Arrival in BA

My painstaking-with-a-Spanish-dictionary-translation: Reflection and dialogue will diminish difficulties in your social diary. A certain person you are in debt to shares a similar viewpoint.

Google Language Tools Translation: Reflection and dialogue will reduce the difficulties in dealing with partner Diaro. Approaching people you should evaluate a similar assessment.


My translation is mejor (better), no? Who the hell is Diaro? My partner's name is Pete and I am indebted to him because without his brilliant facility with Spanish I would be lost, sorry, perdido, in Buenos Aires. And there is no difficulty with our social diary because we immediately booked a date with Echo and the Bunnymen, who were there to greet us when we arrived at our apartment (luckily this tree was being cut down as we would never have noticed them!)

Anyway, our apartment is cool with special features like a spiral staircase and a balcony. Note Pete is ignoring the view from the balcony. Well, it is of a motorway...

But a very futuristic motorway... at night, the buildings beside it create an exotic skyline.

Exploring the Barrio

Just across from the vast expanse of Avenida 9 de Julio which our apartment overlooks is the boho neighbourhood of San Telmo. We immediately headed for a cold chopp (small glass) de cerveza in the atmospheric Bar Plaza Dorrega. Chop and chat!

And the bill was peanuts! The pound is very strong against the peso, for instance, 100 pesos is less than 15 pounds. You can get a great bottle of wine in grocery stores for less than two quid. Needless to say, we're going to grocery stores more often than we used to...

Amongst the crumbling colonial buildings and cobblestone steets, San Telmo has wonderfully colourful murals.

And there's a terrific arts and crafts fair on Sundays but you can buy antiques anytime in the various shops - I got a pair of vintage pearl earrings for a tenner at this galeria.

Big and Bold BA

Away from our groovy barrio of San Telmo, the city of Buenos Aires moves into monument mode, with immense statues and grand buildings surrounding the Plaza de Mayo, and lining the avenidas that radiate outwards from this historical centre.

Above left, the neo-classical Catedral Metropolitana and right, the Piramide de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada - we love that the executive government offices are pink!

Feeling a bit wind-blown after our walk down the 13 blocks of Avenida de Mayo, ending at the imposing Congreso de la Nacion, we were hungry and decided it was time to try one of Argentina's famous steaks at a well-known parilla, El Desnivel. Sorry, vegetarians, but the bife de lomo I ate was absolutely delicious - meat that actually melted in the mouth!

We also like these modern additions to BA's architecture - the Floralis Generica, which actually 'blooms', opening its steel petals in the morning and closing them at dusk. 

And in the Canary Wharf-like area of Puerto Madero, the Puente de la Mujer (bridge of women) which I am attempting to recreate by er, pointing.

Close-up, the strings are meant to emulate a woman tango dancer being pressed by her male partner in an homage to the tango. Mmm, sounds a bit submissive, perhaps its time we investigated why it has to take two to tango.

Tango Schmango

Our first stop in this town of tango was the old-world Confiteria Ideal for a traditional milonga - this is where tango lovers of all ages (we were some of the younger folks there) meet to dance together to songs played by well, a DJ, although nobody yells 'Choon' or waves their hands in their air or anything silly like that.... tango is quite a serious business. We just watched, which is perfectly acceptable to do and I thought, 'hey I can do that!'

Boy, was I wrong. Our tango lesson at Le Catedral (an arty, grungy warehouse for hipsters) set me straight. Well, actually not straight, as tango is a series of steps in straight lines where the woman has to follow the man's lead. Pete says this unusual arrangement was not helped by my even more unusual Spanish counting method: 'uno, dos, cuatro, seis'.... 

So it was back to spectator status at Plaza Dorrego - I can't decide what I am more envious of in this clip, the woman's amazing foot work or her equally amazing dress.

Recalling Recoleta & Palermo Parks

With our tango career dead in the water, we thought it time to visit BA's most beautiful cemetery where notable Argentines are buried, usually in grandiose granite masoleums. 



It's a bit fussy but it's what she wanted.








Sorry, visiting hours are over.



He only went out to get the paper...

West of Recoleta cemetary, we found more statues in the Jardin Botanico in the posh neighbourhood of Palmero.



The bowls tournament deteriorated after
the introduction of absinthe at half-time.




God, please give me bigger breasts.

 

Tomorrow I'm putting a time limit on teatime
for Romulus and Remus.

When we stopped for a drink at Plaza Cortazar (named after Argentine writer Julio Cortazar who wrote a book of short stories called 'We Love Glenda So Much', so naturally my fave Latin American author) I was most pleased to receive a free perfume sample from a couple of pretty girls with too much starch in their skirts.

(Please click on 'Older Posts' to read about our trips out of BA)

Beyond Buenos Aires

The suburb of Mataderos, formerly the main meat-packing district, hosts a weekend feria of folk dancing and asados, a just-off-the-ground open grill - the bloke attending this one was a warning not to over-indulge in too much carne.

Kissing couple Juan y Milta put on a charming display that was a welcome break from tango (no I'm not bitter).

An even larger feria drew us to San Antonio de Areco, about two hours from BA, where we saw some true gaucho (cowboy) action. I became quite the gaucho groupie after watching these boys herd their horses, especially in the middle of the street!

Unfortunately, I seemed to attract the older, more um, endowed gauchos - the younger ones were too busy drinking beer or talking on their mobile. 

The other ones were cute, but jailbait... it was time to head away from hombres on horses and cruise down the peaceful bayou-esque waterways of the Tigre delta. 



We almost squatted this adorable cottage.



But we had plans to go even further beyond BA - to another country!

Uruguay or U R Gay (as Homer Simpson says)

A short (3 hours) ferry ride from BA is the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. We did what we always do when we get to a new place - have lunch. This parilla bar in the Mercado del Puerto in the Ciudad Vieja (old city) was right up our street.

To work off the rather mammoth portions of cerdo (pork) and cordero (lamb) we consumed, we walked along the Rambla, the city's coastal promenade. It's a much beach-ier city than BA.

We came across a candombe - these freeform Afro-Uruguayan drumming sessions break out spontaneously in the city streets.

But we really fell for Colonia del Sacramento and its lilac trees, vintage cars, tranquil harbour and seafood you can play with...




Art & Nature

On the rare rainy day in Buenos Aires, we will go cultural and visit one of the city's many museums and art galleries. The paintings to the left are from a quartet of Argentine artists prominent in the Nueva Figaracion, a Spanish expressionist art movement in the 1960s - an exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes which also has a permanent collection of old and modern masters, from Rembrandt to Renoir.

MALBA is the ultra-modern glass and concrete building dedicated to 20th century Latin American art - my favourite painting there was Abaporu (above right), by Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral, apparently the most expensive Brazilian painting in the world, worth 1.5 million dollars.

Even the huge luxury shopping complex, Galerias Pacifico, houses an art gallery, the Centro Cultural Borges, named after Argentine literary giant, Jorge Luis Borges. I loved these surreal pictures by London-based Dutch painter Madelon Vriesendorp.



Self Immolation - 1994

 



The Ecstasy of Mrs Caligari - 1973







Another surreal sight was coming across this nearly two foot long lizard, as we strolled through the Reserva Ecologica,

a network of paths through marshes and grasslands along the river, moments away from the skyscrapers of the city.

And I discovered an interesting water formation on the Rio Plate...

(Pete's note: Glenda is still struggling with the 'panorama' effect on our camera)