Topic: Lonely Planet
Sandra Bao and Lanin Street in Buenos Aires.
Sandra Bao For the last year and a half I've been working on the development of a
tourism alternative for those visiting Argentina. I myself am a person who
very much enjoys traveling and discovering new and interesting cultures and
sites. At the same time I'm an art and antique dealer as well as an art lover, everywhere I go I try
to discover little treasures and interesting cultural spots off the tourist
path. But sometimes it's very hard for a foreigner to work his way through
an unknown culture and language. I always traveled thinking that when in
Rome you do what Romans do. and nothing better than a Roman to show you how,
and so far the results have been amazing. At the same time I realized that
there were no such options for a traveler visiting Buenos Aires. Therefore I
began to develop two complementary projects. On the one hand I designed a
custom made tour option for all those travelers who when visiting our
fabulous country wanted a "Roman" to show them around and what we did, but
not in a standarized way, but according to each individuals' interests likes
and dislikes. That's how Art Dealer's Tailor tours was born, and it's daily
growing.
On the other hand, I'm very aware of the fact that many visitors may not be
interested in being toured through, or they cannot afford it either. That's
why I began to write and publish articles of hot spots, interesting
features, unknown facts and many other subjects in forums, websites and
magazines for travelers. I think of this as my uninterested input for all
travelers, for I'd love to be able to access such information from an
insider when traveling elsewhere.
Through means of these articles I've met lots of fantastic people.
Just recently I had the chance of meeting Sandra Bao, Lonely Planet's writer
in charge of the Buenos Aires Guide.
Sandra is a sweet and interesting young woman and I loved talking to her
about Buenos Aires. We met several times while she was in BA updating the
guide's input for world wide travelers. I took her to some of the best flea
markets in the city, showed some great antique dealing shops and art
exhibitions for these are my working areas and I wanted to share my insider'
s knowledge with her, and hence, with all Lonely Planet's readers.
The day before she left Buenos Aires we met for an early lunch at a fabulous
Palermo Hollywood deli with Florencia Rodriguez,ArtDealer's editor, Buenos Aires
Art Dealer, who had also met with Sandra a few times before to talk about the
city's history and culture, fashion and young life in BA. We had a fantastic
lunch. Afterwards we all went to the bohemian Lanin St. in the Barracas
neighborhood. For over 200 meters the traditional landscape mutates into an
outdoor showroom designed and decorated by Marino Santa Maria, a local
artist who some years ago, tired and bored by his house's look decided to
upgrade it, and painted a colorful design all over it. His neighbors were
astonished by the lively colors and beautiful design and requested he did
the same on their houses. Nowadays there are over 50 houses decorated with
lively designs and beautiful colors. All of which were recently declared
national patrimony by the Buenos Aires City Government. This artistic move
started by Marino Santa Maria was a sort of continuum -after a very long
time- of what Benito Quinquela Martin had started early in the 20th century
in La Boca.
We had a fantastic time with Sandra showing her around the city and it's
treasures.
It was such a beautiful and sunny day that afternoon, that we spent the rest
of it having a nice conversation while enjoying the best ice cream in Buenos
Aires at Persicco.
When the sun began to go down, I took Sandra to her apartment for she had
tons of things to do before she returned home. We said our good-byes and
wished each other the best of the luck. Hopefully we'll meet soon and carry
on this wonderful friendship!
Bob Frassinetti.
