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The Argentinean Consulate generally does not accept application for individual tourist visas, and you’ll be told that you need to apply through a travel agency. I applied via Shanghai Business International Travel (SBIT) and was satisfied with the service quality. The contact details are given for your reference. (SBIT also does air ticket booking)
SBIT
Address: 21/F, Huaihai Financial Building, 200 Huai Hai Central Road
Phone: 63867808, 13501656572
Contact: Cao Jian (曹健)
Old photo on the wall of Cafe Tortoni
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Air Ticket and Route |
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High season for Argentina’s tourism begins at January, and air tickets for February and March are expensive and at high demand. So be sure to make early arrangements if you plan to go on this months. Many airlines run flights to Argentina, and you need to pay close attention to the itineraries and routes, and whether you need a transit visa. I flew American Airlines, and the itinerary was reasonable. It had only a 3 hours’ stopover at Chicago O’Hare. Bear in mind that you need to take your luggage via immigration and check in again, a bit different from the routine in Europe, and don’t forget your luggage!
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Bring your own food if you’re gastrically picky. American Airlines catering was mediocre. At Terminal 3 of O’Hare there are some restaurants, mostly fast food. Personally I find B.smooth satisfactory, with fresh salad and Italian dressing. Burrito & Beach serves taco and something Mexican.
Ernesto Photo |
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Entry and Departure |
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Be extra patient when you arrive at Buenos Aires. To be honest Ezeiza is the worst-managed airport I’ve ever seen, and time-consuming to get around. |
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Entry: It took an hour from alight to immigration. |
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After taking your luggage you are advised to go to “Official Taxi”. Journey to city centre cost me 78.00 peso (about RMB 178, excluding tip) |
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Exit: Be sure to arrive at airport early, preferably 3 hours ahead! I arrived 2½ hours head yet almost missed the flight. There were long queues at every check-in counter of every airline. Check-in was slow and you need to go to 2/F to pay airport tax and pass through security check. First-timers to Argentina often get startled at the long queues, and many turn to security check, asking, “My flight’s coming soon. What can I do?” and they were told, “I don’t know”. Many travellers missed their flights this way, and it’s heard that this is an often sight at the airport.
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Tax Refund |
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Many shops at Buenos Aires are duty-free. Ask for a manifest of duty-free items after you shop. Go to Customs for a chop before check-in, and go to 2/F for cash refund. Note that the refund is in pesos and you can use it to pay airport tax or exchange for US dollars (and only US dollars).
Cafe Tortoni
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Accommodation |
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From what I know Buenos Aires is made up of two regions: City Centre and Palermo. I found lodging in each of them for a week. Most tango schools, workshops and milongas are in the City Centre, and going by taxi costs 6 to 10 pesos. Palermo is a high street area. Tidy and quiet, there are many cute modern or classical restaurants, cafes and fashion shops. |
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Here’s a lodging house I used and recommend:
Lina’s Tango guest house:
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Lina is an eager matron. I hear that she’s been running this guesthouse for at least 10 years. What’s good about lodging here is that you’ll meet many around the world who come to learn tango, and exchange information with them. Through a Belgian couple I met a maestro called Ernesto Carmona. Lina knows well the tango circle herself. |
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Lina’s is a good location within walking distance of Escuela Centro, and a stone’s throw from the well-known Plaza Dorrego. |
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Lina’s has a lovely courtyard where people have breakfast and chat by the bench. Sometimes people gather there at night to talk about what they’ve just done … On a corner there are many old dancing shoes left behind by guests. After getting my new shoes I left my old ones there too.J |
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Sometimes Lina holds traditional BBQ dinners. When the fragrance of meat and wine effuses around, people would dance the night away to the music … |
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I could have stayed longer at this lovely place but it was booked solid, and I wound up at a small flat in Palermo. I got this info from Lina’s daughter, who’s running a property agency. Service was good and info about housing is available at the website.
Yard of Lina Guesthouse
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Schools and Teachers |
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Schools |
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Tango-related ads are everywhere in Buenos Aires. I picked Escuela Argentina de Tango for quality of faculty and class location. The city centre school is inside the Borges Exhibition Hall at the City Centre. A group lesson costs only 15 peso, and discounts are available if you pay for 4 or more at a time. Private lessons are also available and rate varies with renown. |
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The class schedules are very detailed with class content, level, teacher names and so on. I like Angel Coria. He teaches “musicalidad”, in which you learn to listen to a variety of music for rhythm. To those here in Shanghai I recommend basic courses to learn and correct posture and footwork. |
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Intensive workshops are often held on weekends with better-known teachers. In such classes I got to known Alejandra Martinian, among the best 5 woman dancers in town. The class is worth attending. Apart from being taught by experienced teachers, you’ll learn with people of a similar level, and this helps greatly. Weekend courses generally last for 2 days and 3 hours each day.
