One of our friends is called Montserrat. She is originally from Barcelona, but lives in England and is a professor at the University of Canterbury. She is here for six months doing research on the Catalan community in Argentina and other South American countries. She is also an avid tango dancer.
Today, she invited Venetia and me to have lunch with her at Casal Catalunya, which is basically Catalan House. It’s a lovely old building, with a great restaurant in it. We were treated to a selection of little dishes chosen by the chef, Damian, and it was a very different, and lovely, way to enjoy lunch.
The elegant entrance to Casal Catalunya
Our friend, Montserrat
Closeup of the lovely Catalan tiles on the walls
This is the biggest pepper mill I’ve ever seen!
Now I’m home relaxing a bit, because later I’m going out again to a dinner party at the home of some friends. I will definitely be rolling into bed tonight after all this eating and drinking and talking!
Some time ago, Venetia and I signed up for a tour of Caballito, a barrio neither of us knows very well. It included a ride on a vintage tram, which is what we both were really interested in. Yesterday was the day, so off we went, using a combination of buses and quite a bit of walking, and eventually we found the tour.
The first part, and for me the best, was a visit to La Época, a very old barber shop that has been converted into a museum of barbering. Yeah, I know. We all filed into its very narrow interior and were immediately fascinated by the artifacts, all connected in some way to the art and business of barbering.
Then the star of the show arrived. He was Barnes Miguel Angel, who owns the museum as well as the barber shop, which still serves customers today. He was a real showman, and he gave us a great, funny history of barbering, right from the days when the barber not only cut hair but also pulled teeth and performed minor surgery!
He explained that the red and white stripes in the barber shop sign represents white for the sheets and red for the blood — I’ll bet you didn’t know that either!
Here I am sitting outside the shop, waiting for the tour to begin, and this is the old sign above the shop door.
Then we walked around a very ritzy area of the barrio, with some amazing homes is a variety of styles. I took just a couple of photos of some of the ones I liked best — and I loved this old mailbox!
Finally, we arrived at the tram. They only have two, and the trip takes almost half an hour, so we had quite a wait, but it was a fun experience in the end.
Thanks to Mara, a young woman we met in the line, who helped us understand when our Spanish failed us.
On the way to the tour, we both noticed that there are some interesting looking shops in Caballito, so we will definitely go back by ourselves to check those out, and we are looking forward to meeting up with Mara again for a coffee sometime soon.
I belong to a great group called BAIN, or Buenos Aires International Newcomers. It’s a lovely mix of expats from many countries and Argentines. Once a month we have a wine and tapas night at a member’s home, and last night it was here at my new place. If I do say so myself, it was a great party!
People brought tons of great food and a lot of wine. Venetia took charge in the kitchen and did any ongoing tidying that needed doing, leaving me to entertain my guests and generally enjoy the evening. Here are some photos Venetia took. I know you don’t know these people, but I hope the photos will give you some idea that everybody was having a good time.
If you haven’t read yesterday’s post, check that first or this won’t make sense.
So I realized the big canvas was really too big for me right now, but I was bound and determined to get something on the wall for my party on Friday. So I went down to the smaller size, which still felt quite big as I was pouring it.
The first thing I discovered was that I absolutely hate the new white paint I bought. When I poured it, the whole surface was covered with tiny lumps. At first I thought they were air bubbles, which are easily fixed with heat, but the hair dryer didn’t help and that’s when I realized they were wee lumps — gazillions of them! By this time I had all the colours mixed, so I decided to go ahead anyway. The pour turned out not bad — not great, but acceptable — but these lumps wouldn’t budge. I poked a finger into one of them and managed to lift it out, but it left a dent. Hmmmm, what if I made dents all over? Would they disguise the bumps? Nothing to lose, so that’s what I did. Weird effect and it definitely is not a permanent part of my decor, but it saved the day. Here it is.
But I didn’t want to let go of the big canvas, so first thing this morning I spread it out on the kitchen counter. I had an idea of what I thought could work, so I mixed all the paint and did all the faffing about you have to do, and eventually I was ready. I poured. OMG, what a disaster. Made it worse than before. The paint was so thick it would hardly move on the canvas — even though it seemed fine in the cup. I usually paint over my failures, but I felt there was too much on this canvas already and I just couldn’t handle trying again. So I attacked it with a box cutter, cut out the canvas, rolled it up and pitched it in the garbage!
Next thing: hang the picture, as well as my Rabbie Burns plate. I went into the art supply store downstairs and, not knowing the word for a picture hook, explained what it was for. He didn’t get it, and eventually he gave up and said he didn’t have any. I went to the hardware store, and here is a translation of the conversation:
Me: I’m looking for some of those little things you use to hang pictures.
Him: What things?
Me (miming): You know, to hang pictures on the wall.
Him: You want a picture frame?
