A Post Office, a Cemetery, Eva Peron and Tango

Yes, finally we got to see tango but first things first.

B spent most of the morning trying to find a tango event to go to and then when she did it was a very protracted process. Finally she had secured a booking at Senor Tango (recommended by our bike guide a few days prior) and a pick-up time in a shuttle at 9pm or within a half hour of that time.

Our café (no it is not me!)

It was then time to go out. We had a coffee at our usual café and because it was quiet Dani (the owner) chatted with us and asked us where we came from. He then started talking about having had the best coffee in Sydney in a place he couldn't recall. He had set up his business with his ex-wife who was Indonesia and whom he had met when he was a student at University in Russia. He wanted to go and live in Mendoza (having established that we were going there the next day). In between time we wrote some post-cards.

It was the writing of the post-cards that then initiated a search for a post office. They are not very abundant in BA. In fact we did not find one! Even post boxes are almost non-existent. We know that there is mail as a letter arrived for the owner of our apartment. We asked a policeman who did

Artwork out side the cemetery

not speak English but understood what we wanted and pointed us in the direction of Plaza Italia. We could not find one there so B asked a young woman who spoke good English and she tried to find one but without success. Obviously we are old fashioned or it is a mode of sending things that is almost non-existent.

Church that features in many postcards

We then headed for the famous cemetery in Recoleta to view the houses of the wealthy deceased. On the way we spotted a mall and another young woman there was able to give us very precise directions (to a Post office) which was a relief. However on the way we popped into an information centre where we were given some more directions, but on exiting we saw a place selling post-cards and they sold a form of postage. So rather than searching out the Post-Office we finally got our stamps there!

The cemetery was amazing. It was a well ordered maze of little buildings or mausoleums. It was where presidents were buried and other well to do and important figures both political and it seems military. The pictures give you some idea of the graves and architecture. Clearly some are family plots as you can see in a couple pictures have the caskets stacked in their mausoleums. We found Eva Peron's plot which was not the most audacious but people still leave flowers there for her.

Apple eating

Our tango show was at 10pm and we were to be picked up at 9pm or thereabouts so we decided to eat early. Near where we were staying there was parrilla which had food for reasonable prices so we thought we would try it out. The food was simple. We started with a provelone (a mozzarella type cheese covered with olives, tomatoes and onion. It was quite rich but very tasty. The main was a bife de chorizo, a sirloin steak with some nice grilled vegetables. B and I shared both dishes and we were very pleased that we did as just one of the courses would have been enough.

Our pick-up point was around the corner from the restaurant. We got there on time but after half an hour no one had arrived. In the end we decided no-one was coming so a very kind and harassed hotel receptionist ordered us a taxi. The man had been dealing with a succession of angry people as they had lost the water supply and no one had been fixing it. He was desperate to finish his shift.

View of main cemetery lane

A very nice taxi driver who had some English took us to our venue in Baraccas (an unsafe neighbourhood we were told by our driver more than once). There was a vague apology for the miscommunication about our pick up (having missed 30 minutes of the show) from the admitting staff and we were ushered quickly to our seats for the show. We had a table in a little box on a balcony which afforded us a great view of the performers.

There was a small group of musicians consisting of a couple of violinists, cellist, double bassist, pianist and three accordian players. Three quarters of them were over 70, I would estimate, but they were very professional and I only noticed one of them nodding off while he was waiting to do something. The dancers were amazing, very skillful and the women looked great in their various costumes. To dance the tango it helps to be coordinated, skinny and have very long legs (if a woman). The women tend to work much harder than the men. There was a bit of singing by a very good tenor and at the end of the show a woman sang “Don’t cry for me Argentina” in Spanish. It was a very moving rendition which had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. There were mostly Argentinians in the audience who appeared very passionate and patriotic.

It was not so much a tango show but a showcase of the tango and Argentinian music. The singing after a couple of songs I could have done without - it didn't help that the lyrics were in Spanish!

B wanted to go to another show at a "Milonga" (local hall) which also had dancers doing the tango (very different to what we had just seen) but I kindly declined as it was getting too late for me to go out clubbing. Instead we stopped off at our little restaurant and had B’s new favourite drink, limoncello. It was a very nice way to end an eventful and interesting day.