Next?

Back home to the Snow
Cold and windy
Practica that finishes at 2300
Few, very few milongas to choose from!

There are a few silver linings to the cloud
Malmö Tango Festival
Copenhagen Tango Festival
Sitges Festival in July
Tango Camp
Weekend in Berlin

but can any of them live up to BsAS? ...only time will tell...

Other Buenos Aires Photos

Last Full Day

Time for reflection! Have I really been here dancing every night for a month? Time really does fly.
Stocked up on CD´s today and found the Tanghetto remix versions of Depeche Mode (Enjoy the Silence) and New Order (Blue Monday).
Will go to la Glorieta one last time to dance outside, the next time will be at Blue Sky Tango in Malmoe in a May if we are lucky.
Will eat at my favourite Parilla the one with the best fresh sallad buffe including lentils and beans and of course great Provaleta.
Then it is off to my last milonga not sure where could be Sunderland or another place mentioned yesterday but I hope to be in La Viruta from 0500 - 0700 for the last dances and the last last last La Cumparsita in Buenos Aires.

Who´s the Hottest?

Sorry to disappoint the guys reading this but I mean the ones on the pictures not Argentinian girls! Top prize for first correct answer to the following question

Who was the hottest in buenos Aires today?
a. The purple thing- Barnie?
b. the white thing?
c. simon el pata de perro?

Answers on a postcard to Luba Tango Guest House Buenos Aires by Monday 15th January 2007.

Taxi

The best taxi service in Buenos Aires.

Pata de Perro

I have become the original Pata de Perro walking the streets aimlessly like a stray dog shopping for tango shoes for the cheeky ones, converse for friends and baby converse for soon to be baby, visiting cafes, internet cafes and finding tango matinees and such like. The heat is increasing here but you won´t find me complaining soon I will be back in sub-zero windy, rainy, dark, miserable Sweden - the place I have chosen as home, don´t ask me why! But at least the cats and maybe someone else will be glad to see me and warm me a little.

Soho Tango

Quite a humble little event every Thursday but one that is very endearing - Soho Tango is the new kid on the block in the Buenos Aires tango world, but one to recommend. Easy-going, unpretentious, relaxed, friendly and a small but great dance floor. Maria and Eugenia hold classes from 2100 after which the milonga starts. In the photo you see Emilio in True Italian style gripping the girl and refusing to let her go!

New Shoes 3

Yes I know, more black and white shoes but the other pair were zapatillos (sneakers). Expensive but worth it! I remember Harald told me when he was leaving that he had ordered one pair from Artesanal and that he wished he had ordered more from there. Now I know what he means. They feel great to dance in and are so comfortable, absolutely worth the extra dosh.
www.shoes-susanartesanal.com

Sleepless Perrito!

It is "impossible to sleep around here, no sooner have I managed to get my head down when...one of my brothers decides to chew my leg... and my friends jump on my head" quote from a poor labrador puppy Belgrano 10 Jan 2006

Sad Day!

It was a sad day today as it was the last lesson with Carolina Calas. The teacher assigned the unenviable task of transforming this elephant with two left feet into a bailarina slash milonguero. I am not sure if the mission was accomplished but at least this elephant is a bit more agile and elegant on the dancefloor and I am forever grateful for the patience, hardwork, expertise and perserverance that Caro showed me.
I will miss laughing at her vocabulary slip-ups i.e, calling toes - fingers, and her inventive ways to describe tango moves i.e, picardia (mischief)
I will miss her saying hoppla as I mess up and the word Essoooooooooooooooooooo (the Es is said as I do a good move but the last syllable ooooooooo is stretched as she realised I cocked it up at the end).
I will miss the agua tonica.
I will miss the terrible sad lyrics of the tango that was in the middle of the CD that we always fast forwarded.
I will miss the words Muy Bien, Eso, Mejor, Mucho Mejor, the words that became a little more frequent towards the end.
Now I am on my own and have to work on all the things to make them work in the dance, practise makes perfect.
Muchas Gracias Caro yo estoy en deuda con tu siempre!
http://www.estudiocalas.com.ar/

Glamour and Gourmet - Not!

The not so glamourous, inconspicuous entrance to La Catedral kind of sums up the bohemic atmosphere. One of the many things on the plus side is the meat-free menu, although it is far from a gourmet restaurant.

la CATedral

I am going to miss this dancing cat, without a doubt he is the star of the show at La Catedral

Shoe Shopping!

