A change of plan saw us shift from flying Buenos Aires to Patagonia (crazy money) to getting a boat across the River del Plate to Colonia in Uruguay. On our last night before leaving, though, we went on our final quest for Tango and a new district in Buenos Aires.Since arriving, we have read books, been told about and been in search of Tango, but in vain. In theory, there are lots of "tanguerias" (places where locals go to dance) in San Telmo where we were staying, but despite asking Taxi drivers, restaurant owners and the Hostel staff, nobody seemed to know where they were. Our Hostel staff (bear in mind the Hostel is called "Tango City"...) professed to know nothing about Tango, looked up a few things on the Internet and sent us to a place called El Arranque.
This was a faintly charming but mostly bad recommendation - like a working man's club for Tango. The place was very old-fashioned, with huge fans keeping the dancefloor cool and an audience which left us the youngest in the place by around 15 years. Watching the dancers propping each other up was not the hot smooch we had expected to see.
One last throw of the Tango dice - La Boca, an area that has a rough reputatio
n except for a small pocket of colourful streets with dancing shows. And yes, we finally found it there! The first street show we saw was charming in its shabbiness as the dancers wore worn out dresses and shoes and skidded across the roughly carpeted little stage in front of the cafe tables. The loveliest part was the enthusiasm they showed when, at the end, some of the audience asked for photographs. A lady in her 50's, clearly enamoured by one 20-something beau, was whisked up to the stage in a gale of giggles. The dancer thrust her leg across his, put on his best macho-tango-look and the moment was captured perfectly to make her day.A second show just down the road was far more professional and smart. A lead singer, immaculately dressed in suit, pocket handkerchief and cufflinks, crooned alluringly in front of a classic Shure microphone. The music was provided by a bass and a bandoneon, the classic accordion-like instrument known as "the heart of Tango". The dancers in stylish black suit for the man and ed dress for the woman gave us a taste of the passion that is behind the dance.
We also found La Boca a bit more tuned into getting their money's worth from tourists. One great aspect for travellers in Buenos Aires is that tourism is very low-key. In La Boca, they know how to get you - such as charging 3 Euros for a small pot of olives and 3-times the standard rate for glasses of wine. Fair enough - it's a poor area with a rough history and reputation and it was the only time we felt we had been exploited a little as tourists.
The following morning, we took the very swish BuqueBus, a boat that
whizzed us across the water in an hour to Colonia Del Sacramento. This turned out to be perhaps our best stop yet.Colonia is a small town surrounded by sea which has kept an incredible amount of charm from past days. Buildings are old, side-street roads and squares are cobbled haphazardly, ancient classic cars are dotted around the town (including one with a tree growing out of it) and most of all, the atmosphere is just charming. It's a bizarre feeling to be in a town in mid-December, sitting by the sea and looking along the beach at palm-trees.
Christmas is going to be a strange thing - we have no real sense of it being a week away, despite the small attempts by locals to have little christmas trees and flashing lights. It
seems incongruous in 30 degrees of bright sunshine.In the evening, the town suddenly transformed for a short period. A drum band was walking through the town with a small following, and this co-incided with a parade of cars hooting and full of shouting football fans in blue shirts, plus replica cups
attached to the top of vans - surely the locally supported team had won the league or cup today?The commotion lasted an hour or so - Uruguayans are like all South Americans and like to celebrate, but it seems in Colonia, it's done in a more sobre way...
We spent a couple of lovely days in the town, including perhaps the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life. Then on Tuesday, it was on to Montevideo, Uruguay's capital.