Me: No, just something to hang a picture.
Him: Ah, you mean a canvas!
Me: No. I have a canvas. I have painted a picture on the canvas. Now I want to hang it on the wall. What do you use to hang pictures on the wall?
Him: Nails.
Ah well then, why didn’t I think of that? They sell the nails individually here, so I bought a dozen and now the first picture is hung. Don’t laugh, but here it is! I know, I know, it’s way too small for the space, but hey — as we say in Scotland (I translate) “If you take what you have you never want.” When I got the nails in, the picture wasn’t in the middle over the couch. I was hyperventilating at the thought of messing with those nails all afternoon, so I just moved the couch to fit under the picture! (I think I still have to move it a couple of inches.)
Anyway, lesson learned. I’m now going to go out and buy a whole lot of small canvases and do what I did in Toronto when I started pouring. I’ll experiment with all the different materials and make notes of the results until I get what I want. And then maybe I’ll try the big canvas again.
So this is the state of my dining room table this morning. I have been struggling for a couple of weeks now to get back to where I was with acrylic pouring before I left Toronto, and I am beyond frustrated. The thing is, with acrylic pouring it’s all about the chemical interactions between the paints themselves, and between the paints and the other substances we use to pour the painting. I can’t get the materials here I used in Canada, so I’ve been experimenting with alternatives.
Finally this week, I found a pouring medium in an art supply store I hadn’t visited yet — and what a treasure trove that turned out to be! It’s not the brand I’ve used before, but it’s at least made for the purpose. OK.
However, there is also a huge difference among the various brands of paint, whether it’s in Canada or down here or anywhere else. In other words, a lot of experimentation is called for. That would be fine if I had lots of time. However, I’m having my first big party in this apartment on Friday night, and the walls are almost empty. It desperately needs at least something over my famous red couch. I’ve actually produced some small pieces that are OK, but instead of gradually working my way up to the big canvas, I dived right in — big mistake. First, I really don’t have space to do something that is 60 cm x 160 cm, so I pushed furniture around and made space on the floor. Then I put a cushion inside a plastic bag so I could kneel on it.
Reaching across the canvas was bad enough, but you also have to tilt these canvases to get certain effects, and it was way too big and heavy. The fact that the paint was way too thick didn’t help. So, as I often do, I rushed in where angels fear to tread, and the result was an epic fail.
Still determined to get something over the couch, I mixed up some new paint last night, ready to work today on a 40 cm x 80 cm canvas. I have a feeling I don’t like this white paint, but we’ll see.
And once I’ve done something on that, I’m going back to the big one to see what I can do to rescue it — every time I pass it by I tell the canvas, “This is not over.”
Back a few weeks ago, we wen to Miramar and were hosted by Cecilia’s cousin Carlitos. Yesterday he arrived to stay a few days with Cecilia, and she invited Venetia and me for lunch. It was also the birthday of her sister Hemilce, who was also there. It was fun to see Carlitos again!
Cecilia’s familiy really is my Argentine family.
When we all get together, it’s a challenge for me to understand what’s going on, but it does get easier, and it’s always fun! Venetia, as always, did photo duty — Gracias Venetia.
In past years around about this time, I was preparing to go home to Canada, and one of the things I did every year was a video of me dancing with my friend and tango teacher, Alejandro Puerta. This year, of course, I’m not going back to Canada, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do a tango video. So this week during my lesson we did one. Actually, we did quite a few. Alejandro decided the entire focus of the lesson should be videos, and then I could choose the best one for the blog. What a riot it was!
First, we did the whole first dance and then I realized I hadn’t switched on the video, so we did another one to the same music — that’s the reason for all the silliness at the beginning of the video.
I’ve chosen that one to put here, because it nicely illustrates how tango can go from fast and furious, staccato and powerful to soft, slow and sensuous and back again all in a few moments.
I still have a lot of footage of the other dances and I might try to edit some of the clips into another video and add it here, but I like this one best anyway. I hope you like it too — let me know.
Yesterday, May 1, was Labour Day here, as in much of the world outside North America. It’s a holiday, and pretty much everything is closed.
However, it’s also the day they hold the Gran Premio Republica Argentina horse race and a few of us decided to go. We were blessed with one of those beautiful summer days that sometimes interrupt fall, so that was a bonus.
There was also a street food fair in the grounds of the Hipodromo, so we managed to have some tasty lunch between races. You don’t pay to get into the horse racing here, which makes it an even more attractive day out.
Here are just a few photos of our afternoon.
The horses strut their stuff in the paddock before going out to the track for the race.
The view from our seat on the steps, where you get a better view of the race than down at track level.
The Winner’s Circle!
There was also a feature on sustainable hats — not sure what that actually means, but they were fun. Here some lovely young women show them off.
Having a seat after the exhausting activity of watching the races!