Class |
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Teachers |
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Many dancers stay in Buenos Aires for weeks or even months. Having only a fortnight I chose some private lessons to speed up learning. Whom I chose are: |
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Alejandra Martinian: Among the best 5 woman dancers in Buenos Aires, she is of the classic school, with movements of utmost perfection. I decided to take private lessons with her as soon as I saw her teaching. Although she’s stringent and distant in demeanour, what you’ll learn from her is how to train yourself for days to come. She’s booked solid even for a rate as high as US$100 per hour. I booked on Tuesday and had to wait until Friday for the lesson. Recommended for women.
*Contact details available on request |
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Diego Gonzalez: A professional tango teacher, he holds classes at Escuela Argentina de Tango. He teaches in English and is a very professional teacher who is knowledgeable in both men’s and women’s steps. The steps are a bit difficult but he’ll teach you one move at a time until you get it. I like his way of teaching, much more practical if you learn steps only to forget them. I find Diego a good leader who accommodates his partners well and makes them look great. Enjoyable dances with him! Also high marks at nuevo tango.
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Martin Maldomado: He teaches dance at Canning (milonga name: Mano a Mano), and accommodates guests. Knowledgeable with both men’s and women’s steps, he leads gently yet clearly. I’ve seen him with his male partner. Beautiful. Under dim light two young men move gently yet swiftly, quite unlike man-and-woman couples in inertia and speed.
Martin teaches patiently and starts with emphasis on your foundation and balance. A good coach, he has a lot to offer to men.
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Finally I’d like to introduce Ernesto Carmona. I learnt about him from a Belgian couple who’ve done tango for 7 years. They said that he’s once been one of the top two dancers, and that the other taught everywhere abroad while he stayed in Argentina. He has a unique way of teaching but can be a bit difficult for students. He has many fascinating stories, and I decided to give it a try. When people in Tango Guesthouse learnt that I was about to take his classes they looked at me like, you’re brave, good luck. |
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Ernesto teaches at his workshop on Mondays to Saturdays 18:30 to 10:00. Curious, I rang his bell. A man at his fifties with long hair answered. He had a few extra pounds but still had upright posture. And that was the Ernesto Carmona I’ve heard about all my life. |
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He holds lessons with a very distinctive manner. On the first lesson he told me to walk upstairs and downstairs once in his workshop, pointing out that my swaying was due to inattention to centre. This is a problem to tackle with during the dance. |
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Next, during my dances, he pointed out that my knees moved too much and that I should focus on my feet. It was hard to switch quickly so he put two sandbags on my ankle so that I could feel my feet. |
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Ernesto has a deep knowledge in music. He has more than 10,000 discs in his possession and often teaches you about music during classes. |
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Although I didn’t learn steps from his lessons, in his own way he taught me how to make my moves look better. |
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Much more importantly I learnt what embrace is. He taught that with embrace you’re expressing your feelings about your partner. It can be liking, loving or even hatred. Your embrace varies with this feeling. Then he told me to think about how I would embrace a family member or a loved one, or even someone if I were a geisha. |
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There was another instance when Ernesto asked, “How many ways are there to do tango?” A swiss student smartly answered, “There are as many ways as people in this room.” Ernesto paused and then said, “There are three ways of doing tango: One is to show others, one is to the music and the other is communication with your dance partner. I hold dancers who communicate with partners at high esteem.” |
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This way student all over the world relish every bit of his classes, and some have even learnt from him for 4 years. Rate is 20 pesos. From day one I made a commitment to take his lessons no matter what until I left town… To me he’s a tango master who doesn’t teach steps.
