When I went to post today I was quite surprised to see such a gap since my last post, which was January 31. Here we are almost a week into February—how did that happen?
It’s been a busy week socially, but not really much to post because it’s mostly about tango—fun for me, but not really much that’s new for the blog.
I had thought of going out to sketch today, as it’s a lovely sunny day but not too hot. However, I decided against it because I’m going to a concert with Venetia tonight and it starts quite early. I don’t like to be in a rush getting ready for anything, so I won’t go out this afternoon. But there’s enough I can do at home that that’s probably the best plan for today.
Fileteado Porteño is a traditional art form that originated in Italy (as did many Porteños!) a long time ago. It was long ago adopted by Buenos Aires artesans, and in the past it used to be seen on buses, trucks and more. You still see it on old cafe and store windows. But mostly it’s now done more on signs and wall art.
Here’s a typical example.
Genovese is one of the acknowledged master fileteadores
I took a course on it several years ago when I was visiting, and a few weeks ago I started a new course. This one is more in-depth, and I spent the first three sessions just drawing, but I was doing well so the teacher said he would start me on painting.
Fileteado consists of a number of traditional elementos, including flowers, birds, scrolls and various versions of the Argentine flag. My class on Friday was taken up by drawing and then painting this flower. It’s all the shading that creates the three dimensional look that I like so much. Can’t wait to see what I paint this week!
A couple of days ago the Travel Section of The Washington Post featured an article on Buenos Aires, written by someone else who is obviously smitten by our beautiful city. I thought I’d share it with you, so here’s the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/01/28/buenos-aires-travel-vacation/
I’m happy to see also that this women didn’t scare readers off by talking about the perceived “dangers” of Buenos Aires. We are constantly amazed at the people who come here thinking they are in danger every time they step outside their hotels. Buenos Aires is a huge city of 15 million people, so obviously there will be crime, just as there is in any other big city. But honestly, it’s no worse than others, and a lot less dangerous than many. I can honestly say in all the years I’ve visited and then lived here, I’ve never felt threatened.
On Saturday I got into casual conversation with a woman who was visiting from Italy. She told me quite seriously that while this part of the city (my neighbourhood) was beautiful, the rest of the city was too dangerous and she wouldn’t go further. i couldn’t believe anyone would spend all that money to come all the way from Italy and not see anything beyond Recoleta. Very sad.
So please, if you are considering coming to Buenos Aires, don’t listen to the fear mongerers. It’s a wonderful city, worth the trip in all ways. Enjoy the article.
I’m on a bit of a high this morning! Last night was my night to go with my tango teacher to the milonga. Towards the end of our two hours, we were just coming off the floor and he said, “Wow!”
I said, “Wow?”
He said, “Yes, Helen, wow! That was amazing.”
He went on to say I am more and more taking part in the development of the dance instead of simply following, which is a huge step forward for me. Then he sent me a Whatsapp message later to say how proud he is of me. How cool is that?
While we were sitting out one tanda, we were watching the other dancers on the floor, and he was commenting on how few women do the adornos (decorative footwork) I’ve been working on. I asked him if, when he is at the milonga by himself, he would be more interested in dancing with those who do the fancy footwork, and he was quite definite that he would. Maybe that explains why I am getting more and more dances at the Wednesday milonga. And of course, the better I get at it, the more I love it!
The woman who runs the Wednesday milonga has a slogan: Bailar y bailar que la vida se va — dance and dance as long as you live. Good plan!
In yesterday’s post I mentioned I was going to try a little local restaurant for dinner last night, and I did. Another great find!
Similar to the place Venetia and I went, this is very small and unassuming, but it was full within ten minutes of my arrival. They serve their own fresh made pasta, and the sauce seemed very authentic to me — cherry tomatoes and little broccoli florets. I wanted to have the pannacotta for desert, but they didn’t have any, so I had the tiramisu (never thought that would be second choice for me!) It was presented in a dish, which is kind of unusual, but full of lovely creamy mascarpone. So rich I couldn’t eat it all, so tonight I can have a repeat at home after the milonga!
Definitely a good place to drop in any time as it’s just around the corner.
I started this sketch one morning two weeks ago. It’s a lovely old building a couple of blocks from here that has had a chequered history. Apparently it’s now a government building that’s something to do with heritage. Whatever it is, it’s beautiful!
I couldn’t finish it because it was very hot, and all that detail was taking a long time. Since then we’ve been having this heatwave, and it’s never been comfortable enough to finish it until today. So finally, here it is.
