Buenos Aires

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Movie — Darkest Hour

I went to the movies again with Venetia and Raul yesterday, and saw “Darkest Hour”. This movie focuses on the beginning of Churchill’s time as Prime Minister during the war years, including his struggles to have his plans and ideas accepted by the Opposition. It take a close-up, intimate look at his arguments with Chamberlain and Halifax over their desire for peace negotiations with Hitler, and ends with the heroic evacuation of Dunkirk.

My definition of good acting is when you don’t actually see the actor, just the character. By that measure, Gary Oldman does a masterful job, as I truly never noticed him — I only saw Churchill. It was a gripping movie, and I must admit it stirred my British blood quite a bit! I hope Oldman wins the Oscar for Best Actor, as it would be well deserved.

Kristin Scott Thomas also turned in a low-key but effective performance as Churchill’s wife, Clementine, and Ben Mendelsohn’s King George was convincing and empathetic. The movie should also win an award for make-up, based on Oldman’s physical transformation alone.

Highly recommended.

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New Book Project — Research Started

As you probably know, Rare Steak, Red Wine, Hot Tango! was the first in a series of “love letters to Argentina”. I hadn’t planned it that way originally, but it soon became clear it was the way to go.

I have been working on the second one, which is about my trip to Salta and Jujuy at the beginning of December. I will probably publish that when I get back to Canada in May — or maybe before.

But I’m excited to let you know I now have the third book in the works! Buenos Aires has a very strong cafe tradition, and there are quite a number of establishments known as cafes notables or bares notables — cafes and bars are pretty much the same thing here. Anyway, these notable bars and cafes are very old, often historic, eating and gathering places across the city, and I decided it would be a good idea to write a book about them.

I don’t want it to be a “guide book”, but rather my own take on these wonderful old places, so that others visiting can decide which ones to visit. I’ve put out the word to a small group of my friends here who might like to join me in the “research” phase — ie visiting as many as possible before I leave at the end of April, sampling the coffee, wine and food (notably pastries!) Research is hell, but it has to be done!!

Yesterday I did the first research trip on my own, because it was such short notice nobody else was able to come.

Las Violetas

Las Violetas is one of the most popular of the cafes notables, and this was my first visit. I consulted my trusty Google Maps, but didn’t like the route they suggested. I thought I knew a better one. Well … it did get me there, but I had to walk quite a distance through a barrio known as Once (pronounced onsay). This is not one of the better areas of town, but I have to say I loved it! There was such energy and fun in the air just walking down Pueyrredon that I was tempted to whip out my iPhone and make a video, but I quickly realized that wasn’t advisable as someone might have pinched it as I worked! I’m not a bit afraid as I walk on the streets of Buenos Aires, but there’s no point in being silly!

Anyway, I eventually arrived at Las Violetas and it was well worth the long walk. Here are a few photos I shot inside.


Although I opted to have a steak sandwich and make it my evening meal, their specialty really is “afternoon tea or coffee”, with huge plates of little sandwiches and these yummy miniature cakes. So I’ll definitely have to go back to Las Violetas with friends to share the bounty — as well as the “research!”

Stay tuned for more cafes notables posts coming up soon.

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Still not finished — but soon

Last night I was supposed to finish my Fileteado Porteño painting and I was looking forward to posting it this morning. Alas, it’s still not done!

It’s incredibly difficult work, and it’s a good thing Martin is a patient teacher. Based on what is still left, though, I should be able to finish it OK next Sunday. So stay tuned for next Monday’s post!

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Family Asado — and Andrea Bocelli!

Last Saturday Cecilia held an “asado” or barbecue at her house. She invited some of her family, as well as Venetia, Raul and me.

As you’ll see, I tried to switch to the wide view of the video – only to learn that you can’t switch horses midstream. I’ll gt the hang of this yet.

As an aside, for a month during the summer, there are outdoor concerts in the plaza beside Teatro Colon. They are not live concerts but broadcast from famous opera houses and concert venues around the world, and they are free. There’s nothing quite like sitting under the stars on a warm summer night watching these concerts.

Someone mentioned that the show of the evening was Andrea Bocelli in concert from Central Park. As one, we decided we should go, and before we knew it, Adriana, Raul, Venetia and I had all piiled into Cecilia’s car and headed down to Plaza Vaticano. The last clip of the video is from there.

