Buenos Aires

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My First Week

A week ago today I arrived in my new home, and a busy week it has been. Not too many exciting things to report on the blog though, but more just settling in stuff and reconnecting with friends.

I did post about my deserted street, which was that way because of the G20 summit going on here this week. Many of my friends hunkered down or “got out of Dodge”, but I just pretty much carried on as usual. It was weird though.

If you know me well, you know I haven’t watched television for years. I decided to switch on and see the G20 coverage, which I did for a few hours yesterday. I saw all the dignitaries arriving, some staying at the Alvear Palace hotel down the road, which was the reason for so much of my neighbourhood being cordoned off. I have to say that with the miserable faces of Trump and Putin, our smiling Justin was a pleasant contrast! I think I will start watching the news on television, as it will be good for my Spanish.

Last night there were helicopters flying overhead until quite late, so I think most of them have left. At least the intersection was open again this morning when I went for my early morning walk, although the cafe I chose is quite near the hotel and it was still pretty deserted. I’m sure all the local businesses will be glad when this is all finally over.

It’s hard to believe this is December 1. With all the preparations for leaving back in Toronto, I forgot it was getting close to Christmas, and of course it’s summer here (although not really very hot yet) and not what I think of as Christmassy. But the “Felices Fiestas” signs are being to appear in shop windows and I’ll soon have to do some Christmas shopping!

 

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Buenos Aires Is Strangely Quiet

Buenos Aires has been more than usually chaotic this week as we prepare to host the G20 summit. It officially started this morning, but things have been crazy for the past two days. I had a meeting at a local cafe on Wednesday, and the women I was meeting were over an hour late — stuck in the mad traffic!

The event officially starts today, and I live just a block away from one of the centres of action. The Alvear Palace Hotel is surrounded by 50 police officers and you can’t get in or out of the intersection. It’s strange to watch the television coverage and see my neighbourhood, which is usually buzzing with traffic, empty and quiet.

I did go out for my usual walk this morning, but turned left instead of right, away from the Alvear Palace, and it was fine. Most of the cafes were closed (unusual), but the one on the corner of my street was open so I sat outside and enjoyed the unusual peace! Here is what my street looks like on this strange morning.

A friend made an interesting comment the other day. G20 is an organization for the most successful economies in the world, of which Argentina certainly isn’t one. But they are virtually closing down the Argentine economy for at least two days to host the meeting, as well as spending untold amounts of money on the event and the surrounding security. Seems daft, doesn’t it? I don’t know what Argentina will get out of this, but I hope it’s something good.

Anyway, I for one will be very happy to see my city back to its normal state of chaos next week!

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Settling In

It’s only four days since I arrived, and I haven’t stopped! Between walking around the ‘hood, eating in familiar places and seeing friends, I’ve hardly had time to draw a breath.

Today I spent some time at Venetia’s place as we planned our trip to Chile in January. We had thought of including a couple of days on Easter Island, but honestly the cost was just too much for the few days we could manage, so we dropped that plan. But we will be doing a winery tour — Chilean wines are lovely — as well as a day trip to Valparaiso. More on that as the time draws near, but for now we at least have our flights booked.

The city is preparing to be pretty much shut down over the next few days as we host the G20 summit. Transportation will be drastically reduced or shut down altogether; certain areas of the city will be so tight you won’t be able to get in or out, etc. Venetia and Viviana are “getting out of Dodge” — they asked me to join them but it’s a bit soon for me. I’m going to take the chance to buckle down and get some work done for my very patient clients! My friend Gary made an interesting observation. The G20 is a gathering of countries with the top economies in the world. That definitely doesn’t include Argentina, yet they are pretty much shutting down the Argentine economy for three days for the party. I’m not sure what Argentina will get out of it all, but hopefully it will be something good. I remember the chaos it created in Toronto, and I think everyone here will be glad when it’s over.

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I’ve arrived!

Well, I’m here. I just spent my first day in beautiful Buenos Aires, and it is as magical as ever!

