Tango Show

Okay, where was I. 

Sunday night, we decided to see a Tango Show.  We settled on Tango Porteno after reading a bit about the options and after having it recommended by a few people we met.  I called them up to get the details and find out if they would pick us up (apparently most of the tango shows offer free rides, but they will only go so far to get you).  After waiting on hold for 5 minutes for them to track down someone who spoke English, I made our arrangements, reserved a spot, and found out that we were indeed, too far for the free ride (we were not surprised...the show is in Centro and we're in Palermo Soho).  We headed out at about 8:30, to give us plenty of time to get there (it was an easy subway ride and a 3 block walk) and get seated before the show started at 10:15.  We got there way early...at 9:05 instead of the 9:30 like they told us, but we decided to go in anyway and see what they would say.  We got seated right away at a table of 4 with a great view of the stage, with 2 other people who were finishing their dinner.  Turns out they were a couple from Adelaide, Australia who had just gone on a 10-day cruise to Antarctica and were visiting Buenos Aires for 48 hours before heading back home.  Getting to the theatre early had another benefit...we had paid for the better seats that also included free snacks and alcohol...and we were promptly asked what we wanted to drink.  We both decided on white wine, and from that point on, our glasses were never empty.  And we immediately were offered empanadas...delicious carne empanadas!  Impressive service in a country where service can be hard to come by. 

The Australians were a lot of fun.  Probably around 65 or 70 years old, retired, race horse owners and formerly an upper atmosphere physicist and a physical therapist.  We actually had a lot of fun with them.  We did get a fascinating, cautionary tale from them though.  When they were walking down Avenido de Mayo, they stopped at a nativity scene to take pictures, and they were showered in bird poop.  Out of nowhere, an Argentine couple appeared that explained that it was bird poop and offered to help clean them off.  They led them to a side street, where they produced a couple bottles of water and towels, and proceeded to clean the bird poop off.  Very friendly...until 5 minutes after they had left, when they were told by someone else that that was a typical ploy of pickpockets...and discovered that his wallet was gone.  Impressive work when viewed dispassionately...and really makes me wonder about the bird poop that landed on me that very morning in San Telmo market - it definitely fit the description, and I'm wondering what I did so differently that the ploy wasn't even attempted.

The Tango show was a lot of fun, and the dancing really was impressive...but these things are definitely more of a show than a tango...  Sure, there is tango dancing, but it's all choreographed.  Well done though.  And the footwork and skill of the dancers (and singers for that matter) was really top notch.  An hour and a half later, it was over, we begrudgingly slurred goodbye to our Australian friends, Robert and Diana, and stumbled to a taxi just up the street. 

Overall, a great ending to the day.  And while this was probably one of the most expensive things we'll do on our trip, at $150, it included good seats at a good show, about 1.5 bottles of white wine, 2 bottles of mineral water, and 4 empanadas.  Well worth the experience.