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Published: August 13th 2007
Tango at San Telmo
´Free´ Tango show at the Sunday market in San Telmo."What's new Buenos Aires? I'm new, you wanna know what you're gonna get in me..." Etc., etc., etc. So, here we are in the capital of Argentina - famous for Madonna, Jimmy Nail and some bloke called Evita.
Actually, one of the things BA should be famous for (and Argentina in general) are the absolutely amazing long-distance buses! We arrived here from Bariloche in a 'super-cama' bus that took just under 24 hours, and it was great. A bit of a splurge, but there are films, fully reclining seats and food served (with wine). Just when you think it can't get any better, they bring round a choice of whiskey or champagne as a nightcap! Forty quid well spent!
Our first day in Buenos Aires was Sunday, and being as we had arrived feeling fairly sprightly and well slept we decided to head out straight away. Sunday is the day of the famous San Telmo antiques market, which in addition to being a great place to buy broken carriage clocks and rusty bedpans, is also renowned for its street displays of Tango. This working class neighbourhood was where Tango actually originated, and it has recently undergone a huge resurgence.
How Windy?
One of the many street perfomers at the Sunday market in San Telmo. It didn't take long for us to find some Tango to watch (just follow the crowds) and afterwards we managed to spend a lovely few hours wandering through the market and eating in a cute pavement cafe watching the street performers. Following this we walked back to our hotel via the pink Casa Rosada government building, famous as the place where Evita sang Don't Cry For Me Argentina...
The following day we decided to go shopping. Neither of us have anything to buy nor any room in our rucksacks, but this is our first big city since Santiago and we just felt obliged! We headed out to the well known pedestrianised streets of Lavalle and Florence to see how Buenos Airians (? not sure about this - sounds like something from the Third Reich) spend their disposable incomes. We were a bit disappointed with the shops on offer, nothing to really take our fancy. I guess not actually being able to buy anything stunts the shopping enthusiasm a bit. We left the shopping centres behind and wandered through one of the nearby parks where they have the 'English Tower' - a homage to Big Ben.
That evening we
went to a proper Tango show at a place called Cafe Tortoni. This cafe has been around since the early 1900s and has been hosting Tango in its small back room venue since the 1930´s. The show was excellent (though with a little too much singing and too little dancing for Andi and I), with a great band and fantastic atmosphere. Both of the principle dancers were excellent, and the girl had cracking legs which helped! We had a great spot with our own little table for two and a good view. The stage was so small that it was a miracle how they managed to dance on there, especially when the band (consisting of a piano, acordian and double bass) shared it with them!
On our final day in BA we succumbed to the in'evita'ble and did the whole Evita thang. We caught the metro to Recoleta to visit the cemetery where she is now buried (her body went missing for many years after her death; a complicated story involving her being buried under a false name in Milan). The cemetery itself is amazing - a mass of tombs, sarcophagi and monuments vying for room with each other.
Evita´s Grave
Morbid, I know, but such a facinating cemetry. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful, despite the location in the middle of the city. Evita's tomb was understated (relatively) and we were very touched by the whole place.
Less touching, in fact downright rubbish, was the Evita museum, our next stop. We were really looking forward to learning some more details about Evita's life (rather than the Madonna version!), especially as the woman at the ticket office promised us that all the info was written in both Spanish and English. Sadly, the museum was a real missed opportunity. The English information was often missing, and when it was available had been translated by someone who's English was worse than my Spanish (a truly awesome feat!) But the worst aspect of the museum was its very one-sided and patchy portrayal of Evita's life - no real substance or detail. Oh well, we had already had a great day - this just failed to quite be the icing on the cake.
So, onwards. The next stop could well be one of the highlights of the trip - the mighty Iguassu Falls....
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Sharon
non-member comment
Tango!
Hola, Thought that was you two on the first photo to begin with. I was quite impressed until i realized it was professionals! So glad you got your blog back, thanks to your mum! You got lucky! I was seriously worried for you for a while there. Keep having fun!