Getting a Good Seat (For a Long Trip)

It’s a long flight from the U.S. If you can afford to move up to the front cabin I highly recommend it for a journey of this length. But, if you’re a mere mortal and have to fly in coach, then I can tell you for sure that this is one time when you definitely want to arrive early and be the first in line at the check in counter. If you’re not familiar with seatguru.com than it’s time to check it out. When you make your reservations you need to find out what kind of plane you’re flying in and check in and view Seatguru to find out about your seat. If your airline and plane info are on the site it will tell you if you have a good seat or, just maybe, you have the worst seat on the plane. Try for the best seat you can when you make your reservations, then try to get a window seat in an exit row when you check in. If there are two exit rows together, make sure you get the one with reclining seats. Often the first row will not recline into the second exit row. And, if the plane is not full, ask the counter attendant to try to keep the middle seat empty if at all possible. And why the window seat? Not for the view because you’ll probably be flying overnight. The aisle seat is the one people stumbling down the aisle at 3 am will grab as they pass. And, if your arm or foot or shoulder is slightly into the aisle you’ll find you’re a target for the service carts as well.

Orienting Yourself in the City

But, on to Buenos Aires. This last trip was for three weeks and I could have stayed longer. I love to walk and this city is perfect for walking. Taxis are cheap, Subte (subway) is cheaper and the buses are cheap, too. Count on spending about twenty five cents for public transportation and just a few dollars for the taxi. I love to walk and the abundance of cheap transportation makes it just that much easier. You can walk for miles wandering about the city, from one barrio to another. If you find you’ve walked too far, just hop on a bus or the Subte back to your starting point. Or, take the Subte a few miles out in any number of directions and then walk back.

From the downtown area where I stayed at the beautiful and convenient InterContinental Hotel it was an easy walk to the throbbing heart of Buenos Aires. I’m talking about Florida Avenue. It is closed to vehicular traffic and filled with a great variety of shops, department stores, movies, restaurants, ice cream parlors and the ever present buskers. These street performers may be singers, musicians, comedians, magicians, artists, or may be elaborately costumed for a special performance that you see only when money is placed in their container. And, the one act you will invariably see is the Tango.

Tango!

Tango in Buenos Aires is, for many, a way of life. It is not a dance quickly learned at a dance studio and then brushed off periodically for a wedding, a special event or an occasional night on the town. Learning the Argentine Tango would appear almost as a religion for some. For many it is a way to earn a bit of extra cash. And for some it is a total lifestyle. Eating, breathing and dancing the exotic and erotic Tango!

You will hear the dramatic music while walking down Florida Avenue. You may get drawn in to one of the many shops to buy a CD to take home. And, having seen the informal, but still quite expressive version of the dance on the street, you may want to visit a more formal Tango show. There are many, many choices and I can’t tell you which you will like best. I haven’t seen them all. I can recommend the Esquina Carlos Gardel show for a wonderful evening. It is a dinner show with an excellent meal, the music is compelling and the dancing is dazzling. What more could you want?

And, More Than Tango

There is more to BA than the tango. The Caminito in the LaBoca area is filled with colorfully painted, corrugated metal buildings. The sidewalk cafes are filled on the weekends and the tango dancers are ever present. There is usually an art show going on and I found a delightful small sculpture of two tango dancers - inexpensive, well done and a great souvenir of my time in BA.

From LaBoca you can take a long walk to Puerto Madero and stroll along the canal. Here you will see new restaurants, some very expensive new high rise apartments and the fabulous Puente de la Mujer (Women’s Bridge), a footbridge only, designed by the famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatreva. Don’t miss the Calatreva designed Milwaukee Art Museum on your next visit to that charming city.

If you’re in Buenos Aires on a Sunday, an excellent walk of about a mile or so from the city center is the San Telmo neighborhood of cobbled streets and more tango. The Feria de San Telmo, the best known market in the city, is filled with antiques, reproductions, crafts and another outdoor tango show. As is typical for a BA market, there are plenty of surrounding sidewalk cafes to just sit and watch the passing parade of interesting characters. But, to see even more interesting types, walk back down Defensa street on your way back to your hotel. Along the way you may see a great little puppet show, more tango dancers, a couple of guys on very high stilts or a handsome older lady with mesh stockings and a very short red skirt. If it’s winter time she may even be wearing a fur coat. I didn’t have a translator with me at the time, but apparently she was a well known tango dancer in her day, as some of the photos she has tacked to the wall behind her attest. And, she will pose for pictures with you - a gratuity is expected, of course.

It seems that I have run out of space, so please come back next month to hear the rest of the story. I know when you learn more about Buenos Aires you’ll want to catch the next plane south. And, I might even tell you just a tiny bit about the reason for my last visit - I went to the dentist!

See ya’ next time.

Bob