A Lesson in Tango Fusion

Tango is one of the true treasures of Buenos Aires and it's everywhere you turn. The other night we decided to try a "tango fusion" show, which purported to meld pure tango music and steps with modern dance and original compositions. The show was called Quintaesencia and performed by a new company under the direction of Leonardo Cuello. We had never been to the Centro Cultural Borges so we decided to give it a shot. From the start we were taken aback by the sophistication and skill of the dance moves. It really opened our eyes to the difference between a professional dance company and watching a dinner and tango show at the other places we've been. The show is divided into four short works that are the result of three years of development. We even recognized one of the dancers from a previous show we had seen and the choreography just made her appear more advanced by lightyears. It was fantastic and cost us about a quarter of the price of some fancy place.

Not to mention, the photography displays in the Cultural Center were excellent. There was one showcase on daily life in India that was full of vibrant colors and candid portrait shots. Another captured the faces and places of people going through abuse recovery, mental hospitalization, and illnesses. It sounds depressing but the photographs spoke volumes.

Here's Don posing outside the auditorium:

Art in the City

The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires is a treasure trove of the region's artistic culture and we recently immersed ourselves in it. The Constantini collection was a favorite and it includes all mediums from paintings and sculptures to photograhps and engravings. I was itching to take pictures of the art but I respected the rules and resisted. So, naturally, I was so jealous when I saw a lady taking up close and personal shots of the Frida Kahlo self-portrait. Good old me, always following the rules. In any case, this here picture is just a photograph of the exhibit's brochure cover. We also particularly enjoyed the abstract and optical art pieces where you could hit a switch and lights and pieces on the art would move around as the artist intended. There was just so much to see and the museum has a nice little french cafe to rejuvinate you.

We definitely recommend this experience to anyone visiting Buenos Aires.

Valentine's Day

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Ours was spent relaxing at the Faena Hotel pool and spa. We had foot rubs by the pool, massages in the spa, manicures, pedicures and lots of champagne. The weather held up beautifully and it was a perfect day. Ain't love grand?

Temaiken Bioparque

We had been hearing for a while about this amazing zoo in greater Buenos Aires that was even better than the one we'd been to twice closer to our house. Yesterday we decided to try it out and we were not disappointed. Temaiken is a bio-park about 35 kilometers outside of the federal capital lines and the landscaping and layout of the animal exhibits are exquisite. They say that a bio-park is a zoo, aquarium, museum, and botanical garden that focuses on endangered species. We got really lucky with such a beautiful day with almost no humidity following a really horrendous thunderstorm the day before. A saleslady sold us on an aquarium event so we went in with a huge crowd of kids to watch the divers feed sharks, who, oddly enough, had to be essentially force fed because they weren't even hungry. They told us that these sharks eat about every 15 days in their natural habitat but that Temaiken feeds them 3 times a week. Go figure. The pictures in the aquarium didn't turn out well since we couldn't use flash. The park was so tranquil and the birds chirping and soft music playing reminded us of the spa! We definitely recommend this day trip to anyone visiting here.

This picture below shows two bats wrapped up together, a mom and baby we suppose. It was surprising to find that the bats were one of our favorite exhibits; they were so large and watching them fly around was creepy and interesting.

Oh, Natal!

Natal, Brazil turned out to be a wonderful way to spend two relaxing weeks. Natal, City of the Sun, is the capital city of the State of Rio Grande do Norte and we managed to achieve a nice balance between kicking back and relaxing and pulling ourselves away from the beach house for excursions and activities. Our friend Butch had been nice enough to give us two thriller books in English and I hadn't had my hands on a book in English since we got here. So my plan was to completely veg and read by the pool or on the beach. Don convinced me to leave the house and have some fun so our first adventure was to the sand dunes. Natal is full of sand dunes in the hills overlooking the beaches and we took a dune buggy tour that was amazing. We went up and down the slopes of sand at top speed in this cute little red buggy.

We also went sand boarding, which was fun but a complete disaster! Don didn't bother trying to understand the instructions from the Brazilian guy so we were covered in sand and falling everywhere instead of gliding down the hill smoothly. But, it was hilarious.

The much more successful activity was a simple zip wire that Don did where you end up plunged in the river. If only there had been bungee jumping or diving off a cliff he would have done that too, for sure.I have to admit that I was nervous about the next adventure, our ATV trip along the hills and to see lagoons and rivers. I had never been on an ATV and I was sure that I'd be left behind. My hand was almost crippled from gripping the handles so hard! Well, no major mishaps occurred and so I settled down and even sped up pretty fast a few times. All I will say is that it's a good thing no one had their camera out when I accidentally drove into the river! Yes, that's right. Instead of following the path along the river, my ATV went crazy and I went right in. Oh, well. I guess it was pretty funny.

One of Don's favorite things to do, as I've mentioned before, is to take private boat tours whenever we're on vacation. I've struggled with sea sickness but gotten better over the years much to his happiness. Somehow, of course, whenever we take a boat on the ocean it happens to be during the roughest periods! On our way to Anguilla from Saint Martin, for example, we were caught in the most outrageous swells that only happen 1 or 2 times a year. Brazil turned out to be no different. We woke up at the crack of dawn to have a "calm" sea and we were caught in the biggest waves and violent rain storm ever. I felt bad because after 2 1/2 hours on that boat I just could not wait for rain to stop so that we could snorkel in the natural pool in the ocean. I may be smiling in this picture, but I'm screaming inside! Not to mention a big wave knocked Don off the boat while he was climbing on. I'll stick with relaxing by the pool with a book and a drink any day.

We already miss Brazil. The people and sights were amazing and we'd love to return one day.