Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Con el caballo en la Fiesta Gaucha.... me and the Gaucho horse...


posted by Astrid @ 9:32 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 22, 2006

FIESTA GAUCHA..!!

very nice weekend here... in the land of the Gauchos... ;)

went dancing at SHOW-CENTER on FRI night and in Dollartrain, Pinar de Rocha, on SAT.... both pretty nice places with some good dancers, but unfortunately also both of them are a little bit furhter away (like an hour bus-ride en el colectivo) and outside of the capital area of Buenos Aires.... HUGE THANK YOU to Yan as well for going on that rather adventures trip to RAMOS MEJIA with me..... ;) luckily we met some very nice and helpful people pointing us in the right direction.... ;)

and after I only got home very, very early yesterday morning I just had enough time to take a shower, change my clothes and have a coffee before I left again for my tour to FIESTA GAUCHA on Estancia Cina-Cina...

It's actually one of the excursions that we very often sell as part of our Argentina tour-packages.... and it was a really nice day indeed in the countryside of San Antonio de Areco.... always great to get out of this busy city for a day, or a few more... ;) and spend some time en el campo...!! :)
and even though this FIESTA GAUCHA-Tour is pretty touristy and organized and bla, I still had a very good time.... and it's certainly a tour that I will recommend to my clients in the future... ;) !! (hahha, that's all they really wanted to achieve.... of course... ;) ) so.... MISSION COMPLETED... !! I guess.... ;)

On the estancia they had some musicians playing traditional Argentine music and also did some Folklore dancing shows.... the included lunch was a HUUUUGGEE All-you-can-eat ASADO (Argentine way of BBQ) with never-ending supplies of steaks, salchichas, carne, potatoes, bread, empanadas, ensaladas, etc. etc. etc.
the food was really, really good, and we all ate lloooooaaaddss loads loads.... :)
(and the meat still didn't finish... ;)

afterwards they did another display of some typical gaucho horse-riding game - aaahhh, don't remember the name at the moment, but it's pretty much the same as Ringstechen in Ritterspielen.... ;) - before we could finally get on the horses ourselves....!!

and that's when I actually realized how much I've been missing that....!! riding horses.... aahhh - even though it was only 20mins and around some fields of the estancia, it was still a great feeling to be on a horse again and feel it galloping underneath you.... hhmmm.... a ver, if I can find some other places here where you can rent horses and go for a longer ride.... :)
really, really wanna do that again....!!

got home in the evening and very tired after a long day and a sleepless night the night before, so decided to go not to SUDACA that Sunday, but to leave it for next WED, which is gonna be really good as THU is a National Holiday here... 25th Mayo - El dia de la Revolucion del Mayo...!!

abrazos und bis zum naechsten Mal wieder.... xxx

posted by Astrid @ 9:22 PM 0 comments

Friday, May 19, 2006

Salsa en Buenos Aires...!!

HERE's a COPY OF THE REPORT THAT I JUST WROTE FOR www.salsa.de:

So, nun bin ich schon fast einen ganzen Monat in Buenos Aires, und hab auch schon genug Salsa locations hier gesehe, um endlich mal ein kleines update about the dancing-scene hier zu schreiben…. :)

First thing you have to know when going out in Buenos Aires is that EVERYTHING STARTS LATE LATE LATE…..!!!

you go out to eat dinner here around 11.00pm, on weekends you normally don’t go to clubs before 12.00 midnight, und unter der Woche eigentlich auch the same… ;) bit strange at the beginning, but you get used to it easily after a while….. well. I did at least….

The salsa-scene here in general is a lot better than in Lima….. there are a lot more dancers, and better dancers….. das einzigste, das ein bischen schade ist, ist dass die Leute hier nicht so nett sind wie in Peru…!!

Going out and dancing in Lima was always fun and all people were always very nice and friendly and super helpful. everywhere all the time… so when I first came to Buenos Aires it was a bit sad to see and experience how a lot of the Argentinos here are often pretty arrogant and cliquee…. and they don’t even deny it….!!

