HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing the crew again
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Getting moved from the 5th floor to the 10th floor!!
WORD OF THE DAY: Senior ‘Slick’ – Paul fluffed down for Tango
Kate and I have been in Buenos Aires for 6 nights now and our Tucan Family arrive in this afternoon around 3pm all going well for 4 nights. The location of the hostel is amazing, the facilities they offer are awesome and we have totally been so lucky with our accommodation here. As KWT and I had booked in a twin room, we had to check out this morning and change rooms into dorms which is the configuration that Tucan have here. When I went down this morning I asked if there was a dorm ready for the group, if not then we would have to check out by 11am, leave our bags in the luggage room and then check back in at 3pm, which was the official check-in time. I was lucky we got someone really nice and she gave us the key to the dorm room straight up, so we could move our gear straight from one room to the other. We were currently on floor 5, which was good as we could walk up (well Kate would walk up) I only walked down, if the lifts were busy or out of service. The only bad thing about the hostel was the lifts. They only had 2, and over the 6 nights lift 2 was out of action more than it was working, which when we were on floor 5 wasn’t too bad. Well our new room was on the top level, level 10. The lift only went to level 9 and then we had to walk a flight of stairs to get to the top level. This was going to be a test of fitness to walk 11 flights of stairs if the lifts shit themselves. Anyway, it was we were allowed in early and the good thing being the first we had first choice of beds, which Kate and I took both the bottoms. It is a 4 share and we have our own bathroom which was also a nice surprise.
We left the hostel at 10.30am and went to get some lunch and to drop off some washing for the second time in BA. The downside of hot weather is that you sweat more, requiring more washing and losing the potential to possibly wear tops and bottoms more than once before requiring a wash. We have well and truly left the cold weather behind as the further north we go the hotter and humid it is going to get. The Laundromat isn’t that far and it is always ready the same day for a cost of 32pesos (7.60AUD) for a basket. Can’t argue with that.
We wanted something quick for brunch, as we had looked up movie times and it was raining outside, so what a better way to spend the afternoon than in a cinema and eating popcorn. So we had Macca’a again. I have to say I am addicted to their chicken nuggets at the moment and I normally don’t like their fries, but they have always been fresh and they have lots of salt on them which I love. Around our area of Florida there are 2 McDonalds within an 8 minute walk of each other, a BK (Burger King) and another Macca’s up past the laundry around a 15 minute walk, so in our defence they are all over the place and I can always hear the chicken nuggets calling my name – seriously, they are delicious.
So after lunch we caught a taxi to Puerto Maderno, where ‘our’ cinema was and we were hoping that they would have on different staff as it is a little embarrassing that this was the third trip to the movies in 5 days but we enjoy it, it is cheap, so I guess it doesn’t matter what people think. We were a little early and after purchasing our popcorn and drinks, they let us into the theater early to wait for it to begin. We had 35 minutes to wait. So needless to say all our popcorn was just about gone by the time the movie started, but we were watching Mission Impossible 4, so I needed to have all my concentration to watch the man of the moment Tom Cruise. I have loved TC since I was a kid in primary school. I know a lot of people think he is weird, strange and just because you believe in aliens running the world or whatever Scientology believes in, he is still hot and you can NOT take that away from him. My favorite TC movies have to include Top Gun, Cocktail and A Few Good Men, oh and The Firm, and Days of Thunder. I have seen one of the MI movies but they didn’t interest me as much, but I do have to say MI4 was actually really good and had a lot of laughs in it and was glad that there really wasn’t a romantic liaison in this one. It was a long movie which we didn’t realize till we got out that it was just over 2.5 hours long! That certainly killed the afternoon for us and as I waited for Kate to go to the bathroom I jumped on the free Wi-Fi from the restaurant upstairs and saw status updates from the guys. They had arrived in BA. I was really excited to see them all again so we high tailed it back to the hotel in yet another taxi that always seems ready for us no matter where we have been travelling to.
We were lucky when we got back the guys were in reception and had already dropped off their bags to their rooms. They all looked tired and looked like they had had a tough 5 nights, which we later found out that they had and some people said they wished they had of taken out lead and also flown up. The highlight was the 2 night stay in Puerto Madryn where they did see some sea lions and some seals, but no whales and no killer whales which is what Kate was worried about missing out on and the other 3 days of driving there was nothing, not even a tree to look at on the drive. The last day they had before arriving into Buenos Aires was the longest of the whole trip to date with 14 hours. Granted there was an hour for lunch and toilet stops on the way, but that is a long day in anyone’s books. Yep Kate and I were still glad we had flown up and was worth the 530AUD it cost us for the flight and accommodation.
We have 2 people leaving us in BA. Kate (not my Kate) and Anna and as it was Kate’s last night, Mark decided to do the Tango show tonight so that she could come along. Talking to Paul, it was also the night that made sense to have a few drinks, with day tours booked and truck day on Friday, there was a chance for them to have a small lie in tomorrow before hitting the sites of BA. Gee we get to get a little dolled up tonight; wear a dress, put on some makeup!! Man we are going to feel like a new woman. A shame I don’t have my hair straighter, but we can’t have it all and with a little bit of bling on the ears we all scrubbed up okay and we really do look like different people. It’s nice to feel like a lady. I can’t guarantee I’ll look like one later in the evening but it was a good start.
The Tango show was 60AUD for the ticket, which included a 3 course dinner, a bottle of wine between 2 and the show. Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata (which is between Argentina and Uruguay), and spread to the rest of the world soon after. Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine tango, Uruguayan tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango, and vintage tangos. What many consider to be the authentic tango is that closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay, though other types of tango have developed into mature dances in their own right. In 2009, Argentina and Uruguay suggested that the Tango be inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists and in October of the same year UNESCO approved it.
Tango is a dance that has influences from European and African culture. Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the modern day Tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The word "tango" seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, primarily Italians, Spanish and French.
In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the USA, and Finland. In the USA around 1911 the word "tango" was often applied to dances in a 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm such as the one-step. It was an amazing show and certainly worth the 60AUD that we paid.
It was a 20 minute walk from the hotel and when we got to the Tangueria it was a swishy looking place. It was 5 star the whole way, from the building, service, food and then the show. The show went for around 1.5 hours and started after we had finished dinner and it was amazing. My favorite 2 parts was the folklore section where they played traditional flutes and drums and at the end there was a single female singer that say Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. They also had a few dancers that joined in the end waving flags etc., that a few people thought was a little corny, but she is a national icon here and they are just showing their love for her. I think if you had of said a bad word about Eva Peron in front of an Argentinian I think you would get your block knocked off. Kate and Liz had stopped drinking the wine, so I pretty much had the whole bottle to myself, so we left the Tango show just after midnight and went back to the hostel. They have a bar downstairs, so we continued to drink the night away till 3am when Mark and I called it a night and the girls then partied on till 7am! Great effort and the good thing was we only had to go up one flight of stairs to the hostel entrance and then up in a lift to the room.
So welcome back to our Tucan Family. We have missed you and look forward to getting back on Rosita in 4 day’s time.
No comments:
Post a Comment