Tango dancing Tanya style

---

We had a midday flight back to Buenos Aires and when we landed at 3.30pm we headed to the hotel where we stayed on our first night. We had booked to attend a tango show which included a free lesson and then a three course dinner before the show commenced. I decided to get "dressed up" and put on a dress – the first time for the entire trip, and most likely the last given the cold weather I was about to head to, and came to a sticking point when I didn’t have any appropriate shoes to wear with the dress. So, off I headed to the tango show wearing my pretty dress and my thongs!! Very appropriate footwear when trying to master the sensuous tango steps! When we arrived at the class there were another six people there to learn the basics of tango, and Al and I hit the dance floor. Shortly after, a busload of tourists arrived, mostly female, and most of them not participating in the actual lesson, rather they were quite happy to sit and watch. So now, not only did I feel awkward with my lack of coordination we had an audience of 40 excited females watching as well. It was a very fun 45min lesson, where I did eventually "master" 4 key tango steps, and I even received a “Diploma of Tango” for my efforts. Off to dinner we went, where we had been given an upgraded table which meant we were much closer to the stage. The tango theatre is amazing, there would have easily been 200 other diners sitting to eat dinner before the show, and more came in just before the show commenced. The show itself was spectacular, I realised that I would need a few more tango lessons before I was able to make some of the fancy moves that we were seeing on the stage. Overall, it was a really enjoyable way to spend our last night as a group and I am happy that I was able to experience the tango shows that so many people rave about.

The following morning, after saying our farewells, I was back on my own and headed over to my new hostel for the next two nights. The Art Factory is located in San Telmo and was a really funky hostel, with paintings and murals over all of the walls, and each bedroom/dorm has its own theme. I ended up in a room with a great big picture of the soles of feet, interesting to say the least. That afternoon I wandered around the San Telmo markets which go on and on for a number of blocks. I picked up a nice bangle for myself, because I was starting to feel very lost not wearing any jewellery at all, and some souveiners for some family members. That night the hostel were hosting a traditional Argentinian BBQ on the rooftop terrace so I went along and made some new friends whilst enjoying beautiful steaks, chorizo sausages and wine.

I spent my last day in Buenos Aires organising myself for the next leg of my trip – Europe. I found a post office where I posted home a lot of my summer gear, knowing that I would not be needing it for the rest of my trip.

I really loved my time in South America and could easily have stayed for longer, particularly in some of the amazing towns that I visited in Patagonia. Legend has it if you eat the Calafate Berry you will return to Patagonia, so needless to say I made sure I ate my fair share of them as we were out hiking.

Some of the things that I will remember most from South America are:
• The amazing, indescribable feeling that I had whilst at Iguazu National Park
• Being out hiking and feeling like you are the only people in the entire Torres del Paine National Park
• Seeing so many penguins whilst we were on the penguin tour in Ushuaia
• Pisco Sours - such a great tasting drink!!!

Goodbye South America, Hello Europe...

---