Corner of Alvear and Rodriguez Peña
You’ll see I didn’t put in the other buildings beside it, because they were just modern glass and concrete blocks. That’s something you see a lot in Buenos Aires, lovely old colonial buildings side-by-side with modern ones that often have nothing to add to the esthetic. Fortunately, there are enough of the beautiful ones to maintain the overall charm and beauty of the city.
Among my group of friends, we eat out at lot—maybe you’ve noticed! We’re always looking for new places to try, and there are so many restaurants and cafes in Buenos Aires you couldn’t try them all in a lifetime. But this week, Venetia and I found a hidden gem.
Someone sent us one of those “top ten” lists, and one of the places was called Gran Dabbang. The article description said, “A glorious mash-up of Indian and South American food, this modest, no-frills restaurant serves sharing plates that are surprising, innovative and always delicious.” The photos looked yummy, so we decided to give it a try.
There was a bit of a glitch, as earlier in the afternoon we finally got the long-awaited rain, and for a while it looked like a typhoon out there, so we weren’t sure how our plans would work out. Anyway, it did stop, and it was a go.
Gran Dabbang is near where Venetia lives in the barrio of Palermo, and she said she has passed it many times and never gave it a second glance, and I can see why. It’s that kind of place—small and very ordinary looking, as you can see from the photos below. They didn’t take reservations, and their site said they opened at 7.45 pm. I arrived right at that time, Venetia was already there and so were several other people, all waiting for the doors to open—we figured this was a good sign.
In short, it was great—definitely on our list to go again. We shared three dishes: some sort of chicken tikka, but not the sort I’ve had before—this one had sliced figs on and they gave us lettuce leaves to wrap it in; a curry consisting mainly of corn but with sliced plums on top, and some rice. I think I’ve mentioned before that generally speaking, Argentines don’t like spicy food. The waiter assured us the dishes were not hot—but we told him we wanted hot, the spicier the better. So he brought us a dish of thinly sliced fresh green chilis, and that made it just about perfect.
The only dessert on the list was some kind of chocolate thingy topped with hockeypockey. I had to have it, if only to find out what hockeypockey was—and it turned out to be what in Scotland we call puff candy, and in Canada sponge toffee. Anyway, I haven’t had it in years and it took me back to my childhood!
Yummy dark chocolate mousse topped with hockeypockey!
I’m going to try a new Italian place in my hood tonight. No plans to meet anyone, so I’ll just pop round on my own and report back to the other chicas if I think it’s worth a return visit!
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with neurographic art, and I decided to introduce some of my friends to it. Last night was neurographic art night at my place, and we were six chicas altogether.
It was so much fun. I explained to them what I knew about it, and then led them through the process step-by-step. Of course the consumption of wine was encouraged, which may have made the end products even better—or maybe just seem better to us!
Here are some shots of the evening, as well as the pieces we produced.
Mine
Vivi’s
Gillian’s
Danger, women at work!
Venetia’s
Joanna’s
Sally’s
As I’ve been making neurographic pieces like a mad woman this week, I thought I might as well include some photos of those too!
Earlier this week I posted photos of Ale’s new jacket, but these photos were a surprise.
We arrived quite early, as we usually do in order to have a less crowded floor. As it happened, this time we were so early that there were a few people at the tables but nobody rushing onto the floor. Nobody except us, that is. Maybe Ale just wanted to show off his jacket, but in any case we ended up giving an exhibition—it felt like we were on Strictly Coming Dancing!
Turns out one of the people at the tables was a friend of Ale’s and she took photos. So here they are—a record of our “show” at the milonga!
A couple of weeks ago I posted photos of the kimono I hand-painted. Well, I wore it to the milonga when I went with Ale and Lina, and Ale asked if I would paint a jacket he had just bought for tango!
I have to say I was a bit nervous putting paint on his new jacket, but he had seen and approved my sketches and where they would go, so eventually I bit the bullet and did it. He was delighted, so that was a big “whew!” for me.
Anyway, last night he wore the new jacket to the milonga and was very keen to have it photographed. He wanted me in the photo too, as it is “our” jacket! He commandeered a woman at the next table to take the photos, and she took a lot. So here’s one showing the tango dancer design on the left side, and one with the fileteado design on the right pocket. He asked the woman to take one with a tango pose as well, and since Ale is the king of the gancho (leg wrap) that’s what we did for the camera! (I should have remembered to suck my stomach in for that one!)
