Argentine poet Juan Gelman, born and raised in the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, was honored yesterday by the Cervantes Institute in Austria.  Gelman was an activist and writer before being exiled from Argentina after the coup in 1976.  He fled to Europe, where he translated and penned many pieces against the government in relative safety.  Last year, he was awarded the Cervantes prize and this year the enormous reference library was named for him.  It contains over 30,000 volumes of spanish literature.  The 80 year old writer described the distinction as “the ultimate honor I have known.”

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An historical church in Buenos Aires, the Church of San Miguel, reopened on Sunday after being closed for eight years.According to La Nacion, the church on the corner of Bartolomé Mitre and Suipacha has been closed since 2000 when it was declared potentially unsafe in the case of an earthquake.The church was originally called Nuestra Señora de los Remedios when it was built in 1727, but it was across the street from the Hospital San Miguel and the name of the hospital eventually became the name of the church.An important part of the history of the city of Buenos Aires, the ceremony of reopening was filled with happy church goers and various priests of the Catholic Church.In a few weeks time, the church will once again start holding baptisms and its place in the community will then be fully reestablished.

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We already knew that Madonna was going to give three performances in Buenos Aires, but due to the incredible ticket sales for those initial dates, she has agreed to perform for a fourth time on December 5th.According to Rolling Stone, the tickets for the first three shows were sold at a record velocity, sparking renewed negotiations with the queen of pop to perform again.Madonna is known here not only for her incredible success as a pop singer, but also because she performed the role of Argentina’s beloved Eva Peron in the musical Evita.Depending on how quickly this next date sells out, Rolling Stone speculates that there could be a fifth day added to her current performance schedule of December 4, 5, 6, and 7 in River Plate Stadium.

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Yesterday, the famous Tren de las Nubes, which has been closed for three years, reopened in the province of Salta. Peaking at 4,200 meters, the Tren de las Nubes has one of the highest tracks in the world and runs from Salta to Chile, rising high into the Andes as it travels.Its total route covers 434 kilometers, going over 29 bridges and 13 viaducts, through 21 tunnels and 2 zigzags, and around 2 impressive curves.According to the Clarín, the train will begin running with five train cars:two for passengers, one for dining, and one as an infirmary.This will continue for the first month as any final kinks are worked out, then the train will begin to run at full capacity.Visitors to Salta should rejoice that this historic train and its beautiful views are once again available to be enjoyed.

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Argentina experienced an unusual heat wave the past several weeks, including a record high in the city of Rosario.However, the rest of this week and this weekend, Buenos Aires will experience a cold snap.According to La Nación, temperatures will stay below 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the weekend.Those used to cold English or Midwestern winters may be thinking, what?That isn’t cold at all!For Buenos Aires, though, these temperatures represent a return to more normal winter conditions as well as a brake from the heat for tourists visiting from the Northern hemisphere.  And if anyone wants to experience the real cold, they can head south to the ski resorts that are starting to be covered in snow.

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Argentine tennis player Juan Martín Del Potro defeated Jürgen Melzer to move to the number 25 position in the ATP rankings.According the BBC, the Mercedes Cup, held in Stuttgart, Germany and on clay courts, is Potro’s first career title.The win makes Potro one of three Argentines in the top twenty; the other two are 7th ranked David Nalbandian and 19th ranked Juan Monaco.Only 19 years old, Potro said that he was thrilled to win a tournament, which had been a childhood dream.Along with the title, he won a new luxury convertible.If he wants to keep it looking nice, he better keep it off the streets of Buenos Aires!

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