have extensive plastic surgery. I hated all of these shows and would rather watch paint (or indeed cow dung) dry.

Around the same time we had the explosion of quiz shows like Who wants to be a Millionaire and You are The Weakest Link - Goodbye!

Now we are in the era of talent shows. American Idol, X-Factor, Pop Idol etc and they have gone one step further and added celebrities to these 'talent' contests.

The current unbelievably popular craze on Argentinian TV is Bailando por un Sueno (Dancing for a Dream). It's been around for a few years. They pair up numerous professional dancers with a celebrity (non dancer) and whittle them down over several (agonising) months. Although I refuse to watch an entire show (well over 2 hours), I do like to watch the highlights (go figure!).

Surprisingly I couldn't find anything on YouTube (maybe copyright issues), so I had to do some technical wizardry to port these videos up (I hope you appreciate the lengths I go to just to educate you to the Argentinian way of life!)

Since all these type of shows are syndicated world wide, I presume they have something like this in your neck of the woods - yes????????? - Let me in know comments pls - Muchas Gracias!

If YouTube doesn't work you can see it here



If YouTube doesn't work you can see it here



If YouTube doesn't work you can see it here



If YouTube doesn't work you can see it here

I'm not sure RTE (Irish TV) would go for this!

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Punta Del Este - TITS 'n' ALL !

Photo: Fashionable TITS!

ok - almost finished rubbin' yer nose in my latest travels, but we did a quick side trip to Cabo Polonio which has no road as such and can only be reached by 4 x 4 vehicles where you are loaded into the back of a large 4 x 4 truck like cattle and transported across a sand obstacle course (not for the faint hearted!). It's basic, remote and it was raining yet again so we bailed and headed for the blitz and glitz of Punta Del Este for a few days.

This small beach city is famous for being the playground of the rich and famous a la Cannes in France. It was noticeably expensive with designer shops, fancy restaurants and people trying way too hard to look important. I seriously wanted to slap them hard and remind them they were just as unimportant as me, but I resisted the temptation as most of them were working out at the gym and would likely have kicked my wee Irish arse and that included the women.

Much as I loathe pretentious people, I don't care too much for the baking hot sun either, as I tend to go pink, then red, then peel and then if I'm lucky, I finally get some colour, so I hid under a parasol on the beach most of the time with my beer cooler until the sun eased off a bit. Finally we headed to Montevideo for one night. It has a Spanish feel to the city with an 'old city' section full of bars and restaurants in narow streets. After a good night out and a day at the yaught club (sounds posh but it isn't really) we got the 3 hour Buquebus ferry back to Buenos Aires.

I found a rather interesting shop while taking a wee stroll in Montevideo - (photo above) - Ten out of ten for whoever came up with the marketing idea for the name of this chain of stores - I asked if I could get an empty branded plastic bag as a keepsake but they having none of tit!

Quite a catchy name don't ya think? - Know a better one? - let me know!

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The Love Shack is a little ol' place, where, we can be together

It's quite common here for your kids to live at home with you,until they get married or shack up with someone. So you could be sharing your home with your 31 year old daughter or forty-something year old son if they haven't got lucky. Jaezus, I think I'd go postal. I'm thinking both sides of the equation here. If I'm the kids now, having to share a house 24/7 with your parents, till your 30 to 40 would drive me over the edge. Wasn't it the Menendez twins that 'off'ed' there parents and who could blame them.

Parents Question: "What sort of time do you call 4am to be out on a Friday night?"
Gobshite Answer: ".....eh....errr...... normal?!!"

But now that I'm pushing forty meself, I have to empathise with the ol' 'blue rinse crew'. I mean, all they want is a good nights sleep and a bit o' peace n' quiet and maybe some bingo every now n' again. Not, I repeat, NOT, loud drum n' bass pumping at full pitch in the wee hours and toilet doors slamming at all hours. They say the most difficult years for parents AND kids are the teengage years, so I've already decided, my kids (if my lads are swimmers), are OUT on their ear at 11 years old. If a ten year old Somalian kid can join an army and fire a rocket launcher, surely an 11 year old Paddy/Argie prodigy can shovel shite down the stables and earn a living and contribute to his parents upkeep. Away with ya now to the stables for the night, ya ungrateful wee nipper and don't forget to bring me the newspaper and a six-pack on your way back from confession tomorrow morning, may God have mercy on your soul.


Photo: Love Hotel - pay by the hour

Which brings me to the point of this post. - They have these hotels here called 'Love Hotels' for the couples without their own place, that want a bit of privacy and maybe some 'nookie' tonight. They charge by the hour and are mostly found in quiet streets in suburban neighbourhoods. Just look for the tell-tale trees outside the main exit, which is supposed to give some privacy to those exiting stage left in case mummy or daddy or real spouse is driving by at the wrong time.

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Mar Del Plata

Mar Del Plata is the biggest resort on Argentina’s Atlantic coast (approx 5 hours south of Buenos Aires). We went for five days in what would be considered off season. Apparently in the height of summer it’s completed over crowded and best avoided but at this time of year it was quite pleasant and somewhat better than I expected.

There are several large beaches and the further out of town you head, the less crowded they become. The ‘in’ thing to do seems to be to rent your own little canopy and set up base camp on the beach. These private enclosures have access to café’s, clean toilets and showers and even sports activities (paddle ball = mini tennis, volley ball etc)

While we were in town they just happened to have the annual Reina del Mar (Queen of the Sea) beauty competition where we somehow managed to blag our way into the VIP section for a close up view of some of the local chica talent and mighty fine talent it was too! (purely from an artistic perspective of course!)

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