One of the loveliest sights in Buenos Aires in early summer is the profusion of jacaranda trees all over the city. Here’s a selection of photos I took on various streets over the past few days.
From the roof of Venetia’s building
Outside my building
Purple lace
Jacarandas around the beautiful French Embassy
The other side of my street
Last night was the monthly wine and tapas night at the home of one of the BAIN members. It was lots of fun as usual, and had the added bonus of being held in an absolutely amazing apartment. It was so big you could get lost in it — in fact Venetia almost did!
The host is a woman who is highly placed at the American Embassy, and the place certainly reflected that. The phrase “how the other half lives” came to mind!
Setting out my Portuguese pastries (pasteis de nata). If I showed up without these now, everyone would be diappointed!
With my friend Lynne.
Small group of “regulars”!
Believe it or not, this was on the balcony, and you can only see half of it here! Beautiful.
What a lovely night we had on Friday! Venetia had tickets for yet another wonderful free concert at the Kirchner Centre. A friend of hers is visiting from England, so he came along and I also invited Cecilia.
The concert featured the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Argentina, and for the second half there was also a huge, amazing choir. You can just barely see them on the level above the stage in this photo.
Like most people who see a performance here for the first time, Ian was blown away with the place, the concert — and the fact that it’s free!
I just pinched this photo from Venetia’s Facebook page!
The concert finished just before 10 pm, but this is Buenos Aires so the night was still young and we weren’t finished yet. Cecilia lives quite far away, so she left, but Venetia, Ian and I went on to one of our all-time favourite places (which I’ve written about here before), La Poesia. It’s one of the old Bares Notables, and has the most wonderful ambiance as well as food and — if you’re lucky — entertainment. Tonight we were lucky.
As we were finishing our dinner, a woman came in the front door and I asked Venetia if it was the woman who sings. She doesn’t look anything like an entertainer, so I wasn’t sure, but Venetia said she thought it was. Sure enough, a few moments later the woman took up her place in front of the door and began to sing. No accompaniment, no stage, and plenty of ambient noise, but her beautiful voice rose above it all. My late husband would have said she had a “whisky voice”, which is just what you need to sing tango. I asked her to sing Cancion de Buenos Aires, one of my favourite tango songs, but I didn’t like to video it as she was standing right in front of me. Maybe next time I’ll ask her if I can. In the meantime, I hope this video will give you a taste for her singing as well as the lovely old place itself.
If you ever come to visit me in Buenos Aires, La Poesia will definitely be one of the places I take you to!
This week I signed up a lovely new client. I am going to coach her through writing her book and then editing and publishing it. I can’t wait to get started. In the meantime, of course, a new client means new tango shoes — and here they are!
My friend Patti recently asked me if I really needed more tango shoes. Of course nobody really needs more tango shoes, but when you are a tanguera it becomes an obsession. It’s all part of the marvellous tango subculture here in Buenos Aires and one of the many reasons I love my life here.
Like the shoes?
There are so many occasions when odd things happen that we expats simply shrug and say, “Ah well, it’s Buenos Aires.” It’s said with love and a smile, of course, because it’s the quirky things that make this such a special city. In the past two days, two things brought that response from me.
Roberto
At Sueño Porteño with Lina and Anneliese
Last night I went to the milonga with my friend Lina, and an Australian woman she had met up with recently. Anneliese doesn’t dance, but she did want to see tango. Not the “tourist tango” you see in the big shows, which isn’t really tango at all, but she wanted to see the real thing. So Lina and I took her to the milonga. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and champagne and picadas at Lina’s place afterwards was a nice finishing touch.
But I digress. This is about Roberto.
I met Roberto at the same milonga last year. I’m not exaggerating when I say he has to be pushing ninety, but he’s there, dancing almost every dance. Not very energetically it has to be said, but dancing nonetheless — I hope I can still dance at his age. A few weeks ago I noticed that I hadn’t seen him at the milonga for quite some time, and given his age, I admit I did wonder if he had died. Well, he hasn’t.
Last night he not only asked me to dance, but he propositioned me! He said he would show me a good time if I went to Quilmes (a nearby town) with him next weekend. We would dance tango on Saturday and Sunday nights, and I could stay at his house so that we could “get to know each other better”. He told me to bring my pyjamas! I played the old “My Spanish is not very good” card, and made sure I didn’t catch his eye for any more dances. Ah yes, Buenos Aires!
To Try or Not to Try?
Again I was with Lina this afternoon, checking out the shopping in a barrio called Flores, which I had never visited before. It was at the end of the subway line, an adventure for me all by itself as I only go on the subway with people who know where they are going. We had a nice lunch in a Korean restaurant and then prowled the shops.
We both found something we liked in the same shop. Mine was a very full tunic-length dress I wanted to wear with leggings, with those nice “cold shoulders” that I like so much. I asked to try it on, and the girl pointed out the two prices on the ticket. One was labelled Mayor, and was 477 pesos. the other said Menor, and was 755 pesos. I’m quite used to two prices on things here, but usually it means the higher one is for payment by card, and the lower one cash, but this was different. When I inquired, I was told that if I took the dress without trying it on, I would pay 477 pesos, but if I wanted to try it on, it would cost 755 pesos. Almost 300 pesos to try it on! I took a chance, and when I got it home it fitted perfectly. And 477 pesos is Cdn. $10.59, so it wasn’t much of a risk!
When the guy explained the numbers, we looked at each other with a shrug, and said, “Buenos Aires!”
I just love my life here!
Several years ago now, my dear friend Cecilia introduced me to a group of her friends which they call Ruta 40. This is a major highway that runs the length of Argentina, similar to the TransCanada Highway or Route 66. These friends all do lots of road trips and often find themselves traveling the legendary road — hence the name.