I hope you enjoy the video.

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Eternal Bulgaria

Huh? Bulgaria? I know, not my usual subject matter. But a few days ago I received information about an event called Bulgaria Eterna that was taking place last night in San Telmo. So I went along with my trusty friends Cecilia, Raul and Venetia.

We listened to the usual speechifying by the Ambassador and various others, and then we had wine and nibblies as we all mingled. Not hugely entertaining, but I did find the information about Bulgaria interesting, mainly because I didn’t know anything about that part of the world. There were various posters and information pieces around the walls and I read most of them. The travel posters showed that Bulgaria is certainly beautiful, but what interested me were the people I read about.

Did you know, for example, that the person credited with inventing the computer was Bulgarian? Me neither. John Atanasov was born in the USA of Bulgarian parents.

Did you know that yogurt originated in Bulgaria? Me neither. Dr. Staman Grigorov isolated the bacteria that causes fermentation in yogurt. The strain is called lacto bacillus bulgaricus, in honour of his homeland.

See, the reason this interests me so much is that Bulgaria is a country that’s not all that well known in the rest of the world, apart from adventure travelers maybe. And the three countries I claim as my own — Scotland, Canada and Argentina — also fall into that category. Scots have invented many things we all know today, including penicillin, the telephone (yes, Alexander Graham Bell was a Scot who emigrated to Canada — like me!), the steam engine and so many others I can’t remember. (Just Google “invented in Scotland” and you’ll be amazed.) But how many people know that? Not a lot.

In terms of universal acknowledgement, Canada suffers from its proximity to its huge neighbour to the south. I’m constantly amazed at how little people know about us. Just this week, a taxi driver asked me if Canada was a state of the US. He wasn’t being rude; he just didn’t know. Interestingly, everybody here seems to know we have an “English part” and a “French part”.

And then there’s Argentina. This wonderful country that captured my heart takes up a huge chunk of South America. It is physically beautiful, its people are lovely and I can’t say enough about the tango. Yet all most people know about it they learned from Andrew Lloyd Webber! Or they think it’s still like fifty years ago during the “Dirty War”. It’s not.

So I was interested to learn just a little about Bulgaria.  By the way, its capital, Sophia, will be the European City of Culture in 2019.

I also learned about Vasil Levski, probably Bulgaria’s greatest hero — at least that’s what people told us last night. I love the words this poster says about him:

TODAY

We do not remember your death

We show our devotion

As long as Bulgaria exists

You will live eternally!  1837-00

Look at the dates — they don’t remember his death! Is that not beautiful?

Here are a few photos of the exhibits, as well as one of us, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bulgaria. Hmmm. Who knew?

 

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Sick Weekend, but…

On Friday night I came down with a rotten cold, woke up with streaming nose, sore throat, the lot. Obviously I wasn’t going to the milonga on Saturday as planned. Funny how a summer cold can make you feel like death heated up.

I stayed close to home and behaved, mainly because I wanted to be well enough for Sunday night.

First, I had what was supposed to be the last class in my Fileteado Porteño class. I didn’t want to miss that, because I didn’t know when my teacher would be able to take me again. So I stayed at home again all day, and in the early evening I took a taxi to his studio. It wasn’t easy, painting and sniffling at the same time! And the charming Martin didn’t say a word, happily bringing me water to take my paracetemol!

He had a friend drop by and, in true Argentine style, he just stayed and we all chatted while I learned! The friend also brewed up some mate, so that was another element added to my struggles — although I did enjoy it. Tango in the background, painting Fileteado and drinking mate with two good looking men — doesn’t get more Argentine than that!

As it turned out, I didn’t quite get my painting finished, so I am having an extra class in two weeks to get it done. I’ll post a picture of the finished product.

Fortunately, the next event of the evening wasn’t far away from Martin’s studio. My friend Raul was having a birthday, and it’s kind of a tradition that a bunch of us celebrate birthdays and other events at La Gran Parilla, a fantastic parilla, or steakhouse, in San Telmo. Raul, the birthday boy, is the one on the right with the big smile on his face!

I have to say I didn’t do justice to the wonderful steak, and Venetia expressed her amazement that I didn’t finish my champagne. “You must be sick!” was her comment.

