This week I went again to Cafe Tortoni. I know it’s a tourist trap, but it’s really so beautiful I can’t resist it. I love the old pictures on the walls, the art deco ceiling—and the ghosts of artists and writers of the past that seem to hover over everything.
But on this particular afternoon I had been walking around downtown and it was time for some afternoon coffee. I was near Tortoni, so I decided to try a specialty they have made famous. It’s called a submarino.
They bring you a cup of hot milk, accompanied by a small submarine-shaped chocolate bar. You drop it into the cup and submerge it in the milk, and then you stir it till it melts. Now that’s how to make hot chocolate!
International Women’s Day
When I left the cafe after my usual breakfast, after saying goodbye as usual, the waiter said to me Feliz Dia, or Happy Day. I thought this must be some variation on Have a Nice Day. But no, it turned out it was International Women’s Day, and I found out they take it quite seriously here.
Cecilia called me later in the morning and said she was going out to lunch with Macarena and Daniela to celebrate El Dia de la Mujer, and invited me to join them. We went to a place called Victoria, about half an hour away from Cecilia’s home, and had lunch in a restaurant overlooking a lovely little marina full of boats.
I went for my Spanish lesson that night, and the place is downtown. At one point we could hardly hear ourselves talk, and the teacher explained that this was the main street leading to Plaza de Mayo, and these were people parading up there to celebrate the day, and also to protest injustices against women worldwide.
Tango!
Last night (Saturday) Cecilia and I went to a tango show at the same place we always go, Taconeando. It’s a small place with an intimate show and atmosphere, which I prefer to the big spectacles, and the music and dancing were lovely as always.
In this particular place, at the end of the show the dancers come out into the audience and invite people to dance. I didn’t think we’d be asked, as we were quite far back and not next to the stage as before, but I think Cecilia engineered it! Anyway, one of the dancers invited me up onto the cabaret floor to dance. There were only two couples in the show, so that meant only four couples now — including this handsome man and me — actually on stage, under the lights, with an audience!
And I thoroughly enjoyed it! Cecilia took pictures, but we were so far back you couldn’t really see it was me. But that doesn’t matter, because I don’t need a photo to remind me of such a lovely experience.
And now I’m getting ready to go to San Telmo for the Sunday artisan market, and maybe some sketching.