A day in the life of a milonguera.

Ahh, the city of Buenos Aires stretches before my eyes as I sit on the 124 Autobus to go to El Beso.

It is only a 15-minute ride from my apartment located on Montevideo Street near Quintana to El Beso, but the neighborhood changes from residential Recoleta to a more commercial area, especially after we cross Avenida Cordoba.

Walking the two blocks to catch the 124 bus, I usually see the bus as it is passing by the corner, and it has already picked up its passengers who have waited on the corner.  Luckily, this bus runs frequently.

It’s great to be familiar with Google Maps as you will find not only the bus schedule but also the best way to walk to a location or the best route for a taxi, too.

If you dig deeper into the maps app, you will learn that you control how you can arrive at a place discovering the options for best route, less walking, and even the route with the greatest accessibility.

Being able to be in charge of location information is one of the best ways of being able to take charge of your transportation needs.

While sitting at a wondow seat on the bus, I am looking out the window as we pass places that I know on Rodriguez Peña calle.

First, there’s Parrilla Peña, a great local parrilla [steakhouse] where service is excellent, and so is the meat.

Then there is the Farmaci Verde, a new discovered  pharmacy that makes tinctures and other non-traditional medicines to order. In another block, we turn the corner, and the bus has arrived at our stop,  Avenida Lavalle and Avenida Callao. The stop for El Beso.

Here on the corner, you’ll walk past Los Galgos, a typical old-school restaurant bar where you can get a drink, a coffee, or a snack or dinner, too. Highly recommend it as the atmosphere is fairly festive and service is typical of any restaurant in the area. Try sitting at the bar itself instead of a table as it’s fun to watch the bartender work.

Crossing the Callao Avenida, we pass Martínez Cafe, whose coffee is good, and you can drink it inside or at the newly installed outdoor tables.

We are walking today and using the diagonal street called Enrique Santos Discepolo to arrive at the corner of Corrientes, passing by a very good theater with a restaurant called Teatro Picadero in this diagonal alleyway.

Arriving at the corner of Riobamba and  Corrientes, there are two coffee cafes. Both are good. A Havana Cafe and right next door is a Tuo Tempo. Both offer outdoor  and indoor air conditioned seating, which, in my opinion, in the summer months is a viable option.

Finally, as we are crossing the street, we look up, and there is El Beso with its recently acquired new signage, which is officially recognized as the permanent home of the Milongas.

So, opening the door, there are strains of tango music. Depending on the day and time of the week and which organization is running the milonga, this will decide how you are going to be greeted.

My experiences have mostly been during the weekdays and are mostly very positive.  There is a milonga on Thursday night that, in my opinion, is abysmal to attend as they are not welcoming or friendly.

One of my favorite milongas is on Friday afternoons and is called El Abrazo Tango Club. This milonga starts at 3 pm and runs until 8 pm. The hosts are two very amiable [amicable] people Zoraida Fontclara and Diego Alvaro. They have been running this milonga, and this year will be 28 years.

They are all that you want, in folks who organize Milongas, friendly always asking if all is good, have quite a variety of male taxi dancers available, and a very good DJ.

Now that I have arrived here, I find my seat. I catch the eye of the waitress and order my copa de champan. It’s time to put on my dance shoes and watch the dancers. I look to see old friends and acknowledge them. I am watching the floor, looking for my first cabeceo of the afternoon.

I am in my happy place.

I am a tango dancer.
I write tango stories.
I am a tango photographer.

My name is Ruth Offen. Welcome to travelingtango.com