Buenos Aires Numero Dos: Spanish, Food, Tango and Party Party Party
Kate and Jose had conveniently compiled our entire week’s itinerary so we wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.
However, there was a bit of a disaster as I could not find my UK debit card (suspected lost in an ATM in Ushuaia) and had to call the bank to stop it. This meant I couldn’t draw any cash out and had to rely on Riverdance and my remaining funds to survive. Not ideal at all!!. It also doesn’t help that hardly any places accept credit cards. It is really quite surprising how useless the banks are at helping people in my situation. Even though HSBC has a large presence in Argentina, they have no apparent connection with the UK so effectively they are different banks. I couldn’t even get my card dropped off at a local branch! I was told that the only thing I could do was go to special bank branches and do an “encashment” which meant spending 2 hours signing forms only to be charged a hefty fee for the service. At the moment I am working on getting my card to a friend I will be meeting in Peru but until then the situation is not going to change and is very annoying for both myself and Riverdance.
Now that my mini rant is over I’ll continue...
Our first night we chilled out in our apartment. It was really good to be back in the warm weather... temperatures above 30 deg predicted for the entire week!
The next day was our first Spanish class. The school was a short 20min walk from our apartment that took us through a bustling and vibrant part of town. Riverdance already has some competency in the language so was put in the Level 3 class. I was highly incompetent so was in Level 1. My classmates were an Irish couple (Aoife and John McCoy) and a Norwegian gap year student, Stine. Our “Profesora” was called Maria Laura Alvarez.
Lessons started off with the standard “count to ten” and alphabet etc etc... After 4 hrs of hard concentration (student life is tough!!!) we were released to wander the streets of Buenos Aires. Kate and Jose had organised a pub crawl for a bunch of people around the San Telmo area so we joined them for a couple of beverages. We visited several small bars and I met up with my old friend Pedro (from Aspen times). The bars all had an authentic local feel which was an improvement on the tourist venues we had gotten used to. The night proceeded to a club called Museum which wasn’t that great. The night finished off at around 7am (this is normal for BA) and we passed out.
Riverdance, Kate and myself on the pub crawl
Bianca and Brendan, an Aussie couple on our night out
Me and Lewis from the USWaking up hung-over for class was something I hadn’t done in several years but it did bring a bit of nostalgia! Saturday we did a bicycle ride around the Palermo and Recoletta districts. Our guide provided a good deal of historical background to the two neighbourhoods. The ride was comfortable and very scenic and we passed by many small parks and impressive monuments. The areas are renowned as being the most “fashionable” in Buenos Aires, a fact confirmed by looking at the local residents. Men were groomed and styled and many women were “enhanced” (BsAs is known as having one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world). Some of the shops around the area also had fairly interesting names!
Hungover cyclist No 1: Riverdance
Hungover cyclist No. 2: Adam
This is a bridge where couples supposedly would walk and decide whether they would get married
In the evening we had a tango lesson. We were shown some basic steps which we practised. Despite many feet being trodden on, we became fairly competent! We shared our lesson with another couple who came from Colombia and provided us with some useful information about a yacht trip we intended on taking when were there. After the lesson all the more skilled dancers took to the stage and provided some entertainment.
Our Tango Club
After our lesson we went out to a club called Rumi which played some Reggaeton music. Reggaeton is pretty much latino hip-hop and dancing to it took some getting used to! It originally comes from Puerto Rico but now other countries such as Panama are developing credible artists.
Hungover again on Sun we luckily did not have to attend class. Instead of this we were being taken to a local football match by Jose. The teams playing were River Plate (one of the 2 main teams from BsAs) and Colon (a team from Santa Cruz I think). The security for getting into the place was fairly tight and visitors were not allowed to bring much else in besides the clothes they were wearing. We got seated amongst the River Plate fans in scorching 35 degree heat with no shade at all! We kept ourselves hydrated with numerous ice lollies. The atmosphere was very intense and the fans were all chanting along to their favourite songs. At times the whole stadium floor would shake in rhythm to a particular song!
River Plate Stadium
Jose, RD and myself sweating it out with the fans
Monday was a return to Spanish lessons. Dinner was at a local Italian restaurant called Senor Telmo where had had some decent pizza and pasta. Later we visited our friend Fanny Girard and spent a relaxed evening eating empanadas and listening to tango music. Fanny and her friend Pablo gave us a mini tango show.
Fanny and Pablo strutting their stuff
Schneider beer. Those were drunk in memory of you Adrian!
Tuesday night was a scheduled Tango show with dinner. The show itself was entertaining showcase of several forms of Tango as well as excellent singing and instrumental performances. There was a harp player who gave an incredible performance with some familiar songs. He had learnt tunes from several different countries and was happily playing his way through them.
The awesome harp player
On Wednesday evening we met up with Adam Loriente and his friends at Rumi. The UK DJ, Michael Woods, was playing there so we decided to meet up for a few beers. We got fairly drunk and had a very fun evening overall!! The music was brilliant!
Riverdance and Kate performing.... RIVERDANCE!!!
Thursday was our last day for lessons and we had to say goodbye to our fellow classmates as we had graduated!! WOOP WOOP!! I even got a certificate stating I had completed and passed Beginner Level 1 in Spanish. We celebrated with Kate and Jose at a local Parilla called Des Nivel. Afterwards there were a few drinks at Nicetoe in Palermo.
Great Success! Profesora Maria Laura and me having completed Beginner Level 1
This picture of Jose kind of scares meFriday night we visited one of Elaine’s friends, Rocio. After some MORE drinks and MORE empanadas (this had become a serious routine!) we all headed to the Palermo golf club for an Anti-Valentine’s Day party. I was there with about 6 girls so I could feel the envious eyes of all the guys around us!
Delicious casseroles at Cumana
Drinks at Rocio's place
Sunday was our last day in the apartment. The week had flashed by and there had been literally not one moment wasted! Riverdance and I did a bit of planning for the coming week. It was now clear that Salvador and Rio were out of the question due to logistics and budget. Something I have to come back to another year! Instead our new plan is to explore more of Argentina by moving north to Iguazu falls, followed by Mendoza and then start bussing it up to Salta in the north and into Chile and Bolivia from there.
But until then, it is off to the Iguazu Falls with our 2 Aussie friends Adam and Duncan!!
Comments
I stayed in one of those furnished apartments in buenos aires located in the neighborhood of Recoleta. Very classy and close to the cemetery which is a well-known tourist attraction.
As far as food is concerned, I tried empanadas and let me tell you that is one tasty dish.
I loved the country; I hope I will go back!
Lindsay