The trip down was pretty good. The Air Canada direct flight was good, but just v-e-e-r-y long! My Canadian friends Joanna and Gary met me at the airport, which was great. I had not one but two long naps yesterday, and then after a casual dinner with other friends, I was in bed by 10.30 am and slept till 9 am this morning! So I should be caught up.

But of course there’s no rest for the wicked, so I was out and about today with my friend Venetia. We had coffee at La Biela, one of my favourite spots, and I was surprised to be warmly welcomed back by one of the waiters!

There was an international festival on today, so we went there for the afternoon. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day and the jacaranda trees are in full bloom. We ate Syrian street food for lunch and watched some dancing from different countries.

After that we went to the racetrack. Watched the horses walk around the paddock and then saw a couple of races before coming home. I am sunburnt!

Here are some photos and a short video from the day.


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The time has come …

Today was the last day of A5, my 5th sojourn in Argentina. Hard to believe it’s almost half a year since I arrived, it has gone by so blindingly fast.

Last night I went with six of my best friends to our favourite restaurant, La Gran Parilla in San Telmo. That’s our traditional place for birthdays and despedidas — farewell parties. This time I had both! I have a milestone birthday coming up on May 13, so they made it a double event. It was lovely. Juicy Argentine beef and good friends — what more could you ask?

 

 

A few weeks ago I wrote about trying a new art form called acrylic pouring. Well, I had so much fun with it that I decided to make one for each of my friends. Here they are on my bookshelf before I gave them out. I think I’ll continue with this in Toronto as it was so much fun.

 

On Monday my friend Lola and I went to a milonga. It was great. We both danced lots, with really good dancers. Here’s a photo of one of my partners, Carlos. He was a great tanguero and I hope to dance with him again in A6.

After last night’s party, I spent most of today by myself. I did have breakfast with Venetia, and my last tango lesson of A5 with Alejandro, but after that I just chilled by myself. I had empanadas at El Sanjuanino (best in the city), and then went to La Biela, where I had their decadent apple crepe with a glass of white wine. Just to round things off, I went for a stroll around the area afterwards, and took a shot of the lovely Nuestra Señora del Pilar church. Then home to finish packing — oh joy!

So tomorrow Cecilia is picking me up at 8.30 am to go to the airport. I am having four days in Panama on my way back to Toronto. It might help, but honestly, every year it gets harder to leave my beautiful Buenos Aires. Has the time come for me to just move down here and become a real expat? Hmmm.

I will post again from Panama.

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Sinfonia Toronto

Last night we had a treat, when an orchestra from Canada performed at the concert venue we usually go to. Originally I thought  it was the Toronto Symphony (unlikely, as the concerts are free!) and it turned out to actually be called Sinfonia Toronto. They are a chamber orchestra, so all strings. There was also a solo clarinetists, and they played a good variety of music. When they came back for an encore they played music by a well loved, but controversial, tango composer, Astor Piazzola.

They did an interesting thing I never saw before. They were standing throughout the concert, and in one piece they all strolled across the stage while playing their violins and stopped on the other side. Then they did the opposite in the next movement. Very attractive.

Our group of five went out to eat something afterwards — it was about 10.30 pm, which is just about right for dinner here. But the concert hall is in the business district, so most of the restaurants were closed. We eventually found a Spanish restaurant open, and got a table. Just as we sat down, someone noticed that a bunch of the musicians were at another table!

I went over and introduced myself and congratulated them on the concert. They have been touring various places in South America, but loved Buenos Aires (of course, what’s not to love?) When we were leaving they were still there, so I introduced them to my Argentine friends, and one English, and they were delighted to be recognized. Audiences here are knowledgeable and appreciative, and I was happy that they got such thunderous applause for their work.

Sorry about the quality of the photo, but it was the best my phone could do in the dim light.

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One of the Highlights Every Year!

Every year as my time in Argentina is winding down, Alejandro and I do a video of one of my tango lessons. This time we did two — one standard speed and one more uptempo. And there’s an outtake too — Alejandro had been drinking maté before I got there and he was wired! This bit of silliness was the result! Hope you enjoy all three.


