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		<title>Barry Berg Group - BLOG</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2012 23:30:20 -0700</pubDate>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-05/your-highnessim-home-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-05/your-highnessim-home-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
								<title>Your Highness--I'm Home!</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Is your home your castle?
Sir Edward Coke in The Institutes of the Laws of England, stated in 1628:

"For a man&#039;s house is his castle, et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium [and each man&#039;s home is his safest refuge]."

This proverb has been enshrined into law, defined and redefined over centuries. What we are left with begs the question,
 What defines home for you?
Click on the link to view five American castles--other than ours listed, that is!  http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/5-old-world-style-american-palaces.html]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-04/spring-has-sprung-and-the-market-is-blooming-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-04/spring-has-sprung-and-the-market-is-blooming-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
								<title>Spring Has Sprung and the Market is Blooming</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Signs of an early spring are not just in the warmer temps and budding trees. The market has been reflecting buyers&#039; activity as a result.
Note the attached article as printed in the StarTrib regarding this subject,
http://m.startribune.com/business/?id=147089715&amp;c=y
--from the Desk of Becky Peterson]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-04/heyi-know-those-guys-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-04/heyi-know-those-guys-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
								<title>Hey--I know those guys!</title>
				<description><![CDATA[If you haven&#039;t yet, drive by our bigger than life billboard located at the corner of Excelsior Boulevard &amp; West 32nd Street!
As part of the Coldwell Banker Burnet marketing campaign, Chad and Barry have been recognized for their outstanding sales performance during 2011, and as leaders in the real estate industry.
Apparently, it&#039;s quite a hit!]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/barrys-travel-journal:-dining-out-in-buenos-aires-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/barrys-travel-journal:-dining-out-in-buenos-aires-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
								<title>Barry's Travel Journal: Dining Out in Buenos Aires</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Please enjoy the following excerpt, the third and final in a series from Barry&#039;s travel journal having spent the month of January in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A word about restaurants (and dining)&hellip;let me begin by sharing my biases as follows:
Argentina is famed for its meat and its grills (the word &ldquo;parrilla&rdquo; on a restaurant or menu signals that the restaurant or offerings are grilled meats). I&rsquo;m not one to patronize steak houses in the States, but for my money I&rsquo;ll take the American equivalent over the Argentine any day of the week.  Nonetheless, you probably owe it to yourself to sample one (I had my first goat, a fairly sweet meat&hellip;but I detest fatty meat and have no tolerance for gristle). I dined commonly with local friends, as well as friends from the States, and was treated to all manner of body parts, including testicles (sheep), brains (I don&rsquo;t care what animal&rsquo;s brains I sampled, they were downright gross), intestines and offal.  Just not my idea of a great meal!

 I may have been a tourist, but I drive a wide berth around standard tourist venues or franchises (especially of the American variety).  For that reason, newer &ldquo;theme&rdquo; restaurants in Puerto Madero (the city&rsquo;s newest area of high end condo towers, which struck me as a sterile neighborhood) were off my radar (despite the reputation of Las Lilas as the finest steak house in the city&hellip;and the most expensive).  Similarly, although you may be encouraged to &ldquo;have a drink&rdquo; at the Alvear Palace Hotel (old and stuffy in my book) or the Park Hyatt (handsome structure, but overpriced food and drink and the one place you can be guaranteed to be surrounded by smug Americans), &ldquo;go Argentinian&rdquo; and sample any of an almost endless array of more satisfying options.  So&hellip;I skipped any and all hotel restaurants.
Breakfast. Locals don&rsquo;t eat breakfast until around 11 (I assume they eat earlier if they work, which seems to start any time between 9/9:30 a.m. to 10&hellip;.can&rsquo;t start too early if you don&rsquo;t do dinner until at least 10 p.m. and then sample night life, which doesn&rsquo;t rev up until at least 2 a.m.).  Breakfast to them seems to be a European mix of toast/bread, marmalade (or a variation on that theme), cheese, ham (the omnipresent alternative to turkey in the US&hellip;I saw no evidence of those birds in Argentina), dulce de leche (rich caramel) and thick coffee.  If you want eggs, you&rsquo;ll either have to make them yourself (as I often did) or find one of a handful of cafes which prepare a version of ham (&ldquo;jambon&rdquo;) and cheese with eggs. The best breakfast I had was outdoors at La Biela overlooking the park and entrance to Recoleta Cemetery.  A standard &ldquo;American&rdquo; breakfast of an omelette, coffee and juice also includes a slice of apple, strawberry or lemon pie.