They meet once a month at someone’s home, and when I first started going it was a challenge for me because everyone was speaking at once in rapid Spanish. Now it’s kind of a measure of how far my Spanish has come, as I can pretty much keep up for most of the conversations.
Anyway, now that I have a nice big apartment, I can take my turn at hosting, and last night was my first time. It was a smallish group, just eight plus me, but we made plenty of noise with chatting and laughing. These photos will give you a taste.
Thanks for coming, everyone!
Last night I couldn’t be bothered cooking dinner (not unusual for me) and had decided to go out and have pizza at Nonna Angiulina, a favourite place near me. However, I ran into Lolly, who belongs to the same expat group as I do. We have lived in the same neighbourhood for ages, and this is the first time we’ve run into each other.
She invited me to come with her and her friend Sherry, who is visiting from Texas, for Vietnamese food at Saigon Noodles. I had never been there, and I really enjoyed the curried pork — which was hot and spicy, and that isn’t easy to come by here in Buenos Aires.
I had a lovely time — thanks Lolly!
We’ve had thunderstorms all night, with very heavy rain, and so far it looks as if it’s on for the day. I had plans to go to an afternoon milonga, but if this keeps up I’ll be staying home.
In the meantime, it’s a good day to catch up with my blog. Not in any particular order, here’s some of what’s been happening for me in beautiful Buenos Aires over the past week or so.
Bares Notables Research
La Poesia is one of my favourites of these lovely old bars, and in fact it might top my list. That’s because it has an old, traditional Buenos Aires kind of feel to it, and the food is excellent. You can also often be unexpectedly entertained, sometimes by wandering professionals, sometimes — like this time — by enthusiastic amateurs. The pianist came up to our table and asked if we would like to sing and he would accompany us. We assured him he didn’t want to hear any of us sing, but we would happily listen. This lady took up the challenge and we thought she did well.
La Biela
Last Sunday was one of those glorious spring days that felt like summer. I met up with a bunch of friends on the patio of La Biela, a favourite summer spot for almost everyone. After quaffing some wine and chatting, Venetia, Sasha and I went up to wander around the artesan market, where we all managed to get some money spent.
On the way back, we passed La Biela again and came upon this man singing opera. We listened to him for quite a while, although I just videoed his last song. These ladies at the table beside him were clearly Italian (many Porteños are of Italian heritage) and joined in heartily especially in the Neapolitan love songs.
Free Concert at the CCK
Last night Venetia and I went to a beautiful concert at the Central Cultural Kirchner, known as the CCK. I didn’t take any photos, but simply sat back and drank in the wonderful music. It was the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, who are always a pleasure. They had a guest clarinetist, who raised the roof with the last piece, a blend of classical music and jazz. Even the other musicians were mesmerized with his amazing clarinet solos.
And as always, I’m amazed that we can enjoy this calibre of concert absolutely free!
Well I see it is kind of drying up just a bit outside, so I must take advantage of this lull to go out and buy some groceries. The milonga is still in doubt, but I do have to eat!
I’m so excited about this news I have to tell you! Yesterday I had a meeting with Argentinidades, an Argentine book publishing company. I first met them in April 2018 at the huge Buenos Aires Book Fair, where I gave them a copy of Rare Steak, Red Wine, Hot Tango. They showed a lot of interest, but nothing happened after the fair.
But a few weeks ago I had an email from them, asking to meet with me to talk about the book. I have to say the meeting was hilarious, because Juan’s English was barely as good as my Spanish, which is pretty good for everyday life, but challenging for a business meeting. He kept hitting his forehead and exclaiming, “Ay, my English!”, while I did the same while muttering, “Ay, mi español!” Funny.
But the outcome is that they are going to translate the book, publish and distribute it in Spanish throughout South America! Not only that, but when I told them about the new book I’m writing about the Bares Notables, he jumped on that too.
I am adding two new chapters to the first book, as I want to make it a second edition. I need to have that finished and the manuscript of the second one finished by February, so that they can do the translation and get the books ready to promote at the 2020 Book Fair. How exciting is that?!
But there’s more! (I sound like one of those late night knife commercials!) They are kicking around a new book project about Buenos Aires, and they have invited me to be one of the authors on the team! That one hasn’t been finalized yet, so it’s fingers, toes and eyes crossed. It won’t make me rich, but it will help build my reputation as someone who writes about Argentina with love in her heart, which is what I want.
Couldn’t wait to tell you. Tonight we are doing another Bares Notables research dinner, so we will be hoisting a glass of champagne to celebrate!
There’s a big French cultural event going on in Buenos Aires over the next couple of weeks, and Venetia, Cecilia and I decided to take in the market at the French Embassy on Sunday. It turned out to be a beautiful early spring day, and the crowd was huge.
Even at an event like this, French food is always a treat. For a quick lunch on the move, I had an open-faced brie sandwich on yummy bread with walnuts and raisins; Venetia had a terrine of three different game meats; and Cecilia had a salmon mousse. All delicious.
Delicious chocolates and other goodies
It wasn’t all food. This lady was doing lovely pottery dishes
There was no shortage of sweets either. We all purchased little squares of rich, dark chocolate, alhough I was very strong and avoided the waffles!
The embassy itself is open on this one day every year for public tours, but the line-ups are so long it’s ridiculous. I did plan, nonetheless, to show up at 9.30 am and wait in line, but I have a rotten cold and just didn’t feel up to it. Next year!
I think I’ve said this somewhere before, but in a city renowned for its wonderful architecture, the French Embassy is one of the most beautiful. I can wander round it looking up so long I end up with a crick in my neck!