Now I have shoes for all the ones that were cheeky enough to ask me to buy for them, Neotango is closed now as they have no stock left. I just hope I have room left in my baggage for my shoes and that I don´t get stopped at customs in Copenhagen they will think I am a transvestite with all the ladies shoes in my bag.

Canning

Canning is like an old friend. It is loyal and reliable and always there for you in times of need.
Other venues have special nights Catedral on Tuesday, La Viruta on Wednesday/Sunday (not not not Saturday), El Beso on Sunday, Villa Malcolm on Friday, Soho on Thursday Club Grisel on Monday? etc etc but Canning is consistent throughout the week so much so in fact that one tends to neglect it and go to the special days of the other venues. It is reassuring to know that Canning will always be there and that you know what you are going to get.

Club Grisel

Club Grisel was a bit of a disappointment. The milonguera class was a milonga class and the teachers were not very enthusiastic to say the least. Still it was good to see a new venue and we still got back to Canning for the last hours.

Deadbeat!

This poor doggy must have also been dancing at the milongas. This is how I feel as I am walking home in the early hours of dawn, dog tired!

New Shoes 2

Burgundy and black with heel - sorry short girls, now I am even taller!

Empanadas!

After the closure (temporary) of Krishna I have had to seek my daily munchings of empanadas elsewhere and decided to try the equivalent of McDonalds in the empananda world EL NOBLE REPULGUE. The verdict, not bad! At least i won´t starve here!

Cancelled Class

I went to Made in Tango Studio today at 1300 today expecting a group class only to find that it doesn´t exist and that it was cancelled even though there is a printed advertisment in the el tangauta magazine. Oh well I thought now I have time to go shopping for eeeeeeveryboooooooody else´s shoes, but then she said I can give you a one hour lesson that will be like a private but for the group price of 10 pesos. Now that is what I call service! and the lesson was excellent!
Off to Belgrano now for 2 hours private lessons with Carolina then quick shower and taxi to Club Grisel for class at 1930 and milonga until 0400 - busy day in Buenos Aires!

Malmoe in Buenos Aires

Ponchik and Ruben are back home... but now Paul and Maria and Daniel have turned up. It is almost like being back in ´kallaren´with all the faces from home here.

La Viruta! On Sundays

Maybe I am getting used to it - the tacky community centre venue, the slippy floor, the rock n roll enthusiasts but I quite like la Viruta on Sundays and Wednesdays. The Tango is more intense and if you can stick it out for the first hour of mixed tango and rock n roll tandas then it is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall Tango for the last 4 hours. The problem is trying to leave, the dance floor starts to get less crowded and the music gets better. I keep saying OK just one more song, but with the angelic sound of Angel Vargas beaming out at 0400 it is impossible to think about going home. Long live La Viruta! (the photos are of Cecilia dancing swing with Right Said Fred)

Disaster has Struck!

One week to go in Buenos Aires and Krishna has to go and close for holidays. Where am I going to eat now? I can´t eat normal empanadas after feasting on Krishna´s. Things just won´t be the same. And I didn´t even get through the menu, I was saving the best until last - the Thali Indian mix dish that looked incredible.
It just proves the point that you should
"live for today because there may not be a tomorrow"
That will now be my new mantra!

Osvaldo and Coca

Last Wednesday at La Nacional, I was witness to an amazing dance from Osvaldo and Coca, World Champions in Tango de Salon -they danced to the fantastic sad, melancholy, beautiful Tango 'Poema' by the orchestra of Francisco Canaro.
Osvaldo and Coca are 69 years old. In 2004 they participated, along with 665 couples, in the Metropolitan Championship of Tango Salon of the City of Buenos Aires, and won first place. Osvaldo was a brilliant dancer from a very young age. After marrying, the couple did not dance for thirty years, until six years ago when they returned to the dancefloor and became a legend. Osvaldo is proud of his nickname, "Honey Feet", which refers to his smooth steps. He
says: "When I walk on to the dancefloor I close my eyes. When I open them, the floor is completely red, filled with fragile red hearts. I step among them delicately, so as not to break them."

La Glorieta

Early Saturday evenings can be spent dancing on the bandstand in Belgrano. The place does get crowded but is great fun to dance outiside, even in the rain as yesterday.

Play the Music and Let us Dance...

