Tango City

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For the first night in BA I tried staying in a back-packers at trendy Palermo but the shared dorm, snoring, cold showers and smoking got to me and so I moved into a hotel in the city. Found a nicer hostel in a few days later that I wanted to move into but they didn´t have any single rooms left so ended up staying at the hotel.

The city and people here a great. There´s great food at really good prices and the city has a European feel about it, especially with the temperature only topping 15 degrees and a cold wind blowing most of the time. But there´s also lots of grand European style architecture and the people are really civialised e.g. the taxis don´t blow their horn everytime they see a tourist! Everybody dresses quite stylish as well.

They certainly like their Tango here and they put on a good show down at the San Telmo markets on a Sunday. Unfortunately the explanation of the various dance steps and history of the Tango dance was lost on me as it was spoken in Spanish (I think). On the Wed night I went to a Tango show and dinner function. It turned out to be a bit of a disaster. I was the only tourist there and for the first hour I think I was the only person in the audience since the people on the other tables either danced or sang in the performance. They say there is nothing like experiencing some local culture but in this case it was a bit too much. I had visions of sexy young dancers like they had in San Telmo (see photos) but instead I got mum and dad style dancing! It was a bit like the dance night down at the Enogera bowls club! I kept looking around for the hidden camera. Then when the middle age woman in the tight leopard skin pants came in, I called it quits. I did pick up the brochure at a tourist centre and so was expecting something a little more jazzy.

As for the days, I´ve managed to fill them in wandering around the city and surrounding suburbs. Went to check out the amazing sarcophagis at the Recoleta Cemetry which is well worth a visit. Most have entrances more grand than the hotel I staying at. Found Eva Peron´s site and am keen to watch the movie when I get home to find out a bit more about this much admired woman. Also went over to Colonia in Uruguay for a day. Cute little town with cobblestone streets and old buildings but it´s no Cesky Krumlov. Bought a leather jacket since the prices and quality are pretty good over here. Also did a couple of hours of Spanish lessons which were good.

Now off to the freezing south.

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Comments

[Liz]

Hi David Unfortunatley most of the Blatchfords thought they were getting spam when they first received the the travel blogs and deleted them!!! So I have set them straight, and the messages are now getting through. The trip sounds fantastic. I just came back yesterday from a trip home for Robbie's 40th. The farm is very green, hardly recognisable (and cold!!). It was great to catch up with all the fam. The party was fun and Robbie certainly appreciated your phone call! Enjoy your trip further south and keep on telling the stories, they are good to break up the day at work! Love Liz