Yesterday there was a festival of coffee at the Plaza de Peru, one of the many green spaces amongst all the buildings in the city. Venetia and Lolly and I went along in late morning, and as soon as we got off the bus beside the entrance, we could smell the coffee! There were dozens of stands all around the sides, many of which had freshly brewed coffee, and the blending of all the aromas made for a heady aroma!
At the first stand we were offered a taste of something called “coffee marmalade”, which was actually quince jam strongly flavoured with coffee. Oh my — I bought a jar immediately and enjoyed more than I should have after dinner last night!
One of the most famous cafes in Buenos Aires, Las Violetas, had a very imaginative stand that was really a miniature cafe, complete with a waiter in white jacket!
Here are some photos of the goods on offer, as well as the people enjoying a late summer day and a cup of great coffee.
Well once again I haven’t been diligent in keeping up my blog, so I now find myself on Saturday morning having to think about what I’ve done all week — heaven knows it’s not that I haven’t done anything!
Saturday
I’ll start with last Saturday. It was a lovely warm, sunny day, one of those that reminds us that summer hasn’t given up yet— and which usually finds me wearing the wrong clothes! Venetia and I went off to Palermo, one of the largest barrios in the city. It has a distinct bohemian vibe, as well as some excellent shopping.
Our destination was the fair, where we both shopped quite a lot. I got some great pants and a very funky bracelet. I’m inspired by Argentine women who wear tons of big jewelry all at once — and of course if you know me, you know I need absolutely no encouragement!
We also had a very nice, healthy lunch in a great restaurant I will definitely go back to.
Sunday
Sunday was, of course, Easter. Cecilia, who loves nothing more than having her house overrun with guests, issued a lunch invitation to a Facebook group we have called “Fun in Buenos Aires”, and there were three takers: Venetia, Wendy and me. She also had Renee and Ximena who were visiting from Chile, as well as Nicole and her mother, Amalia, from Peru — they are both staying with Cecilia for a while yet. Then of course there was her own family — Joaquin and Corina were there for the meal, and Pia and Valentin dropped in for a moment on their way to Valentin’s family dinner. It was festive and fun.
Monday
Our Easter holiday here is Thursday to Sunday, so on Monday I was back at work. I did take time out, though, to go and buy calendula and arnica creams for my bruised face and knee. My face has actually healed remarkably well, and as I write this it has faded to the point where it’s not noticeable with just a touch of makeup. The knee is another story — but after I started with the arnica the healing has speeded up a bit.
Tuesday
Tonight I did a couple of paintings. As I think I mentioned before, I’m having trouble getting the paint mix right because down here I can’t get the stuff I used in Toronto. I used to buy it on Amazon, but alas Amazon doesn’t operate here — one of the things I miss most! Anyway, I did these two small canvases and they are not bad. I’m having a big party on May 10, and I want to have some large ones on the wall by that time, so need to get on with it.
Thursday
Thursday is my usual tango lesson day, and today it was even more fun than usual. Renee told me she would like a tango lesson while she was here, and I’m always happy to refer people to Alejandro. So we all went together. My lesson was first, and then he gave Renee an introductory lesson afterwards — she did very well. Ximena made a video of part of my lesson, but I won’t post it here because Alejandro and I plan to do one next week and I think it will be better. Love tango more and more!
Friday
Yesterday began with a visit to the hospital to see Cecilia, who was having some surgery. She went home this morning and is feeling fine.
The early part of the evening was the monthly BAIN event (Buenos Aires International Newcomers, which I’ve mentioned before). I always enjoy the socializing, but this time there was an extra surprise. Out of the blue, these two young women began to sing — and sublime singing it was. They performed three or four opera songs, and then everybody’s favourite Neapolitan song, O Sole Mio. It was such a lovely surprise and so typical of what happens in Buenos Aires! They are opera students, and apparently they perform free every Sunday at the San Telmo market, so we’ll definitely be going to see them there. Thanks to Venetia for sharing one of her videos of this extraordinary event.
After the BAIN event I was invited to a small dinner party at the home of two new friends, Rick and Lily. Rick is Argentine and Lily is Bolivian, but they live in the US. They come here for several months every year, and I was honoured to be invited to their home. There was an interesting collection of guests, and Rick was masterful in the way he invited each person to tell their story and encouraged interaction among the guests. They live just about a ten minute walk from me, which was a good thing because it was about 1.45 am by the time the party broke up!
And that brings me up to date. Oh, I almost forgot — I got a marriage proposal in the park last Saturday! A man invited me to sit down with him and enjoy the sun, so I did — why not? It’s Argentina after all. He told me all about himself and said he was looking for a woman to share his life. Someone beautiful, intelligent and adventurous. Then he said I could be just the one for him and what about it? I said I’d keep an eye open for the right woman, but it wasn’t me! Only in Argentina!