Last night´s Milonga was a huge disappointment.
Constant interruptions for shows from different dancers, folklore music interruptions, rock n roll (a la la viruta) and to top it all a raffle that took forever because the people who had the winning tickets had already gone home - no wonder!
Arriving late after La Glorieta and a feat on Provleta we expected 3 hours of pure dance before the place closed at 0500. The truth was in 2 1/2 hours I managed just 3 tandas and I was dancing as much as possible. My new tango shoes will get dusty at this rate - roll on tonight, I think I will place safe and go to Canning or El Beso!
(I won´t mention it´s name for fear of upseting some people but Kirsty knows which one it was as she went last week and said it was C***)

Pets in Windows

It takes ages to get anywhere in this city especially if you are an animal lover, like me, and have to stop and say hi to all the animlas of Argentina. There are many small friendly, sleeping faces poking through the grills on the windows.

Matilda and Tommy

Tommy was not so happy to see us he gnarled and showed his teeth, but was a big softy really. Matilda is the black and white placid one.

Submarino!

Hot milk with a chocolate bar that you submerge into the milk. It is gorgeous. I do get strange looks, though, when I produce my soya milk and ask them to use that instead and it takes ages to explain - but it is worth it!

John

Many familiar faces here from different places including Sitges (Barcelona) Festival. One of them an American guy seems to have got it into his head that I am called John. He slapped me on the back the other day and said "How´s it going, John" . I didn´t have the heart to tell him that he had got my name wrong so I just let it go. He has called me John a number of times since then. I just know it is going to backfire and I will regret not telling him straight away. I can imagine him meeting someone in the tango world from Sweden and him saying do you know "John the tall English guy from Malmoe", and the other person saying, "Do you mean Simon!" and the American saying " he told me he was called John".

McDonalds

Buying an ice-cream is not the easiest thing to do here. For some unknown reason I decided to break my boycott and enter Mcdonalds. I asked for an ice-cream in my best (read dreadful) Spanish and was immediately confronted by 3 smiling youths. Youth 1 said "vanilla or chocolate", youth 2 trying to be helpful said "white or brown" and youth 3 ingeniously said "maybe a combination". I settled on a combination. The three stooges scurried away only to return after 5 minutes to tell me that they did not have a combination. I asked which one they didn´t have as I would then have the other and they replied "we don´t have combination, do you want white or brown", I asked them how I can still have white or brown if I coudn´t have a combination of the two. They looked baffled - so I asked them to give me any ice-cream. In the end I think it was dulce de leche which wasn´t any of the original choices!

Picardia - word of the day

During my lessons with Carolina Calas she told me to use "picardia" when performing 360 degree turns. Translation into Swedish lead me to words such as fuffens and rackartyg and in English translated as mischief. I have always been a bit mischievous which probably explains why the turns are working very well.

Rain Glorious Rain!

The rain is a welcome break from the hot humid days, it clears the air and is very refreshing. Summer showers and storms are common place, the only downside is trying to find a taxi once there is a downpour.

Walk at your Own Risk!

Nowhere seems safe from the endless traffic in this sprawling city. Not only do the motorists not stop at zebra crossings they even park on them! And at pelican crossings do not wait for the green man to show before you start to walk as he is white in Argentina! Crossing the road here is like a level 10 game of Frogger, lucky my nimble footwork has improved with all the tango.

La Catedral and the Dancing Cat

La Catedral is always a place full of surprises! A bohemic atmosphere with a mix of young dancers and non-dancers, tango and live acoustic folk music and not forgetting a resident dancing cat!
Best nights are Tuesdays, apparently, open until around 5am it is a must for anyone visiting Buenos Aires as an alternative to the more traditional Canning, el Beso and such like. Seeing is believing!

The Vet´s Cat

Even the Local Vet has a resident lazy cat. This one crashed out on the counter, oblivious to the queue of customers in the shop.

Bloody Lockers!

Whenever I am out on the streets of the city I have my little black bag over my shoulder even in cafes - so I don´t chance leaving it anywhere. It contains amongst other things my tango shoes, camera and sometimes I pod. So I really do not want to lose it!
On three occasions now I have had mini panic attacks as I am in stores and realise that I do not have my precious bag with me. I run out of the store frantically trying to remember which cafe I was in last only to suddenly remember as I am leaving the store that the guard made me leave the bag in a bloody locker before entering the store. I then have to stop running and break back into a walk and turn around and act as if nothing has happened as all the other shoppers are staring at me and wondering what is going on. Bloody Lockers!

Where to next?

Consulting the Lonely Planet guide before deciding where to head next..

The Hilton

2007 got off to a great start with a trip to the Hilton for a day in the Spa. Gym, sauna, dry steam, buffe lunch and Buenos Aires´ best roof top swimming pool. I think it was actually cooler in the Sauna than in the suntrap of the roof top terrace. Guess who is red now?