Argentina's economy rebounds by 10.3% last year - highest growth rate since 1964

[peppertree]

2. Thank you for the good thoughts, Judi. Here's hoping you can visit Buenos Aires someday.

It's interesting - in a melancholy, stuck-in-the '50s-and-'60s way.

Not entirely, of course. But the collapse after 1980 really shows in the relative lack of gleaming, post-modern skyscrapers like the kind one sees in Manhattan and the great Asian cities - plus Frankfurt and London, which have a good number of those too (somewhat to their detriment in London's case, as London is so regal and could do without all those monstrosities that have popped up downtown).

But Buenos Aires isn't a rich city, and where there's new construction it's usually on a small/medium scale: eight/twelve-story apartment buildings built between older ones - that sort of thing. It just pains me when I see old French-style townhouses demolished.

Sometimes, though, you hear of vintage architecture being restored and repurposed - and in locations where it could've just as easily been demolished. Always nice to hear.

The latest such example is the former Presidential Carriage House (built in 1900), which was sold off a few years ago and recently converted into a gourmet market hall.

Enjoy!