But it was fun, and I’m feeling a bit better today. Hopefully I’ll be well enough to go to the milonga next weekend!

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Video of the Week: Caminito

Here’s a little taste of the lovely day I spent yesterday with Venetia, Raul, Amir and Efrat in the lovely Caminito. In my opening clip I refer to it as a tourist part, but it kind of sounds like a tourist park. I don’t want you to think it’s a park of any kind. On the contrary, it’s part of La Boca, a very old, historic barrio with its own fascinating history.

I hope you enjoy the video.

 

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Today’s adventure — locked myself out of my apartment!

What a comedy of errors this was! I was leaving late this morning to run a couple of errands, and needed to get back quickly as I was in the middle of doing some client work. As I was leaving my apartment, I was distracted trying to kill a mosquito, and without realizing it I closed the door — with the keys inside!

I went downstairs and sat in the lobby while I thought. We do have a doorman, but he is not always there, and besides he has been in hospital and is on sick leave. His sister is filling in, but I have no idea how to reach her.

Fortunately, I always carry the business card of my rental agency in my purse, so I was able to call them. The girl was very nice, saying she would call the owner and call me back. She asked for my phone number and I gave it to her. At least I thought I did. When I didn’t hear from her after a few minutes, I went to call her again, but when I saw my own number on the phone I thought, “That’s not the number I gave her.” No, it wasn’t. I had had the agency card in my hand, and had read their own number off to her as mine!!

OK, no problem, I’ll call again. Nope. My SIM balance had run out and the call wouldn’t go through! Fortunately, the phone company keeps sending me messages that they will give me a small credit in these circumstances, so I found one of those messages and followed the steps. Success!

I got back through to Vanessa, and she laughed when I told her what I had done. Anyway, she told me the owner had contacted the doorman and he would be down to fix the situation. Poor Julio. I don’t think I got him out of his sick bed, but I felt guilty anyway. But he laughed it off too. Of course, when we got up there, he couldn’t get the key in because my own key was still on the inside! After a bit of finagling, though, the door finally swung open — thank goodness!

I don’t usually carry my extra set, because the keys here are ginormous old brass keys that weight a ton, but I think I’ll put them in the bottom of my bag because I don’t want to do that again!

Now I’m off to top up my phone!

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This Is A Half Portion!

Yesterday I went to an early evening event of InterNations, which involved meeting about a dozen people and sitting outside on the terrace at La Biela. It’s a lovely way to spend a summer evening.

But when it was over, it was about 8 pm and I didn’t feel like going home to cook a meal. So I walked down the street to Clark’s, one of the oldest parillas in the area.

Just look at this steak! This was what they call a “half portion” — can you imagine what the full-size looks like? I cut it in two and brought half home for today’s lunch — which is a good thing because I’m going out tonight with another group and dinner will be empanadas and other picadas (snack foods). It’s all go in Buenos Aires!

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Went Out Last Night with My Two Moviegoing Friends

Venetia, Raul and I went last night to see the new Woody Allen movie, Wonder Wheel. It was at Cine Lorca, one of the many movie and live theatres on Avenida Corrientes. I love the street, as it has a great vibe.

It’s kind of an interesting experience to watch a movie in English with Spanish sub-titles — it’s usually the other way around.

I quite enjoyed the movie, but I didn’t love it. Visually, it was wonderful. Set in the 1950s on Coney Island, the background of the amusement park on the beach seemed to me to be an authentic representation of time and place. Although the movie had Woody Allen written all over it, there were also lots of places where Tenessee Williams peeked through, particularly a scene near the end that strongly evoked A Streetcar Named Desire.

The acting, I thought, was a mixed bag. Jim Belushi and Kate Winslet turned in credible performances, but I couldn’t make up my mind about Justin Timberlake. Was he playing a guy who was not very bright, or was it bad acting? I don’t know.

It did occur to me several times throughout the movie — and Venetia and Raul both agreed — that they sometimes looked as if they were acting on a stage instead of in a movie. That may have been intentional on Woody Allen’s part, as he does tend to have these quirky ideas.

I’m used to Woody Allen’s comedies, which I usually like, but this was dark and very different.

Worth the night out — but I enjoyed the wine and cheese with my friends after the movie better!