One month in Buenos Aires
Dec 17th, 2008, 02:03 AM
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 9,369
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yesterday we decide to check out La Boca. We have heard many different reports on the area most saying how touristy and overpriced it is. Not being a a great fan of "touristy" places we don't hold out too much hope of being impressed. We decide to go by bus and jump on the #29 around teh corner in Avenida Santa Fe. This is a great bus to use if you want to see the city on the cheap (1peso), the journey takes 45 mins and winds through Palermo, Centro, Once, Monserrat,Puerto Madero, San telmo before we arrive at the end of teh line in La Boca.
Touristy it may be but we really like this place, the buildings are VERY colourful and many have mannequins hanging out the windows, murals on the walls etc. There are tango dancers in the streets and cafes all very picture postcard and a great place for taking photos. I an glad we came on a Monday afternoon when it was relatively quiet and not at teh weekend when I am sure it must be mayhem!
We head back to Palermo on the same bus but this time it takes a diferrent route and twice as long as it is rush hours. The bus gets packed as we pick up along the route and we arrive at our destination more than a little "moist"!
Touristy it may be but we really like this place, the buildings are VERY colourful and many have mannequins hanging out the windows, murals on the walls etc. There are tango dancers in the streets and cafes all very picture postcard and a great place for taking photos. I an glad we came on a Monday afternoon when it was relatively quiet and not at teh weekend when I am sure it must be mayhem!
We head back to Palermo on the same bus but this time it takes a diferrent route and twice as long as it is rush hours. The bus gets packed as we pick up along the route and we arrive at our destination more than a little "moist"!
Dec 19th, 2008, 02:27 AM
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 9,369
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Last night we visited our first Tango show at Cafe Tortoni, apparently one of the oldest tango cafes in Buenos Aires. It was just as we had imagined with waiters, seeminly all in their 60s buzzing around with trays of drinks and food the only thing missing (thankfully) from the 1930s is the smoke filled room! as in BA most places seem to be smoke free. We both love live music but have never really listened to any tango music before as my musical tastes run more to Clapton, Springsteen etc. so this was a new experience for both of us.
The tango orchestra consisted of a pianist, a violinist, a bass player and a guy playing a bandoneon (a bit like an accordion). We had popped into the cafe a few days previously and booked the 9.00pm in the smaller of their two rooms and as we were first on the list, we got pole position right at the front on a table of four that we were to share with two others. We had chosen the smaller, more intimate of the two rooms and this was certainly intimate as we were virtually sitting on the stage! My fingers were crossed in the fervent hope that there would be no audience participation! We ordered a bottle of champagne (at 50 pesos a throw it seemed silly not to) and settled down in anticipation of the show. We were shortly joined by a German couple who didn't seem to happy with the table arrangements and the guy tried to arrange a seat for his wife on the table next to ours, much to the annoyance of the four people at that table! I am just surprised that he hadn't arrived at breakfast time and thrown his towel over his preferred seat - sometimes national stereotypes are just so true!
The show commences with a tune from the band and then the dancers arrive. Now, we have watched Strictly Come Dancing (I am embarrassed to admit) but seeing this dancing up so close and in such a small space was incredible. Both of the dancers were amazingly fit and flexible (how many women can touch the back of their head with their stilletos whilst still wearing them?) The male dancer was just how I imagined a tango dancer to be with slicked back hair, wide lapelled suit and the tango shoes that were literally falling to bits (you could actually see his socks. It all just added to the overall, sleazy look. The music too was excellent and all of the musicians were incredible. Then came the tango singer, who, judging by the reaction of the Argentines in the audience was well known and a bit of a comedian (at least I think he was - my Spanish has not improved that much!) was a real character and held the whole show together. At the end of the show the concertina guy, a real virtuoso and well into his 70s, got the longest ovation by far and seemed a bit overwhelmed by it. All in all a great night and so much better than at least I was expecting and we are seriously thinking about booking another show somewhere else.Plus we have already bought a couple of tango music CDs to take home.
The tango orchestra consisted of a pianist, a violinist, a bass player and a guy playing a bandoneon (a bit like an accordion). We had popped into the cafe a few days previously and booked the 9.00pm in the smaller of their two rooms and as we were first on the list, we got pole position right at the front on a table of four that we were to share with two others. We had chosen the smaller, more intimate of the two rooms and this was certainly intimate as we were virtually sitting on the stage! My fingers were crossed in the fervent hope that there would be no audience participation! We ordered a bottle of champagne (at 50 pesos a throw it seemed silly not to) and settled down in anticipation of the show. We were shortly joined by a German couple who didn't seem to happy with the table arrangements and the guy tried to arrange a seat for his wife on the table next to ours, much to the annoyance of the four people at that table! I am just surprised that he hadn't arrived at breakfast time and thrown his towel over his preferred seat - sometimes national stereotypes are just so true!
