After the crazy Radiohead night, the plan was a weekend in the bohemian and mythical Buenos Aires, Argentina. From a traveller's point of view, it is a big city and with a lot of different attractions to see and activities to do, one of the charms of South America, therefore such trip should be prepared carefully. Well it wasn't! It was actually close to chaos, but chaos brings other possibilities as well! Buenos Aires is a huge city, with more than 14 million people (much more that the population of the whole Portugal). It would have been impossible to see it all in 3 days, so I guess at some point I will go back and play the tourist properly.
We stayed in San Telmo, the cultural center of Buenos Aires. Good restaurants and bars, a bohemian lifestyle that I had already noticed in
Mendoza, very different from Chile. We managed to visit part of San Telmo, the center and the fashion Puerto Madero. This last one is close to the river, Rio de la Plata, which bathes Buenos Aires and connects with the Atlantic Ocean. It used to be no more than a swamp until a big economical group decided to finance its reconstruction and it is now the most exclusive part of the city, with expensive hotels and restaurants, yacht harbours and big flat buildings. The center is like every big city center, chaotic. It has big pedestrian shopping streets, a lot of traffic and old monuments alternating with big shiny office towers. What is worth mentioning, again, is the cultural atmosphere, with lots of book stores (books here cost almost half the price that in Chile), some open 24h a day, and street performances.
Now, the wonderful thing about knowing people that know people is that, wherever you go, there is a chance that you actually have someone to visit. One of my friends has a friend living in Buenos Aires, which by incredible coincidence was throwing a farewell party at his place, because he was moving to another place. He shared a house with other young people, like I do in Santiago. The house had two floors and a big balcony on a third floor and was shared by seven or eight people. We spent the evening there, drinking
mate (an infusion made of a plant with an effect similar to caffeine, very popular in Argentina) and cooking dinner. The party started later and was absolutely amazing! 60 to 70 people were there at some point, I would lose and find people throughout the night and it lasted until morning. As Buenos Aires is a sort of a reference in South America, it is easy to find a lot of different nationalities around here. In that party I met not only Argentineans, but also Chileans, French, Irish, Paraguayan, Brazilian, Colombian, Mexican and even Dominicans!
No need to say, the next day was spent sleeping... We got up in the evening, the last evening, and had a night of one of the main cultural attractions of Buenos Aires: Tango! We had dinner in a nice restaurant, following our strict diet of meat and wine, where there was a musician playing
bandoneón, the typical tango instrument, similar to an accordion, but with a very characteristic sound. After that, we went to a
milonga, a place where everyone can go and dance tango. There were also professional shows, but the spirit is to dance yourself, if you have a date and the ability to dance. Unfortunately, we had neither, but it was an excellent way to close the weekend.
After the crazy Radiohead night, the plan was a weekend in the bohemian and mythical Buenos Aires, Argentina. From a traveller's point of view, it is a big city and with a lot of different attractions to see and activities to do, one of the charms of South America, therefore such trip should be prepared carefully. Well it wasn't! It was actually close to chaos, but chaos brings other possibilities as well! Buenos Aires is a huge city, with more than 14 million people (much more that the population of the whole Portugal). It would have been impossible to see it all in 3 days, so I guess at some point I will go back and play the tourist properly.
We stayed in San Telmo, the cultural center of Buenos Aires. Good restaurants and bars, a bohemian lifestyle that I had already noticed in Mendoza, very different from Chile. We managed to visit part of San Telmo, the center and the fashion Puerto Madero. This last one is close to the river, Rio de la Plata, which bathes Buenos Aires and connects with the Atlantic Ocean. It used to be no more than a swamp until a big economical group decided to finance its reconstruction and it is now the most exclusive part of the city, with expensive hotels and restaurants, yacht harbours and big flat buildings. The center is like every big city center, chaotic. It has big pedestrian shopping streets, a lot of traffic and old monuments alternating with big shiny office towers. What is worth mentioning, again, is the cultural atmosphere, with lots of book stores (books here cost almost half the price that in Chile), some open 24h a day, and street performances.
Now, the wonderful thing about knowing people that know people is that, wherever you go, there is a chance that you actually have someone to visit. One of my friends has a friend living in Buenos Aires, which by incredible coincidence was throwing a farewell party at his place, because he was moving to another place. He shared a house with other young people, like I do in Santiago. The house had two floors and a big balcony on a third floor and was shared by seven or eight people. We spent the evening there, drinking mate (an infusion made of a plant with an effect similar to caffeine, very popular in Argentina) and cooking dinner. The party started later and was absolutely amazing! 60 to 70 people were there at some point, I would lose and find people throughout the night and it lasted until morning. As Buenos Aires is a sort of a reference in South America, it is easy to find a lot of different nationalities around here. In that party I met not only Argentineans, but also Chileans, French, Irish, Paraguayan, Brazilian, Colombian, Mexican and even Dominicans!
No need to say, the next day was spent sleeping... We got up in the evening, the last evening, and had a night of one of the main cultural attractions of Buenos Aires: Tango! We had dinner in a nice restaurant, following our strict diet of meat and wine, where there was a musician playing bandoneón, the typical tango instrument, similar to an accordion, but with a very characteristic sound. After that, we went to a milonga, a place where everyone can go and dance tango. There were also professional shows, but the spirit is to dance yourself, if you have a date and the ability to dance. Unfortunately, we had neither, but it was an excellent way to close the weekend.
4 comments:
Então e um videozinho das pessoas a dançarem tango, não?
Hello!
É sempre uma surpresa este blog, melhor direi se for na ordem inversa e destacando, este blog é uma caixa de surpresas! :) Gostei de ver mais uma cara familiar e um desenrolar de novas fotografias que propiciam sempre um arrastar da imaginação, mas apenas isso! Pois nas entrelinhas, por vezes, entre o tédio do bocejo, lá vem a imaginação dar vida ao próximo capítulo! :D Estás parecido! Não estás igual, disso tenho a certeza, pois entre tanta vivência e convivência a marca fica com certeza presente e com ela vais mudando. E em linha de concordância contigo de que a vida é feita de reencontros acrescento ainda de que estes têm sempre o sabor da nostalgia é verdade! Bom de resto cá vai um abraço rapaz que é o que ainda posso enviar! Bacalhau e azeite tens de te arranjar por aí!
Grande Rui,
é sempre um imenso prazer ter noticias tuas, sob a forma de poesia divagada e momentos de pura cultura nostálgica. Como podes ver, o nosso amigo e colega luso-sueco continua uma caixinha de surpresas e decidiu aparecer por cá. Garanto-te que foi ao bom nivel do passado, cheio de histórias!! Vê lá se apareces por cá, porque este lugar sim, é uma caixinha de surpresas! Grande abraço!!
Salomé, daqui a uns dias vai aparecer aí no video of the week um video de tango. Keep an eye open! ;)
Pois é... vamos ver se te posso acompanhar como turista nessa cidade no final do ano...
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