I spoke with some people in my office (all Argentinos) and also with some other Argentine friends here about it, and they just said - “SI, ASI ES…. Y ASI SOMOS…” hhmmmm….. and AAA - HAA…!! Interesante - bit sad, but true….

aber inzwischen hab ich auch schon einige sehr nette Argentinier hier kennengelernt, obwohl ich immer noch sagen wuerde - The nicest people that I’ve met here so far are actually Peruvian, Greek and Austrian….. hahha…..

well, but places to dance gibt es hier genug und boring wird es auf jeden Fall nicht…!! (aber das wird es mir ja eigentlich sowieso nie irgendwo….)

A very nice place for example is LA SUDACA where they have Salsa on WED and SUN….. First great thing about it is that it’s only 4 blocks from my apartment here…!! hahha….. but that definitely makes it super-easy and convenient to get there…. and get back home again as well of course… ;)

Second plus-point is the music which has been really nice all the times I’ve been there so far….. very danceable and usually only one or two Merengues per night…. ;)

a bit sad that they haven’t discovered BACHATA here yet….. I do miss that sometimes….. but instead they have little Rock’n Roll breaks in between now and then again….. hhmmm…… auch okay….

Third nice thing about SUDACA is the people, and I have actually met my nice Peruvian friends in there….. :)

Then on THU you can dance at LA VIRUTA…. well, you can actually dance there every night of the week - but TANGO….. only THU is SALSA-night…. pretty okay place if you go there after 1.00am…!!

The class from 11.30pm - 12.30am is a bit boring, way way way toooooooo many people… and very Cuban… also, the music doesn’t get good until after 1.00am and sadly a lot of the dancers there tend to stick to their little groups….. hhmm….but I had a fun enough time there the 2 times I’ve been there so far, and if you go there with some friends and people to dance with it’s not a bad place… ;)

THE PLACE TO GO ON FRI for SALSA in Buenos Aires is Show-Center Martinez…. el BOWLICHE…. a little furhter away from the capital area and great if you can get there by car….. if not colectivo (Bus) number 60 and 71 also take you straight there….!! and back….. (Colectivos here run 24 hours, but the SUBTE (underground) unfortunately only till 11.00pm, on weekends as well as during the week…. THAT should DEFINITELY be changed…. ;) !! )

The long way to travel is definitely worth it, AND NOT ONLY because entrance is FREE there….!! Very nice wooden dance floor…. big enough and lots of space to dance….. good music and lots of dancers…!! :)

Aaahhh - and if you take some friends who are NOT THAT MUCH into dancing, there’s also a bowling alley in the same place where they can spend their time…. ;)

Other options for FRI (and SAT) would be LA SALSERA and AZUCAR BELGRANO…

NOTE - AZUCAR ABASTO is still closed for party nights (only open for classes) and no-one really knows exactly when it’s gonna open again for salsa nights on FRI and SAT….

I’ve been to LA SALSERA once on a SAT and twice on a FRI so far…. and it was actually the FIRST SALSA PLACE that my friend Kristin took me to on MY VERY FIRST NIGHT in Buenos Aires (a SAT)…..

not a bad place, but maybe a bit too small, and not always enough space for the amount of people there… music is okay, not bad, but nothing extra-ordinary either…. people are okay too, but it seemed a bit more of a pick-up place than SUDACA or LA VIRUTA I would say…. hhmmmm…..

but the 3 times I’ve been there I did actually have a nice time…. would go back there now and then again maybe, but certainly not EVERY weekend….

AZUCAR in Belgrano I only know on SAT so far…. but also I don’t really think that I need get to know the FRIDAYS there…. ;)

bit too commercial that place, a bit TOO MUCH reggaeton and dance music mixed in with Salsa…. hhmmm….. a nice thing about AZUCAR though is the little separate dancefloor that they have on the first floor….

so whenever u need a bit more air to breath, space to dance, wooden dance-floor, good and danceable music, you should try that little separate dance floor upstairs…. :)

And then there’s another place in Buenos Aires that’s supposed to be really good for Salsa on SAT….. PINAR DE ROCHA….. But I’m only gonna go there tomorrow for the first time….!!

