First Tango in Buenos Aires

Day 2:

After so much sleeping the previous day, we were able to get an early start on the day. Well, at least I was. I found myself awake at 7:30 and did some research for the day's activities. C managed to sleep most of the morning, and after a couple hours of web surfing about tango venues and tango shoes, I decided to get a few more winks. We woke up around 11am, and went out in search of breakfast. I think we hit La Biela at noon. La Biela is an institution. It's near the famous La Recoleta cemetary, and definitely in a heavily touristed area. However, we enjoyed sitting outside looking at a monstrously huge tree that appeared to be some type of avocado tree. This thing was so big, I think the canopy may have spanned 20 feet, and several large branches were resting on massive supports like the pilons you would see at a pier. I think the trunk was as big around as the biggest redwoods I've seen in California, and was interestingly gnarled. We forgot to take a picture before leaving, but we'll be back another time when we visit the cemetary.

This day was our designated "get to know Palermo" day. We set out after the cafe con leche and medialunas(croissants.) Those who know me well may wonder what I was doing with a cafe con leche - well, I was wishing that I could appreciate the coffee drinks because this town seems to have a lot of them, and better quality than the one variety of tea served everywhere. Sigh. C enjoyed his coffe, and we both loved the medialunas. Not exactly like the perfectly flakey pastries found in France, but these were good in their own right. Less flakey, less buttery, but with a thin glaze of either honey or sugar syrup that gave them just a hint of sweetness.

We decided to take the subway (called Subte) to Palermo, and walked from the Plaza Italia station up to the main shopping area. C was in love the moment we got off the subway (which, by the way, was packed beyond anything I've ever seen on a public transit system - sardines might even have more room in their traditional tins.) Lots of cool buildings, both older styles and more modern. And the streets are sized right. Jane Jacobs would approve of this city - it's very walkable, with abundant parks that function well as green spaces through which people are strolling at all times of the day, whether for pleasure, or to get to work/lunch/etc. Really functional, and breaking up the density with green spaces that provide some habitat for birds.

We grabbed lunch (a bit too much of it because the waitress thought we ordered two pizzas instead of one with the salad del dia) and then set out for the shopping. It became quickly apparent that Palermo Soho is the Hayes Valley of BA; it has great designer fashion at prices that almost equal what you'd spend in the trendy SF shopping district. Also, young hip women are not shaped like me, so most of the things I looked at didn't come in large enough sizes. Enough said. I picked up a few tops but mostly we just oogled without buying. C also came away with a nice shirt.

We grabbed a cab back home, took a quick nap, and started getting ready for the night out around 9pm. We decided to eat the extra pizza from our lunch mishap instead of trying to eat out again. And then we headed out to La Viruta, a tango practica with a lesson. It's a strange scene: you walk into the Armenian cultural center and go downstairs into the basement where there is a massive dance space surrounded by small tables with chairs. It's not an elegant ballroom like the Century Ballroom in Seattle, but it has a casual feel that was just right for getting into the Tango groove. We could not understand any of what the announcer was saying, but it seemed like they were dividing the group into four classes based on level. We chose the second level because they said something about ochos - I thought maybe it was if you already know how to do ochos and the basic, take this level. Turns out they were teaching ochos, and the level was probably not as advanced as we could have done. But I think that was also a good thing because without having much in the way of English instruction, we had to rely mostly on visual and what we already knew. We learned a fun little variation that is not a full ocho - more of a half ocho with a rock step in between.

As a former dance instructor, I found the format challenging, and really felt sorry for both students and teachers. They kept the music going continuously, and had four groups of students all on different areas of the dance floor. The teachers had to yell loud enough for their own group to hear, but had to compete with all the other noises in that vast room. Still, they managed to teach something, which I thought was impressive in its own right. However, this is not where I would go for any kind of serious lessons. This was more like the drop-in lessons before the dances we used to do. Necessary to give the newbies some tools to work with, but not a great atmosphere for learning anything substantial.

After the lesson, there was a little free dancing before the band. The band had a fun, dramatic entrance. Their claim to fame is that they include a tuba (I think it was called Tuba Tango) and we enjoyed the oompapa sound. Almost like mariachi music, but don't tell the Portenos I said that. They defintely had flair, and we had a good time dancing to most of their set. Somewhere midway through the night, I found myself looking at a table that seemed somehow connected to the band. The singer kept singing toward them. Suddently, I felt like I was in a movie - as we danced by, I gave a little gasp. Right at the end of the table was none other than Willem Dafoe! I couldn't believe it. As far as I know, he did not get up to dance. However, he stayed there watching the dance and conferring with the group around him even after the band left. We left shortly after the first set, so maybe the band came on again later. We're both stunned to have seen Mr. Dafoe, and can't help but wonder what brings him to Argentina. Is he shooting a movie? Is he, like Robert Duval, a secret fan of the Tango? This place was nice enough, but it wasn't a tango show, and it wasn't even a milonga. Were they scouting a location?