Lunch. Lunch is principally taken between the hours of 12:30 and 3&hellip;with a heavy emphasis on the last half of that period.  Many kitchens close at 3, so keep that in mind if you&rsquo;re looking for a local spot. Catch as catch can.  My sense was that most of the great restaurants only served dinner.  Many humdrum restaurants are open endless hours, happy to snag whomever they can.  Not one to seek a heavy meal at lunch, I was happiest with To (identified above), the lunchroom/terrace at Museo Evita, and random spots I quite literally bumped into while walking various neighborhoods.
Dinner. If you go to dinner before 10 p.m., you may be dining solo (or with other tourists only).  I did not find reservations generally necessary, but you may wish them, depending upon time of year and night of the week.
Bread. Despite the Pampas (Argentina&rsquo;s bread basket), lower all expectations on bread (think stale crackers) and &ndash; with few exceptions &ndash; you won&rsquo;t be disappointed.  In Recoleta, you&rsquo;ll pass by innumerable and probably expensive pastry shops, but the delectable items you see in the windows don&rsquo;t reflect the ability to bake a good loaf of bread.
Restaurant Dress Code.  I brought along a sport coat, several pairs of dress slacks, and several long sleeve dress shirts.  I ate at the best of restaurants, never wore the sport coat (and observed no more than one or two on more elderly male diners), occasionally wore a dress shirt (but a polo would have sufficed), and largely wore jeans to dinner (again, even in the best of spots).  At lunch, I wore the standard shorts and t-shirts I was otherwise wearing throughout the day, and never felt inadequately attired.
Restaurant Air Conditioning.  This is fortunately not Florida or Scottsdale, where the A/C is cranked so low that you could wear your winter fur and be comfortable.  I&rsquo;m cold sensitive and never once felt cold in a restaurant, so even a sweater was unnecessary.
Restaurant lighting. As much as I wanted to dine with the locals, I could not bring myself to dine more than twice in the kind of restaurants frequented by many Portenos, where at 10 p.m. the lights in the house are trying to replicate the blazing noon sun.  My judgment is that the higher the lights were turned up, the worse the food&hellip;so unless you want to discover that not all food in Argentina is ready for prime time, dine elsewhere, where they&rsquo;ve either discovered rheostats or put dimmer bulbs in the fixtures.
Wine. In the States, we never see most of the fabulous wines produced in Argentina, because they&rsquo;re heavily consumed locally.  On any given night, if I paid between 65 and 150 pesos (around USD 15-32&hellip;an absolute steal!!!) for a bottle of Argentinian malbec, I drank some of the finest wines I&rsquo;ve had in ages.  The only chardonnay I sampled was a bit oaky (but not as revolting as Californians) and the sauvignon blancs were universally wonderful, as were the torrontes.  But I favor reds, and the malbecs were a reason to celebrate the evening meal!
Favorite restaurant locales. In my judgment, there was only one good restaurant in Retiro, Recoleta was a lost cause for superior dining (although one could pay a good &ldquo;Upper East Side&rdquo; price for a second rate meal), and the finest restaurants were in Palermo and Barrio Norte. Reasonably priced and pleasant restaurants could also be found in La Canitas, but you can just walk into this area and select one, if you wish to dine there (near the Polo Grounds).
