An Introduction to Dancing Tango in Buenos Aires

[Photo Credit: SMeaLLuM]

Note from Alan - We are lucky enough to welcome a seasoned Buenos Aires tango and milonga expert to the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide, in the form of Cherie Magnus, from the Tango Cherie blog (see the end of this post for more info on Cherie). Her first offering is an excellent guide to the types of tango salon in Buenos Aires, for those interested in the real world of social tango dancing in the city. So, over to you Cherie…

If you want to dance tango in Buenos Aires, where do you go?

Actually it depends on many things: your age, what style you dance, what day or night of the week you want to go out, if you go with or without a partner, and so on…

Dancing social tango in Buenos Aires has nothing to do with the Tango Show Dancing on the streets of San Telmo, La Boca, calle Florida, or Recoleta, or the many Tango Cena-Shows with an orchestra, stage dancers and dinner. The first thing to know about tango is that what you’ll see in those places is a different dance - Tango for Export. And that is another post entirely!

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Billinghurst 2163 (between Juncal & French), Barrio Norte / Recoleta

[Phone number: 4825-3050. Also has another location in Recoleta at Ayacucho 1208 - phone number : 4823-3900]

Maybe you’ve heard that sushi is one of the city’s culinary specialties, but in case no one told you: don’t leave Buenos Aires without indulging in an expertly-prepared sushi feast at one of the many great sushi restaurants in town. For a sushi restaurant that won’t put too much of a dent in your wallet, has a cozy atmosphere with incredibly attentive service, and serves up some of the best lobster, shrimp, and avocado rolls, head to Maki Sushi in Barrio Norte or Recoleta. It’s a great place to have a light meal before an evening of drinks and dancing with friends, or you could come here for a fun and casual date.

[Note from Alan: I'm especially glad that we have Rachel on board to do this sushi review, because I never would have been able to review any sushi bars in Buenos Aires, an important part of the dining scene here - I'm allergic to fish! :(]

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Rodriguez Pena 1149 (between Arenales & Santa Fe), Recoleta

In search of the perfect empanada in Buenos Aires…

It’s a tough job trying to find the ‘best’ empanadas in Buenos Aires (just ask Saltshaker). Primarily because there are so many different places to try them at, and of course many different types of empanada from across the different regions of Argentina, and even the rest of Latin America. Still, I came to Buenos Aires with the idea of finding the perfect empanada, and still have this spurious notion in my head, and so on I trudge on with this difficult, yet enjoyable, eating project of mine.

For the record, I have still to taste those hallowed ‘perfect’ empanadas here. There is always something not quite perfect about each one, and I often wish that I could combine the best features of empanadas at different places to produce a super-empanada of sorts. Yes, it’s this kind of silly stuff that keeps me awake at night.

One thing I can say is that my favorite empanadas so far in Buenos Aires cannot be purchased in any restaurant. They are lovingly made by mi suegra (my mother-in-law to be), and are so good I can literally eat twenty in one sitting (I’m a growing lad - perhaps not in the right direction, but growing all the same). At Cumana in Recoleta, the empanadas are pretty good, and excellent value, but for one reason or another, are not quite up there with my suegra’s homemade efforts. And still, I continue in search of empanada perfection…

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…and how to experience them anyway, on the cheap!

I guess I’ve always been something of a hostel person. Not out of choice mind you - if my economic situation had been rosier over the years, I’m sure I would have been living it up in the odd luxury, design, or boutique hotel now and again.

These days, my financial situation is little different, and still I wouldn’t be able afford to stay in such hotels. However, my current job as an independent tour guide here in Buenos Aires presents me with a glimpse over the other side of the fence, giving me a taste for the good stuff - so close, and yet so far.

However, as a tour guide, I also have to be quite resourceful on occasion. And so I have been able to come up with a few ways to enjoy the most wonderful, expensive Buenos Aires Hotels, but on a budget. Read on for my top five suggestions.

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‘Enjoying Buenos Aires’ Apartment Rental Services

From my point of view, when planning you trip to Buenos Aires and thinking about your accommodation options, it makes a hell of a lot of sense to throw short term apartment rentals into the mix.

Why? Well, when the choices are either to pay US$300 and upwards per night at a luxury or design hotel, versus the same price or less per week for a luxury apartment rental in Buenos Aires, with the same high levels of quality, comfort and design, all of a sudden the apartment option appears to be the most sensible option.

What’s that I hear you cry? Hotels have much higher levels of service and convenience that apartment rentals cannot offer? Well, I recently found out that there is another option to hotels, that matches them in these key areas, and yet beats them every time on value.

When my family came to visit me recently in Buenos Aires, I decided to look into apartment rental companies for them. A friend-of-a-friend knew of the owner of one such company, Enjoying BA, and recommended them highly to me. We ended up using them, and my family found both the quality of the apartment (in Recoleta) and level of service from the company to be of an extremely high standard. And so, here’s a nice review for them…

Enjoying BA is a relatively new player on the Buenos Aires Apartments scene, a small company that puts an emphasis on quality, not quantity, and so offers an extremely personalized service with their rentals - in fact, they even have their own concierge staff, whose mission is to make your stay in Buenos Aires the most comfortable, happy and interesting time possible.

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