Buenos Aires 2, Blog 9
As an optional tour we went
to El Tigre where there is one of the largest deltas in the world. When the explorers first arrived they thought
that the jaguars they saw were tigres—hence the name. On the way, we stopped at another beautiful
colonial town San Isidro with lovely large homes many painted pink. Because of the humidity the early settlers
mixed animal blood, tallow, and ? to paint the houses because the combination
withstood the humidity.
When I think of Buenos Aires
and the colonial towns, I’m most impressed by all the very tall, very beautiful
trees. They remind me of my hometown of
Sacramento although in Argentina they are much taller, more diverse, and
probably older.
We boarded a small boat to
see the Delta. There are many English
influences in the architecture and life style; rowing clubs are popular along
with polo. People live in houses (quite nice!) built on
stilts in the islands of the delta, and like Venice the only way to get to
school, get medical care, deal with garbage, buy groceries is by boat. We saw a floating grocery store. If a homeowner needs groceries, he puts out
a flag. It was an interesting, enjoyable
trip but I was hoping to see wildlife—only dogs and a very few birds.
A another lady and I spent an
hour at the beautiful hotel pool, and then……we all went to tango! What fun!
We had our lessons in the oldest tango venue in B.A. Viejo Almacen (meaning old store) founded in
1798. It was formerly the first
location of the British Hospital of B.A.
and where a doctor first used ether in surgery in 1844.. It was a fairly small,
intimate room with lots of dark wood, a balcony, a small stage, and small round
tables. We enjoyed a glass of champagne
before our lesson taught by two very handsome young people.
We went across the street for
dinner. The wine flowed and the woman
sitting next to me got really drunk. Emily
is a single lady—probably in her late 70’s.
She and her roommate Dorothy just met on this trip for the purpose of
sharing a room. Dorothy later told me
that Emily had 6 glasses of wine before dinner.
Emily was staggering around while our guide and Dorothy tried to hold
her up.
The tango show was very
authentic showing the development of tango from slow and sensual to fast and
passionate. The dancers, the singer and
the 5 musicians (bass, piano, violin, accordion, and concertina) were
excellent.
The next day we toured one of
the wealthiest sections of B.A. with the wonderful Palermo Park with a lake,
rose garden, and the ubiquitous trees
and birds. As it was Sunday, the park
was filled with the locals. The people
of all the countries we’ve visited in South America love to exercise. We saw 3-4 organized exercise groups with
people doing yoga and tai chi in addition to people jogging and biking. Each
city has also had “adult” playground equipment for exercising.
We went on to see the Evita museum in a
beautiful old building. It was
fascinating to see old movies of her and hear her life story. About 10 of her dresses and many hats were on
display. She certainly had style! Sixty years after her death she is still a
controversial figure.
We then had a “coffee break”
in a bookstore—but so much more than a bookstore. It was originally a theater and the interior
still has the stage, which is now the coffee shop.
Our final stop on the tour
was the Recoleta Cemetery where Evita and her family but not Peron are
buried. It is the most amazing cemetery
I have ever seen with rows and rows of monuments to the dead each more ornate
than the next with stained glass, iron work, marble statues, even a bronze
dog.
Afterwards Dan and I stayed in the area to
visit a crafts fair. We both loved a
painting so much that we bought it. Here
we are in Argentina buying a painting by a Peruvian artist showing a group of
Bolivian men! You have to
understand at home we have a stack of
paintings in the garage because we have no place to hang them.
It was a beautiful day and we
had lunch outside on a terrace overlooking a park. The Museo de Bellas Artes, BA’s primary fine
art museum is free and since it was close, we decided to visit. (I’m also a
museum junkie). It included a surprising
collection of Impressionists and sculptures by Rodin in addition to South
American artists and Renaissance painters.
Actually my favorite room had a grouping of art by 19th
century Italian artists calledI Macchiaioli. I had never heard of them but really like
their paintings. They painted outside
with loose strokes and were forerunners of the French Impressionists. Look them up if interested.
That night at a cocktail and
appetizer hour we found out that one of our friends on the tour had been robbed
a block from the hotel, which is in a nice area. They were walking along when they were
suddenly covered with bird droppings. A
couple in a car stopped to “help” them by stealing the man’s wallet. Fortunately he had only about $50 in it and
quickly cancelled his credit cards, which the thieves—a man and a woman-- had
already used by the time he got through to American Express.
Buenos Aires has an area very
much like Times Square in New York. Our
guide said that BA actually has MORE theater venues than New York. We went to a show called Extravaganza! As we entered the lobby, we were greeted by 2
men in drag—later part of the show.
Usherettes in 50’s outfits with flashlights showed us to our seats in a
very large, old -fashioned auditorium.
Men went up and down the aisles shouting in Spanish, “Peanuts, popcorn,
drinks.”
The show was a kind of second
(third?) rate version of Cirque du Soleil’s “O” in Las Vegas. It had people diving into the water, but it
was just a tank at the bottom of the stage.
The various acrobatic routines were quite good, but unfortunately a large
part of the show was dependent on understanding the Spanish. There are 3 of us
on this tour who are fairly fluent; not one of us could understand what was
being said. Our guide, who is a native
Spanish speaker, had a hard time, too.
Evidently the lead in the show is a big star and has his own TV
show. It actually was a fun experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment