A tourist in Buenos Aires

I had an abnormal day today – 24 hours passed with no dancing. Yet, I had a wonderful time. Today being Sunday, there are no Tango lessons at any place and I have no private classes scheduled. In a way it is good as it forces me to be a normal tourist in the city. My agenda was to go to Recoleta (see the famous cemetery where Eva Peron is buried - Picture 1) and then on to San Telmo to the Sunday market.

At Recoleta, they have a handicrafts Artisan market every Sunday and on holidays. I was expecting it to be similar to the one at San Telmo, but this one was a lot better. Nicer handicrafts, and I think cheaper prices. I spent three hours browsing through all the stores and wishing I could buy most of the things I saw – paintings, photos, handmade jewelry, woolen ponchos, crochet tops, mate are just some of the things I longed for. I had to curb my instinct to buy everything I liked – I am way too familiar with my impulse buying habit – It looks great, I get caught up in the moment, buy things and then never use it, or can find something better and cheaper elsewhere. I did get a few pieces of casual jewelry and a beautiful & unique fruit basket for my mother who loves that kind of stuff. (Picture 1: Zeynep and Dave at the Market)

After shopping, I went to the cemetery. It was like nothing I have seen before. There are no tombstones like I was expecting, rather they have small house like structures for families and or individual bodies. Some of them being so ornate. It was quite remarkable.

I did not expect to spend as much time as I did in Ricoleta. It was already 6pm – 6 hrs in Ricoleta later – I was tired. I came back to the casa to freshen up, then went to San Telmo. By the time I arrived there, the market had almost ended, but there were a lot of street artists playing music and dancing. I wanted to go to the Milonga Del Indio at the square at Defensa and Carlos Calvo – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – a Milonga or a street performance. It turned out to be a performance of a couple of Tango dancers. They were good, but I have seen better at the tango lessons I have taken and at some of the Milongas.

Next stop was dinner. My friend Dave leaves tomorrow for Cordoba and I won’t see him again, so had a farewell dinner. We craved spicy food, so I suggested this Indian restaurant I saw in my guide book called Bangalore (at Humboldt 1416). I thought it would be a hole in the wall place with good food, but I was surprised by how nice it was. It was far better (in terms of ambience and quality of food) than most Indian Restaurants that I have been to in the US. The meal with a bottle of wine was less than $20 per person. I liked the place so much, I think I will go back – maybe take Luis (my tango teacher) and/or Daniela (from the Casa) to lunch as they are both vegetarians too and I think would enjoy this food.

After dinner, I was itching to dance. I had not been to a night Milonga in a couple of days, and had not danced for over 24hrs – so I did go to a Milonga. We went to El Beso (apparently it is “the” place to go to on Sunday nights). We got there at 12:30am, and it was packed. Excellent dancers, a joy to watch them. I danced a few tandas – enough to satisfy my craving to dance. I watched others dance and noticed that not one girl on the dance floor wore closed toe shoes…. All wore beautiful strappy high heeled sandals. I was the only one with the classic closed toe shoes, and suddenly felt so old-fashioned in them. Still, old fashioned or not, they are by far the most comfortable to wear while dancing.

After being content with my little bit of dancing and watching others dance, I was ready to leave for home. Another fabulous day spent in Buenos Aires.