My personal favorite restaurants include,

Casa Cruz&hellip;stunning interiors, impeccable service, the most upscale crowd I saw anywhere, and exceptional food
Tegui&hellip;hidden behind an artistically graffitied wall, the interior was as cool as the hip exterior, the food terrific, the staff very accommodating
Olsen&hellip;I held off visiting this &ldquo;Scandinavian&rdquo; billed restaurant until well into my third week, briefly questioned whether the cabbie had dropped me off at the right address, then found the opening in a tall wood-slatted wall, which led into a lush dining courtyard with water features, leading back to a 2+story vaulted interior dining room populated by a gorgeous wait staff, a drink menu heavy on vodka, and food which was utterly divine
Ceviche&hellip;its small sidewalk set of tables belied the expansive interior, including multiple outdoor terraces&hellip;we had fabulous sashimi, another off-the-charts wine, and spotty service (blamed for being short staffed that evening)
Resto&hellip;open for dinner only on Thursdays and Fridays in Recoleta, you&rsquo;re given a choice of five 3-course prefix dinners&hellip;one of only 15 diners that evening, we were collectively served by a sophisticated staff of 6&hellip;the owner is an alumna of Spain&rsquo;s El Bulli&hellip;the food was an orgiastic explosion in my mouth, complimented by wines paired with each dish&hellip;a complete surprise, in a charming older space
Bengal&hellip;easily the finest restaurant I could find in Retiro, but a genuinely lovely dining experience&hellip;while the restaurant does offer Indian cuisine, it does an equally fine job on its continental cooking
Astrid &amp; Gaston&hellip;as charming an older residence, converted into a restaurant, as could be imagined&hellip;we ordered the 7-course tasting menu, but would have done just as well to order differently and share one another&rsquo;s dishes
Club Frances&hellip;a relatively new French restaurant in Recoleta, this was probably the only restaurant at which I dined which defied the formula that bright lighting meant lousy food&hellip;an enchanting and wonderful meal
To&hellip;easily the best lunch we had&hellip;the staff understood we liked sashimi and simply brought us what they had, along with an amazing improvised salad composed of a host of fresh ingredients and shrimp&hellip;at night, it is highly reputed for its Peruvian/Japanese fusion cuisine

 If you are planning a trip to Buenos Aires, please link to the following website regarding culinary customs of Argentines:
  http://wander-argentina.com/faq-dining-out/]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/barrys-travel-journal:-buenos-aires-art-scene-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/barrys-travel-journal:-buenos-aires-art-scene-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
								<title>Barry's Travel Journal: Buenos Aires Art Scene</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Please enjoy the following excerpt, the second in a series from Barry&#039;s travel journal having spent the month of January in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Arts
Given my love for the arts in general, here&rsquo;s my read on Buenos Aires: 

Architecture. While many buildings could use a sandblasting or power wash (and some assistance on graffiti removal, which I was told was helpless, given political dissonance between the mayor of BA and the President of Argentina, representing conflicting political parties), there are endless examples of outstanding European influenced architecture. This includes suburban communities, which struck me as more akin to Tube stops in West London, with charming village centers and frankly striking and affluent feeling communities.
Teatro Colon. While opera season is unfortunately shuttered during January and February, I took a tour of the interior of this magnificent building, one of the finest homes for opera in the world.  There are seasonal performances other than opera in the structure, and I sense that this is a high art form locally.
Other theater. There is strong evidence of many other live theaters (especially clustered along Avenue Corrientes) throughout BA, but unless you speak fluent Spanish, you&rsquo;re unlikely to have an interest in live theater.
Dance. You cannot visit Argentina without sensing the strong hand of tango (and to a lesser degree salsa and rhumba).  While there are polished tourist shows offering dinner and a show (a la Chanhassen Dinner Theatre), my recommendation instead is to head to La Boca or San Telmo (see below) and catch impromptu performances, especially on a Sunday in San Telmo.
Visual Arts|Museums. Despite being a city of some 14 million people, BA is not Paris, Madrid or London&hellip;by a long shot.  I consider the best BA art museums to be &ldquo;Colleccion de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat&rdquo; (a new structure in Puerto Madero, no mention of which I could find in any guide book, housing the significant personal collection of Argentina&rsquo;s wealthiest woman, representing some extraordinary Argentine artists) and MALBA, the city&rsquo;s equivalent of Minneapolis&rsquo; Walker or MOMA in New York (but on a much abbreviated scale).  There are a couple of other noteworthy art museums, but the real art in them is the buildings themselves (e.g., Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo, surrounded by many foreign embassies) and the Museo de arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernandez Blanco at Suipacha 1422 in Retiro.
Other Museums. Despite the fawning attitude of the museum to its namesake, the Evita Museum in Palermo (which has an excellent lunch room) is well worth the tour, if only for the videography of both Juan and Eva Peron, as well as the spectacular (and jarringly extravagant) costumes worn by this demagogue.
