An Introduction to Dancing Tango in Buenos Aires

Dancing Tango in the Confiteria Ideal, Buenos Aires [Photo credit: Gerrysan]

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!

Read the rest of this entry »

Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento Day Trip

It feels like I’ve been to Colonia del Sacramento (in Uruguay, a short hop across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires) for a day trip more times than I’ve eaten Argentine beef. And believe me, that’s a hell of a lot of times!

Now I know that this is a blog about the city of Buenos Aires, and Colonia is not only a different city entirely, but also in a whole other country… but it is such a popular day trip for people visiting Buenos Aires, that it justifies a few words from me here (well OK, I waffle, so it will probably be a lot of words).

I have always found it funny that in guide books, websites, forums etc, a regular answer to the common question “what can I do in Buenos Aires, Argentina?” is “visit Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay”. This is especially comical for me because it reminds me of a joke I once heard from a stand-up comedian back in Coventry, England. It went a little something like this…

“When I came to Coventry last night I asked at the hotel what there is to do in the city. After a little thought, the only thing they could suggest was ‘go see Warwick castle’. I asked them, ‘but isn’t that in Warwick, not Coventry?’, to which they shrugged and gave a nod.”

“To recap, the quick answer to the question ‘what should I do in Coventry?’ is ‘LEAVE! NOW! GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN’”

So apparently, thinking along these lines, a quick answer to the question ‘what should I do in Buenos Aires, Argentina?’ could be not just “leave the city”, but also “get the hell out of the country“. Just to be on the safe side.

Obviously, given the name of this blog, this is not a sentiment I would fully endorse! However, if you are visiting Buenos Aires for a fairly long period, or are an expat living here (perhaps in need of a 3 monthly tourist visa renewal), then a trip to sleepy old Colonia del Sacramento does indeed make for a nice day trip, to get away from the crazy, busy city of Buenos Aires. Also it’s nice to remind yourself of what the horizon actually looks like.

Read the rest of this entry »

My Guided Walking Tours of Buenos Aires are Back!

Some eagle-eyed readers may have noticed from my About Me and Buenos Aires Tours pages that in the past few days I have begun to offer paid guided tours of Buenos Aires again.

This wasn’t exactly planned, but I’m very happy about it, because tour guiding is probably the most enjoyable job I’ve ever had (for those of you not familiar with my past, I was a tour guide here in Buenos Aires for about a year, up until this time last year).

As I say, it’s all started up again a little by chance. I recently put up a suggested walking tour of Buenos Aires City Center on this blog, which is intended to be used by anyone that wants to as a free self-guided tour of this great city.

Literally the day after I posted, some brothers from the US on holiday in Argentina emailed out of the blue, asking me to give them the tour I posted on a private guided basis. I had some time free, so I thought ‘why not’?

After some lightning quick revision and a practice tour with my friends (it’s amazing how fast the names, dates, anecdotes and jokes came flooding back), I gave the tour, mainly to see how I would feel returning to this line of business. Not only did I enjoy it immensely, but the brothers also loved the tour… so much so that they persuaded me to give them an off-the-cuff tour of San Telmo and La Boca a couple of days later. They were so nice and enthusiastic about my tour guiding, that it gave me a feel good factor and the urge to return to guiding tours around Buenos Aires.

Book a Private Walking Tour of Buenos Aires

And so, here I am, looking for people who would like to take a walking tour in BA. I like to think of myself as both a mainstream blog writer and tour guide – I’m not offering ‘the other side of Buenos Aires’ or concentrating heavily on specialist areas such as history, architecture or tango, but instead trying to give an overview of many of the major sightseeing attractions in an enjoyable, informative manner, while pointing out interesting little details and stories that you may otherwise have missed. So…

If you like the way I write in this blog, and are planning a trip to Buenos Aires, then please consider booking a private walking tour of Buenos Aires City Center with me.

For more details and a booking form, please go here:

BOOK MY BUENOS AIRES WALKING TOURS

At the moment I am only offering the city center tour, which is an excellent introduction to the key sights and history of Buenos Aires, but fairly soon I will be offering other walking tours of barrios such as San Telmo, Recoleta, and La Boca. So keep checking back, and please wish me luck with my return to the exciting world of tour guiding!