Martin in the Workshop |
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Milonga |
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Every night in Buenos Aires there are milonga scenes of various sizes. You get different feelings at different times. |
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At traditional milongas, the clientele tends to be older and more observant of salon rules. When you enter, ushers will take you to “where you belong”: Singles and couples take different positions and among singles, men and women take different positions. People invite dances with eye contact. The man walks to the woman only when she has nodded. People seldom bump into each other because everyone moves anticlockwise, forming a big circle on the floor. |
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Non-conventional milongas: The younger generation like to go to Marsha on Wednesdays and Canning on Thursdays. These milongas are famous for couples of two men. On these two days they go there to dance the night away. I like Canning. Every Thursday there are shows by young dancers. After the show’s over the DJ would play some chacarera, a folk dance of Argentina. It’s pleasant to see people dance to the rich rhythm. |
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Salon Canning, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, Tel: 4832-6753 |
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The milongas are plentiful. For more information, you can consult relevant magazines. Many milongas open as late as 5 in the morning. Tip: If you want to know more people for dances, you can take classes before the milonga. After you know each other well it’s easier. |
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* The tables of teachers and the organisers are not for everyone. You need the teacher invitation to be there and being there is a privilege.
Show of EL Barraeas |
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*Dance shoes |
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This is something that receives lots of attention from women. In salons in Buenos Aires women wear beautiful shoes and that’s part of the dance. Those who do tango look at feet more than head J and shoes become important!
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The best shoes (also best looking) are of course Comme il faut: Arenales 1239; TEL:48155690. Located at 3/F of an alley behind Avenida Santa Fe, business hours are 11:00 to 14:00. It takes only 5 customers at a time, and photography is not allowed. The shop is an apartment where you’ll be taken to a leotard sofa facing a big wall-to-wall mirror. The shopkeeper will ask for your shoe size and special requests, and then take a big pile for you to choose from. You’d feel like a princess. Average price is US$100 to 130. Ladies only. |
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Apart from Comme il faut, I also like NEO Tango. Average price is about 300 pesos, only 10 pesos less than Comme Il Faut. Still there are some with distinctive styles worth a try. You find many shoes for men, and also sneakers. |
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Other shoe shops can be found on magazines. Feel free to take a look and they have discounts from time to time.
Door of Comme if Faut |
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Tango Magazines and Music |
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Magazines: Schools, salons and shoe shops have free tango magazines and pamphlets, where you can get much info. |
Music: The biggest music shops is ZIV ALS. You can listen to samples before you buy. Also online at www.tangostore.com. Address: Av. Callao 395 |
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Tel: 43727251
It is located at Paranci 123 Room 1017. Although secluded, it is well-known in tango circles. You can find various kinds of tango music. Guess what… I’ve even seen CD’s with Chinese singing and recording. |
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Gourmet |
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Good food is easy to find in Buenos Aires for reasonable prices. A famous dish is beef lomo. I like it roasted to half-done, and seasoned with mushroom and champagne sauce. |
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Bar El Bederal is a traditional Argentinean restaurant. Much of the clientele is the elderly who seem old-time patrons for decades. It’s at Peru y Carlos Calvo. Tel: 4300-4313, a few cross streets from Comme Il Faut. There you find my favourite dish lomo. If you’ve just finished shopping at Comme Il Faut, this is a good choice. |
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Los Loros, near Plaza Dorrego, is a lovely small restaurant, where you find tasty bread with tomato sauce. Note that Argentinean beer has a higher proof than ordinary beer. Don’t drink too fast if you get drunk quickly. |
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Tocororo: This one has good dishes with value lunch set. Good environment especially at the patio by the river.
ADD: Av. Alicia M.de Justo 1050, Dock 7 Puerto Madero
Tel: 4342-6032 /6033
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Green Bamboo: A Vietnamese restaurant for those tired of Western cuisine.
ADD: Costa Rica 5802 Palermo Tel: 4775 – 7050 |
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A must-go for your pilgrimage is Café Toroni. It’s a very old brand and every taxi driver knows it. The walls are lined with old photos that tell its history… you often see people queuing up outside for seats. The best time is around 16:30 when you don’t have to queue up. There are tango shows on evenings, and reservation is necessary.
Signboard of Cafe Tortoni
Starter of Lomo
Love Lomo |
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Shopping in Buenos Aires |
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Argentina’s leather goods are finely crafted yet reasonably priced. This place is replete with shops selling horseback gear and polo supplies, an ideal place for riders. |
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Women’s fashion is also fine, with varieties of shoes of high quality. February is discount season. Av. Santa Fe and Florida are lined with retailers. I find Florida reminiscent of Nanjing Road in Shanghai, and Santa Fe of Huaihai Road. Palermo Soho is a famous shopping place, with many specialty stores. |
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Safety: |
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Buenos Aires is comparatively safe but be careful to avoid walking alone at night. Taxis are convenient and safe. When you give them address the drivers will take you there with no questions asked. Keep watch of your bag, as theft happens every now and then.
Barbecue at Lina tango guest house
Show of El Barraeas 2
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