so I will report back about it in my next update here…. ;)

hugs and kisses to everyone from Buenos Aires…xxx

posted by Astrid @ 6:52 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Dinner at Melina's house...


posted by Astrid @ 10:18 PM 0 comments

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Beautiful day in TIGRE DELTA....!!

was a nice weekend here in Buenos Aires... FRI night I went to LA SALSERA with Giancarlo - a friend of my friend Carmen in Lima - and his Argentine friend Daniel that he's staying with in San Fernando..... good night and fun dancing..... and once again I saw how much nicer, more ayudable y amigable los Peruanos son que los Argentinos.... hhmm.... I guess - asi es.... and proved right otra vez.... ;)

and yesterday - Saturday - I went for the first time to a place in Buenos Aires that I really liked and that I really thought was very beautiful.... el TIGRE DELTA....!!

went there with my house-mate Maria Eugenia as she used to live there until about 2 years ago and her Dad still has this huge old colonial-style house there, that he goes to every weekend.... it's the house that Maria and her siblings grew up in and you almost feel like stepped back in time when you're in there......

really, really beautiful though... with a lot of historic furniture and decorations..... a great open fire-place... and a huge garden, lots of orange-, lemon-, grapefruit-trees.... palmtrees, banana trees, grapes, lots of verduras, arboles y todo....

aaahhh - the whole area there is sooooo much nicer and greener and more relaxed than stressful city-life in Buenos Aires....!! hhmmm.... claro....

we had a great Asado (Argentine BBQ) with Maria's Dad and grandmother and with the empleada serving the food I almost felt like in some scenes of "Das GEISTERHAUS" (La casa del espiritu by ISABEL ALLENDE)... :) nice...

then we also went for a walk along the river and to el MERCADO DE LAS FRUTAS.... lots of beautiful places there and I definitely wanna go back there again with some more time....

at least I know now that Buenos Aires DOES HAVE some NICE PARTS as well.... que bueno... :)

posted by Astrid @ 4:13 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 01, 2006

1st of May in Buenos Aires....!!

Tag der Arbeit.... it's called DIA DEL TRABAJADOR aqui.... and it means lots of demonstrations and protests from the Partida Obrero, die Arbeiter-Partei Argentiniens, working-class party of Argentina, were taking place today....

the Casa Rosada on Plaza Mayo was fenced away and lots of police security at the presidential palace and in the streets and big Avenidas around there.... and since I live right next to Plaza Congreso (in front of Palacio del Congreso) there was a lot of stuff going on there too.... many people and groups were meeting there to march towards the presidential palace....

but no worries - I'm okay, didn't get involved in any protests or demonstrations.... and nothing dangerous going on here, no attacks on the president or other scandals...

and 1st May also meant that it was a National holiday and I didn't have to work today... :)

went out dancing on SAT and last night.... and I'm getting used to the Argentine way of going out.... every here happens late...!!
You eat dinner about 11.00pm, then you go dancing at a club around 1.00am or 2.00am.... they are open till 7.00am on the weekend.... then you have breakfast - usually Cafe con Leche y Media Lunas (mini croissants) - and at 8.00am the SUBTE (the Subway en Buenos Aires) starts working again and you can get home quickly and easily.... :)

so it was a nice long weekend.... with little sleep, and I still feel pretty tired....

went to AZUCAR in Belgrano on SAT night and LA SUDACA (which is only 3 blocks from my house....!! How convenient..!!) on SUN night.... had a good time dancing, met some very nice people, but also unfortunately quite a few very arrogant Argentines..... oh well, hay de todo....normal....

but overall it was a good weekend.... and for sure, I know I won't get bored here.... ;)

aaahhh - and it's getting colder here now..... leaves falling of the trees too.... hhhmmm, strange feeling to experience fall in MAY....!! ;)
wenn es eigentlich bei uns in Europe endlich so langsam Sommer wird.... ;)

well, ya me voy a descansar y dormir por un rato..... besos y hasta pronto.....xx

posted by Astrid @ 9:19 PM 0 comments