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A Goodbye Party for Me

My friend Cecilia is part of a social group called Ruta 40, because they originally met many years ago around their common passion for traveling Argentina along Ruta 40. They meet once a month at somebody’s home, and over the past couple of years they have welcomed me into their group. They are lovely people and I always enjoy the parties.

This one was at Cecilia’s house, and the main idea was a goodbye party for me, as I am leaving in less than two weeks (sigh!) When I arrived, Cecilia had written a message in soap on a big mirror, and over the course of the night everyone took up the soap and added their names. It was hard to take a photo because of the lighting, but here it is anyway.

The translated message reads, “Helen, bon voyage. We’ll see each other in A6”. As you may know, all my Argentina adventures are labelled with an “A” for Argentina. This one is A5, and in November I will start A6.

 

Instead of the usual asado, this time we had Peruvian food, courtesy of Cecilia and her niece Nicole, from Lima. The main dish was a delicious stew of meat and potatoes called carapulcra, and one of the desserts was a delicia de limón. There was also a tasty non-alcoholic drink called chicha morada, with a base of black corn — although with all the Malbec flowing around the table, it didn’t get much of a chance to shine! It was all yummy.

I made this little video just to give you a flavour for the party spirit. I hope you enjoy it.

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Two Very Different Tango Evenings

There are many people here in Buenos Aires who love tango music, but don’t dance. It’s such a complex and varied form of music that it’s possible to enjoy it on many levels. As you know from my posts here, my preference is to dance, but I also love being exposed to other forms. This past week brought two such opportunities.

La Hora del Tango

On Wednesday night Venetia and I went to the Kirchner Cultural Centre to see something called The Hour of Tango, and neither of us was quite sure what it was all about. It turned out that La Hora del Tango is the name of a television series that is currently being produced, and this was the final episode. So the show was being recorded for television, which of course made it a whole different experience. There were takes and retakes, and a great deal of “hurry up and wait”, which stretched the hour out beyond two hours! The process was a bit tedious, but the tango itself was lovely.

A full tango orchestra performed by itself first, and then provided accompaniment for a troupe of at least a dozen dancers. We saw the first dance number twice, as apparently there was a small technical problem at the end, which was fine for the audience but I’m not sure how the dancers felt about it!

We had a couple of tango songs from Chico Navarro, who is very old now but was apparently a very big deal in his day and the audience loved him.

I have no photos of this, because they wouldn’t let us take any because of the television people.

Lola Mora at Bar Celta

One of the Bares Notables I’ve visited for my research was Bar Celta, and I remember reading that they had live music downstairs. Lola recently discovered a whole series called Music at the Bares Notables, and last night we went to see the show downstairs at Bar Celta.

Lola Mora (no relation to my friend Lola!) is a duo of women, one pianist and one violinist, who play a wide range of music but with a specialty in tango. They were fabulous! What musicians they were!

Here’s a short video clip of just one of their songs. This is a famous song called Adios Nonino, by a famous and controversial Argentine tango musician of the fifties called Astor Piazzola. He wrote it after learning that his father had died while he was off on a tour — the title roughly translates as “Goodbye Daddy”. As you can tell from the comments by my friends, it’s a well loved popular favourite.

And just to round things off, tonight I’m off to the milonga to actually dance tango — still my favourite!

 

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Milonga Obelisco

This is the milonga I went to last night with my friends Lola and Viviana. We had such a great night!

It’s a friendly crowd, with what we call here buena onda — similar to good vibes in English. All three of us danced a lot, and I was delighted I was even able to dance a presentable milonga. The milonga is not only the place to dance tango, but it’s also a variation of tango. I love watching people dance it because it’s fast, and it’s such a happy dance, but I’ve been a bit intimidated by it in the past because of the fast footwork. But I had a lovely partner who led me beautifully into it, and I danced blissfully, eyes closed, around the floor.

Love tango. Love the milonga. Love Buenos Aires!!