Buenos Aires II

When Karl and I returned to Buenos Aires, we had certain goals in mind...We wanted to try some tango lessons and see some local, live music.  Well, we were in the right place!  We woke up late every day in our apartment, walked to the coffee shop on the corner (yes, it was Starbucks...), and scanned the local paper for the events of the day.  We found the apartment on AirBnB and the owner was great to work with...It was in a perfect location, in Palermo and near all of Buenos Aires´ wonderful parks.  There was only one drawback...The hot water didn´t work!  We managed despite the relative chill in the air by boiling water and adding cold water for amazingly satisfying "showers." 

We suceeded in locating a wonderful place (La Viruta) for Tango lessons one evening and despite the fact that the lesson was with 50 other people and conducted entirely in Spanish, we managed to figure out some of the basic tango steps and had a great time.   The venue was unique for sure...In the basement of the Slovenian consulate (or was it Croatia??). 

Another night we took a taxi to a bar that we found in the paper that was supposed to be playing traditional Argentinian music, but when the taxi dropped us off, the place was closed and the entire street was abandoned.  I was a bit nervous (it was kind of late), but we walked around the corner and stumbled across a huge shopping complex.  We didn´t want to waste the night so we decided to go to the movies.  Going to the cinema in Argentina (well, at least in Buenos Aires) is a unique experience...We had assigned seats and seating times.  I felt like I was at the airport, not at the movies! 

Not to be detered, Karl and I returned the next night to the music venue that was closed the night before (we misread the day of the week...oops!).  This time the place was open, but no one was in the restaurant/bar when we arrived and the music was supposed to start fifteen minutes later...Well, in an hour and a half, the band actually started playing (Argentina time!).  Apparently this place is not on the usual tourist circuit...The promoter of the event was so excited that he let us watch the band rehearse before the event and introduced us to all of the band members and their families/agents.  The music was fantastic as well.  Such a great night!

Karl and I did managed to get out during the day for a few of the days that we were in Buenos Aires and visited the beautiful Teatro Colon in the center of the city and the Jardin Japones near our apartment in Palermo.

After 5 days in Buenos Aires, I said goodbye to Karl and boarded the plane for Quito...