The show commences with a tune from the band and then the dancers arrive. Now, we have watched Strictly Come Dancing (I am embarrassed to admit) but seeing this dancing up so close and in such a small space was incredible. Both of the dancers were amazingly fit and flexible (how many women can touch the back of their head with their stilletos whilst still wearing them?) The male dancer was just how I imagined a tango dancer to be with slicked back hair, wide lapelled suit and the tango shoes that were literally falling to bits (you could actually see his socks. It all just added to the overall, sleazy look. The music too was excellent and all of the musicians were incredible. Then came the tango singer, who, judging by the reaction of the Argentines in the audience was well known and a bit of a comedian (at least I think he was - my Spanish has not improved that much!) was a real character and held the whole show together. At the end of the show the concertina guy, a real virtuoso and well into his 70s, got the longest ovation by far and seemed a bit overwhelmed by it. All in all a great night and so much better than at least I was expecting and we are seriously thinking about booking another show somewhere else.Plus we have already bought a couple of tango music CDs to take home.
Dec 21st, 2008, 04:22 AM
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 9,369
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm glad you are enjoying it Susanna. I will be adding the BA pages to our blog soon so I will post a lnk here to the photos etc.
We take another walk out to Recoletta, this time to visit the famous cemetery, surely one of the worlds more bizarre tourist destinations! The cemetery itself is very large covering 4 blocks and it is packed with over 6000 mausoleums/ tombs and is almost like a small barrio of its own. The tombs are a bit of an architectural free for all, with many styled like greek temples (plus one or two pyramids). Some are in great condition and some are literally falling down and we see more than a few broken coffins with their contents exposed! The dead however, are not the only residents as the entire place is teeming with cats and we see a few local women setting out bowls of food for them all around the cemetery. The dead buried here include the great,the good and the not so good of Argentina including many ex presidents whose names are familar from the street names, bank presidents (surely not the most popular people at the moment!) and strangely the past presidents of the Argentine Automobile Association,Jockey Club and Taxi Drivers Associations. The most famous resident is of course Evita herself. We read that husband Juan Peron had her buried here covertly at the dead of night allegedly against the wishes of BA's high society. She is buried under 27 feet of concrete as her body has been dug up and stolen on several occasions! As cemeteries go it is certainly one of the most impressive in the world not that we have made a habit of visiting many and is certainly one of the must do's in BA.
We take another walk out to Recoletta, this time to visit the famous cemetery, surely one of the worlds more bizarre tourist destinations! The cemetery itself is very large covering 4 blocks and it is packed with over 6000 mausoleums/ tombs and is almost like a small barrio of its own. The tombs are a bit of an architectural free for all, with many styled like greek temples (plus one or two pyramids). Some are in great condition and some are literally falling down and we see more than a few broken coffins with their contents exposed! The dead however, are not the only residents as the entire place is teeming with cats and we see a few local women setting out bowls of food for them all around the cemetery. The dead buried here include the great,the good and the not so good of Argentina including many ex presidents whose names are familar from the street names, bank presidents (surely not the most popular people at the moment!) and strangely the past presidents of the Argentine Automobile Association,Jockey Club and Taxi Drivers Associations. The most famous resident is of course Evita herself. We read that husband Juan Peron had her buried here covertly at the dead of night allegedly against the wishes of BA's high society. She is buried under 27 feet of concrete as her body has been dug up and stolen on several occasions! As cemeteries go it is certainly one of the most impressive in the world not that we have made a habit of visiting many and is certainly one of the must do's in BA.
Dec 21st, 2008, 09:07 AM
#25
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,738
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
There are so many good stories about the people buried in Recoleta Cemetery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Recoleta_Cemetery
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...pagewanted=all
Some heartbreaking, as in the grave on the right, as you walk in, a young girl was buried,.. Cemetery workers heard sounds , called in for help, the child had not been dead and had tried to get out of the coffin. Her grief stricken mother built this coffin in marble with a carved rose behind a glass wall... on it is a marble statue of a young girl with her hand on the door of her tomb...
Pere LaChaise Cemetery in Paris is larger and much more falling apart, but this one has some wonderful examples of art from each tombs time period.
The Art Nouveau is just amazing..
There are many graves to soldiers too.. not just generals but young men who died ..
It can be very moving if you read some of the stones..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Recoleta_Cemetery
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...pagewanted=all
Some heartbreaking, as in the grave on the right, as you walk in, a young girl was buried,.. Cemetery workers heard sounds , called in for help, the child had not been dead and had tried to get out of the coffin. Her grief stricken mother built this coffin in marble with a carved rose behind a glass wall... on it is a marble statue of a young girl with her hand on the door of her tomb...
Pere LaChaise Cemetery in Paris is larger and much more falling apart, but this one has some wonderful examples of art from each tombs time period.
The Art Nouveau is just amazing..
There are many graves to soldiers too.. not just generals but young men who died ..
It can be very moving if you read some of the stones..
Dec 23rd, 2008, 06:04 AM
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 9,369
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
samanthaalison
South America
4
May 23rd, 2009 11:14 AM
