I’ve always been used to celebrating Christmas Day, but here in Argentina the festivities are on Christmas Eve. It’s called La Noche Buena or the good night — which always strikes me as an appropriate name for the night that Christ was born.
In any case, I’m taking this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas, however you are celebrating it — or even if you’re not! I’m thinking of you and sending good wishes — may it be whatever you most want it to be.
Abrazos.
Some time ago, several of my friends realized we all lived within a couple of blocks of one another in the barrio of Recoleta. We kept saying we should get together, and yesterday we finally did. We had champagne at La Biela. As you can see from the photo, we had a good time. We are now calling ourselves the Chicas de Recoleta!
I had my tango lesson right after this with my other new teacher, Beto, and I told him about the champagne.
“So I might dance brilliantly,” I said.
“Or you might not care!” he replied.
Fortunately, I hadn’t had too much champagne and the lesson was fine!
Last week I posted about the wedding of Joaquin, my friend Cecilia’s son, and I said that the couple had an unconventional way of starting the ceremony. This week Cecilia sent me a video of Joaquin’s arrival and I think you’ll enjoy it.
I’ve talked before (quite a while ago, I guess!) about the free concerts at the Centro Cultural Kirchner (CCK), which several of us go to regularly. Of course they have been off the program for a couple of years now, since the plague came upon us. Finally, they have started again, and I couldn’t be happier!
Last night Venetia and I went to this “Gala Lirica” from the orchestra and singers of the Teatro Argentino de la Plata, and it was wonderful. Full orchestra, a choir that must have had fifty members, and (I think) eight soloists. If you look at the gallery above the musicians in the photo, you can see the choir. There was no blethering between the songs, and they just flowed immediately from one to the next.
They played and sang all the favourites that people know, even if not always the name. The choir sang two songs — with masks on! I think they should get a medal for that.
And at the end, the maestro told us it was their first performance since the lockdown ended, and that’s why they were so emotional.
Afterwards we went out with our friends Marcia and Cliff to one of their favourite Italian restaurants, Broccolino. The encores went on so long that we were quite late for our reservation. Fortunately, Marcia was able to call them and let them know, and they held our table for us. I hadn’t been there before, but will definitely go back as the food and atmosphere were lovely.
So happy the CCK concerts are back, and can’t wait to go to the next one.
Last night I went to the wedding of Joaquin, Cecilia’s son, and Corina. It was a great event — lovely venue, lovely summer night and good company.
They are definitely not a traditional couple — the bride arrived first and then waited to welcome the groom as he danced down the aisle! Cecilia made a short but sweet speech welcoming Corina into the family.
The event was at the Hipico Argentina, which I think is the Jockey Club. When I arrived there weren’t a lot of guests there yet, and nobody I knew. We stood around for a bit, and a mix of wedding people and horsey people were flowing around. Fortunately, there was a set of huge lights in the shape of the couple’s initials, so at least we knew we were in the right place!
Here are a few images of the evening.
I got a new outfit for the event, and realized I didn’t get my photo taken in it — so I took this one myself when I got home!
I went to Olivos, where Ceci lives, to spend the afternoon with her and her friend Inez, who is here on a visit. We went to a delightful new restaurant near where she lives, where we enjoyed good food and then walked down by the river. Fun afternoon.
We had another visit to our favourite Spanish restaurant, El Burladero, this week. This time it was to celebrate Linda’s birthday. Here’s a photo of the birthday girl, looking suitably Spanish with the fan that was one of her gifts!
Here are the first videos with Ale, my new tango teacher. He’s a really good teacher as well as lots of fun, and I’m learning a lot of new things from him. He was very into this video, and he wore his white tango shoes and his milonga hairstyle for the occasion! We made two videos, one tango and one milonga.
There are many famous, classic tango orchestras, each with its own distinctive style. My favourite is Carlos Di Sarli, known as El Señor de Tango—the Gentleman of Tango. His music is lush and romantic, and we danced the first video to my favourite of his songs, Indio Manso.
There are three variations on tango: tango, vals and milonga. Vals is a tango version of the waltz, danced to kind of waltz music but in tango embrace and with tango steps. Personally, I don’t like it much, preferring the other two. While tango tends to be either melancholy or romantic, or a combination of the two, milonga is a faster rhythm, kind of tricky steps and it’s upbeat and fun.
I think you’ll see the difference between the two—I hope you enjoy them. (Ale would love to have your comments!)
Last night my friend Susan, who lives just a couple of blocks up the street from me, held her annual tango party. Her apartment is on the 13th floor, and the outside terrace is spectacular. That’s where we did most of our dancing, under the stars and with the twinkling of Susan’s Christmas lights in the background. So romantic!
I didn’t want to be spending my time making videos, because I just wanted to dance, but I did shoot just this little short one at the beginning to give you a feel for the event.
Susan has quite a lot of tango friends, and she selected some great dancers for the party. I danced with everyone there for about three hours, and then wandered home tired but very happy.
Gracias, Susan!
Yesterday was one of those days when I had an outing that was a pleasure on two fronts. I’ve talked before about EcoParque, a beautiful taste of nature in the middle of the city, and yesterday I went again. One of the lovely things about this place is that, of course, it changes with the seasons. Now the late spring flowers and trees are evolving into their summer clothes, and there’s an extra lushness about the whole park.
They also continue to work on new installations, which makes every new visit a surprise.
Usually I go here with Venetia, but yesterday Cecilia also came, and brought her friend Inez—and that was the second pleasure. When I first came to Argentina, Cecilia introduced me to a group of friends called Ruta Cuarenta, so-called because they all take road trips along Route 40, which runs from one end of the country to the other. Inez was one of that group, but she moved away a couple of years ago and now lives in the southern province of Chubut. I always liked Inez, so I really enjoyed seeing her again. She is here for a couple of weeks, and I hope to see her again before she leaves.
After we left the park, we went to La Estancia, a nice, traditional parilla, for lunch.
Here are a few photos of our day.
