Here’s a story of one of our British readers, Tom Weston, who recently visited Buenos Aires in his quest for soaking the tango culture and the allure of Buenos Aires. If you’d like to tell your story on Buenos Aires and on tango, then use the contact form and tell us how it went!
Full Story:
In Buenos Aires people are obsessed with culture. It stops by no means with tango shows. Theaters, concerts, ballet, folklore, jazz – you could find anything, satisfying all your senses. If you don’t have a set program for your visit to Buenos Aires, then just go to any subway station, where the posters and screens don’t advertise products, but instead they advertise events.
Among all the museums of the city, the MALBA museum (The Latin American art museum of Buenos Aires) stands out as a really nice museum keeping the best secrets of the art scene throughout the years, giving a picture of both traditional and modern art by many of Latin America’s greatest artists.
Buenos Aires is a big city in the world of fashion, and especially in Palermo, where there are many local designers. Shopping in Palermo’s Soho, with its many small boutiques, art galleries and cafés is both inspiring and relaxing.
Here the soccer is everywhere in all senses. Temperament, technique, quality. All stadiums’ audiences breathe passion and devotion. The matches on the stadium called “La Boca” are legendary.
Tango grew up here and it’s where its roots are, and it will always return to this city no matter how widespread tango may be spread across the world. Tango is not just a dance in itself – it is a complete experience of sound, rhythm, motion, light and colour.
Where to start in Buenos Aires? You can begin with these two: “Confiteria Ideal”, an almost 100 year old milonga which has managed to not change over the years. It’s easy to find: walk through the avenue with the harbour behind you, turn to the left on Suipacha street, one block before the Obelisk. Subway routes: Dark-blue – “Diagonal Norte”, Green – “9 de Julio”, Red – “Carlos Pellegrini”.
A very different tango place is “El Beso”, with a more intimate and relaxed atmosphere. Every day has got its own host. More than easy to find: Follow the same avenue as above out from the centre and, as crossing Callao Avenue, walk just one more block and turn to the right on Riobamba. Very soon you will see the entry of “El Beso”, situated on the first floor. Subway route: Red – “Callao”.
Is it all right to come to a city only for eating? Coming to Buenos Aires, you might have wished it would be! Beef is of a constantly terrific quality. Delicious Italian pasta dishes, pizza baked on wood, café and ice cream bars, you name it – it’s there and everywhere!
Besides – it is cheap! A typical place often includes both a cafe and a restaurant, served by really professional waiters.
Buenos Aires is not tango, rather, tango is Buenos Aires! And it really shows with its many schools and improvised milongas on the street. To be fair though, while tango is indeed romantic as so is its dance style, Buenos Aires has a lot more to offer than just tango and the city is also characterised by its own soul that holds the many stories of thousands and thousands of immigrants from Italy and other countries seeking a better life. In this melting pot, with so many dreams and stories, it was only normal that tango would take off so prominently in Buenos Aires!
(You may reach Tom at tom_alexander_weston2@yahoo.co.uk)