La Gran Cuarenta

Day 7: The Big B-Day

With fresh clean clothes and a whole day of "whatever you want, Lo, it's your day" ahead of me, we set off immediately for Palermo where I was hoping to go to a boulangerie-type shop I had seen on the web instead of our local coffee joint. When we got to the neighborhood, we found that our destination was papered over. We've heard that things open and close quite rapidly in Palermo, so you can't trust what you find in the guide books or even on the web. Undiscouraged, we did find an awesome bookstore with a cafe in the back. The bookstore itself reminded me of the Elliott Bay bookstore in Seattle. But maybe a bit more modern, and with really tall ceilings. The cafe had a tall plaster wall spanning two floors that was covered in black and white graffiti. It also had an atrium area. We ended up getting close to the standard morning fare, but at least at this place there was a larger selection of pastries.

After breaking the fast, and browsing the bookshelves, we headed out to the main destination for the day: Gretaflora, a shoe store specializing in really cute tango shoes. I bought a sassy pair of shoes, and then we wandered around the area checking out the shops and grabbing a bite here, a drink there. I was somewhat hoping that I could find a killer dress that I could wear out that evening, but it's become abundantly clear that the little designer boutiques in Palermo are a bit more expensive than I'd like, and targeting the younger, slimmer set. You'd think with all the surgical enhancements I've seen around here that I might find something built for bustier broads. But alas, I still have not found the store for curvy ladies.

Returning home, we took a "disco nap" for an hour, then started to get ready for our evening out. C had made reservations at a foodie hot spot. We got gussied up, and I strapped on my new shoes. Sucre was a gorgeous restaurant with an open kitchen at the back and a two-story bar wall housing beautifully lit bottles of all shapes and colors. Halfway up the wall is a catwalk by which you gain access to the bathrooms. In addition to the stunning environment, we enjoyed a very good meal. The menu featured more lamb than beef (yay!) and the extensive wine list offered a great selection of wines from Argentina and elsewhere. We had a delicious plate of octopus, the most tender and tasty octopus I've had, as well as an amazing tarte tatin with a roasted heirloom tomato on top. The tarte was a bit sweet with the roasted tomato, and the pastry crust was perfectly flakey. For our main, we had a divine lamb shoulder with cous cous. The wines were good, but didn't knock my socks off. For dessert, a chocolate volcano (volcada if the menu had been in Spanish, which it was not.)

I'd say the only 'problem" with that dinner was that it could have been anywhere in the world. And even though we had a "late" reservation at 9pm, the place was almost completely full of Americans (or English speakers, at least) when we got there. As mentioned, the menu was entirely in English, so I was wondering if anyone who actually lives in the city ever eats there or if it's just a guidebook destination. Only when we moved on to our entree did we start to see some Portenos filtering in, once again showing us that even when we delay eating to what we think is the "right" time, we seem to be a half hour early still.

On this night, I was glad to be dining a little earlier, though, because we had a milonga to attend. After dinner we took a cab back to Palermo, and entered Salon Canning. It's a beautiful space, and we were early enough that we were able to get a table. We sat watching for a tanda or two (a set of usually about 3-4 dances) before getting up to take a spin. Then we settled into a pattern of dancing one tanda, and sitting out a couple. At some point after we had danced a few times, I noticed a man smiling and nodding at me. I was so taken aback I had to look around to be sure he was actually motioning at me, but indeed he was. I walked over and we stepped out onto the dance floor. We danced one number, and as we were waiting for the next one to get going, he asked me (in English) where I was from. When I told him California, he seemed to get excited and said "Really? Where in California?" and when I told him SF he said "Why don't I ever see you out dancing?" Turns out he lives in Walnut Creek. We finished the tanda together and he thanked me for the nice dances. That was the only partner I had other than C for the night, but it was nice to meet and dance with one other person. It's just funny to come all the way to BA to dance with someone from the other BA (SF Bay Area.)

Around midnight, we noticed that Willem Dafoe was in the house again. This time, we actually saw him dancing a few times. (He's in the center of the above photo - not that you can really tell, but it's the best I could do...) He seems to be just learning, as I saw him doing the "basic" pattern and one or two other moves. He seemed a bit tentative, and was definitely concentrating. I feel sorry for any man just starting to learn tango, because it's so complicated at first. For a celebrity, it seems like it would be worse, because it's hard to recede into the crowd while you're dancing. I know I had a hard time not watching or seeking him out in the crowd. At least a non-celebrity can be mostly assured that nobody will be watching him for very long, so people are not likely to notice if you do the same move over and over. Or if you flub something. Anyway, I hope Mr. Dafoe finds enjoyment in it, and I wonder if we'll see him again before we leave. C wants me to aks him to dance, but I think that would be too forward. Besides, I have only seen him dancing with the one woman in his entourage.

It must have been around 1 am when an announcer came out and introduced a band. Until then, we had been dancing to taped music, but now, well after midnight, the band finally came out. They were amazing. I think there were only seven players - 2 bandoneones, 1 piano, 1 keyboard, 2 violins, 1 upright bass, and a horn player (might have been the keyboardist) - but their sound was really rich. It sounded to me like an orchestra. The playing was great, with lots of drama and dynamic range (both tempo and volume.) I was surprised at the response from the crowd when they first started; the floor had been cleared and everyone stood or sat watching. Noboday danced for the first three numbers, after which two, then three, then several couples started dancing. Finally, the floor was packed again, but I thought it was interesting that it didn't fill up immediately when the band started playing. It was as if they all wanted to focus some attention on the players first. The audience was definitely very appreciative, and several people were filming. I took a snippet of video on my phone just to capture the sound.

By about 2:30, my feet were throbbing, and I decided it was time to go. The milonga lasts until 4 am, but I didn't want to force C to stay that late. He was shivering from the AC, and we were having difficulties navigating the floor when it was so packed. So we settled our drink bill and grabbed a taxi. Because there were others leaving at the same time, it took us at least three minutes to flag down a taxi. Usually, we get a cab within a minute. As we were getting into the cab, we saw a group of dancers spilling out of another one, on there way in to the dance. On a Tuesday night. These people are hard core.