**Next excerpt: Dining Out in Buenos Aires ]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/barrys-travel-journal:-buenos-aires-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/barrys-travel-journal:-buenos-aires-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
								<title>Barry's Travel Journal: Buenos Aires</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Please enjoy the following excerpt, the first in a series from Barry&#039;s travel journal having spent the month of January in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"By way of preface, it&rsquo;s useful to share my personal biases/objectives/perspectives, which underpin my responses to the places I visit.  I&rsquo;m an inveterate walker, who generally loathes public transportation, loves art and architecture, music, history and politics.  I travel to expand my world view, to experience and discover the heart and culture of different societies.  While I consult guidebooks in advance and visit popular tourist attractions, I especially seek the intimate local byways and haunts. 

  I love hearing foreign accents and detest the franchising of the world. Where possible, I&rsquo;m inclined to engage locals in dialog&hellip;as a source of enrichment and reference, as well as a trigger into a more personal and memorable experience."
Neighborhoods. Most tourists will limit their visits to these neighborhoods, which are contiguous and contain the majority of the sights one is likely to visit in a few days in the city.  All are entirely safe at all hours, with the exception of La Boca and San Telmo. 
Retiro. In New York terms, think of this as a cross between the Upper West Side and Chelsea.  The Plaza San Martin is the hub of this area and contains many handsome buildings.  Avenue Santa Fe terminates or begins here (depending upon perspective), as does Calle Florida, the pedestrian mall which you&rsquo;ll inevitably encounter.  This is the neighborhood which reputedly gave the city its nomenclature of &ldquo;Paris of South America&rdquo;, although I found as many or more superb architectural properties elsewhere (Recoleta in particular).  The monstrous &ldquo;9th of July&rdquo; is the northern boundary of the neighborhood&hellip;you&rsquo;ll cross 9th of July repeatedly, but there is little noteworthy for a pedestrian here, aside from the various monuments visible from the boulevard.  Retiro has some of the better art galleries and lots of ATMs. It is central to the city, but I found the neighborhood unmemorable by comparison to other areas.
Recoleta. This neighborhood rightly enjoys its reputation as a wealthy enclave of handsome apartment buildings, small vest pocket parks, patisseries, high end boutiques, and several of the city&rsquo;s most expensive hotels (including the Alvear Palace, Park Hyatt, and Four Seasons).  It also houses Recoleta Cemetery and the French Embassy, among notable sights.  Although it extends west of Santa Fe, there is a visible and abrupt difference in the ambience and evident money immediately east of Santa Fe.  At all hours, this is a wonderful area to walk, but think of it as New York&rsquo;s Upper East Side, replete with old money and some of the worst and most brightly lit restaurants in the city (there are exceptions).
Palermo. By far my favorite set of neighborhoods (there are subsets of Palermo, including Palermo Hollywood, Soho, Chico and Nuevo, as well as Las Canitas), think of these as New York&rsquo;s East and West Village, as well as Soho and Tribeca.  The area has a youthful vibe, changes by the block (some of which look quite dubious, but you may be amazingly surprised), has in my judgment by far the best restaurants and variety of them, and has terrific boutiques, as well as several of the better museums (among them MALBA and Evita).  If I didn&rsquo;t spend part of each day in Palermo, I felt deprived of the BA I most enjoyed.  Prior to arrival, I&rsquo;d planned to stay in Recoleta, but the apartment I&rsquo;d planned to lease there evaporated.  I&rsquo;m sure I would have liked that apartment and neighborhood (far better than the clean dive I leased for a comparable sum in Retiro, in a building whose shabby Plywood Minnesota lined lobby reminded me of campaigning for office in Stevens Square in the late 1970&rsquo;s), but I would much have preferred options I declined in Palermo&hellip;it&rsquo;s hard to judge distances from afar, and I was given to believe Palermo would read as &ldquo;suburban&rdquo; and distant&hellip;it&rsquo;s neither, and I absolutely loved the area.
Barrio Norte. To me, this small but lovely area is an extension and blend of Recoleta and Palermo. Good restaurants and beautiful streets, with pleasant architectural surprises at every turn. 
Monserrat. This is the core of the city (I think of it as El Centro), its spine being Avenue de Mayo, along which are the city&rsquo;s most significant government buildings and the Plaza de Mayo.  This is a day time &ldquo;must see&rdquo;, but avoid it at night.
