Last Tango in BsAs

Jim covered our last few days pretty well, but I need to expand on the San Telmo Feria (fair.) Almost like jamon y queso, craft fairs seem to be everywhere, everyday in Buenos Aires. Since we'd seen San Telmo on Saturday we thought we might skip the fair on Sunday. Thankfully, for once we took the advice of the guidebooks and went to this 'must-see' event. And it is a site to behold -- Calle Defensa is closed to traffic for blocks and is filled with vendors, street performers and musicians. But most importantly, I finally saw a tango performance. We had seen 'real' people tango at the milonga the week before, but I still wanted to see a performance - and did we get one. In a corner of Plaza Dorrego, a tanguero nicknamed El Indio (according to my guidebook) wows the crowd with a history of tango told largely through dance. At one point, he asked the crowd (in Spanish) where they were from, and I heard Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay and Boston - so a tourist crowd but largely South American. How fitting to finally see a tango show on my last day.

As always, there would be more to do and see if we had the time. But I liked the way we arranged our trip. At our first stay in Palermo we didn't feel so much like tourists - we were often the only English speakers in restaurants - we certainly were the only ones or one of the few at the milonga. We popped into the little mercado across from our inn each day for essentials (usually that means cerveza), and we strolled the streets comfortably at all hours. (Turns out we might have been a little too comfortable - folks we met on the wine tour were robbed at gunpoint in Palermo. But they noted the robbers were kids who looked as nervous as they were.)

Then we had the lovely break in the country where we relaxed, caught up on our blog and had some wonderful wine.

Finally, it was back to the city for a taste of what the world usually associates with Buenos Aires - tango and the colorful filete painting on buildings and signs. It was definitely more touristy, but there's a reason tourists visit these places - it's a lot of fun!

I managed to get my Dulce de Leche ice cream, another pizza and Fernet, but never got around to having sweetbreads and sausage. Guess I'll just have to make do with the New Jersey variety.