Puerto Madero. Just like Minneapolis rediscovered its waterfront 11-12 years ago, BA rediscovered the area east of its docks along the Rio Plata in the past decade and has enjoyed a building and restoration boom here on a scale far more significant than Minneapolis.  Its condo buildings are reputedly the most expensive real estate in the city and there are lots of restaurants along its docks.  I found the area sterile and charmless, but recommend visiting the neighborhood to see Calatrava&rsquo;s sensual &ldquo;Woman Bridge&rdquo;, two of the best art museums (the Fortabat and Faena), and the Faena Hotel.  The latter is non descript from the exterior (it is a renovation), but with rooms that start at $1000 USD nightly, you&rsquo;ll understand its cache when you enter to sumptuous rooms like the all white dining room anchored by 6 crystal chandeliers (which I watched being daily polished) and walls  lined with unicorns.
San Telmo. This neighborhood of narrow streets and old structures is a &ldquo;must see&rdquo; in particular on Sundays, when its heart becomes home to a flea market, clearly catering to tourists.  Stalls apparently change frequently, but you&rsquo;ll see spontaneous tango dancing (especially later in the afternoon), some great street music, adequate if not inspiring cafes, and a vibe that is simply delightful.  Considered questionable at night, I wasn&rsquo;t too concerned, especially if in the company of others.
La Boca. Visit only in the daytime! But do visit and enjoy the wildly colored buildings along Caminito and Boca Junior soccer stadium.  Again, do not visit this neighborhood at night!"
 
Please link to the following website to tour the neighborhoods Barry has mentioned above,
http://www.buenosaireshabitat.com/argentina-real-estate/index.html
**Next excerpt: Buenos Aires Art Scene ]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/don	-be-late-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-03/don	-be-late-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
								<title>Don't Be Late!</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Reminder--Daylight Saving Time
&#039;Spring Forward, Fall Back!&#039;
Saturday Evening March 10th
Don&#039;t forget to set your clocks ahead by one hour!]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-02/matching-homes-with-lifestyles-for-over-30-years-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-02/matching-homes-with-lifestyles-for-over-30-years-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
								<title>Matching Homes with Lifestyles for Over 30 Years!</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Home Is Where your Heart Is...Home Is Where You Hang Your Hat...Home Sweet Home...poetry and rhymes throughout the ages have timelessly voiced the emotional connection we have with our homes. The Barry Berg Group has been matching homes with lifestyles for over thirty years. Can we make a match for you?
Collectively as a group, we bring our professional experience as we guide you through the real estate process whether you are buying, selling or both. Our clients widely range in their circumstances and needs--college students, young families just starting out, expanding and downsizing families,  single professionals, retirees, as well as multi-city business professionals seeking a Twin Cities&#039; pied a terre. 
Our clients equally benefit from our services. Budgets vary according to need and circumstance, just as do preferences in architectural design and amenities. Large or small, urban abode or quiet lakeside retreat--whichever identifies with your definition of home, allow us to share with you the opportunities that are available. Contact us today to determine how we may assist you in your real estate endeavors, and match your next home to your lifestyle.]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-01/amazing-staircases-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-01/amazing-staircases-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
								<title>Amazing Staircases</title>
				<description><![CDATA[As it is often stated, "What goes up must come down." 
Staircases--while necessary functional elements--present the opportunity for artistic expression by their design.
Note this interesting article and photo presentation by Yahoo Real Estate entitled, Homes with Amazing Staircases.
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/homes-with-amazing-staircases.html]]></description>
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										<link>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-01/a-glimpse-into-the-future-1/</link>
						<guid>http://barryberggroup.com/blog/article/2012-01/a-glimpse-into-the-future-1/</guid>
						<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
								<title>A Glimpse Into the Future</title>
				<description><![CDATA[Remember when flat screen televisions and pocket-size handheld computers were the fantastic products of technology only found in science fiction? 
Well it&#039;s time to consider how that same technology will be reflected in homes of the future. Consider these amenities: An elevator that rocket transports you and your Porsche in 45 seconds to your highrise tower residence...an indoor heliport that would make a superhero swoon....
These amenities and more are a few glimpses into the future of highend real estate that are here today.
View this article and beautiful slideshow as presented by Forbes Magazine entitled, Futuristic Homes for Sale. 
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/futuristic-homes-for-sale.html
 ]]></description>
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