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No Milongas!

Wow, it’s been a while since we went to a milonga. Not much traveling or tango either.

Why no milongas?

There’s a reason for this.

My health went downhill in September, and at the moment, I’m on the mend. Wahoo. The last few months were pretty intense, but now things are much better.

For the time being, the only issue is the weather. It’s about 45 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. With the onset of winter, many colds and flu cases are circulating here in Barcelona. There’s the H3N2 virus, and now a stronger mutation called the K Subclade of Influenza A. The flu season began with a roar and continues to gather strength. In Barcelona, the rate of infections is rising, and in certain public places, wearing a mask is mandatory. Stay healthy wherever you live.

As a woman with a compromised immune system, my experience tells me that I can’t get a flu or cold, as it will take me three times longer to get over it. The whole process is quite intrusive, which is why I wear a mask on the bus, subway, and in any setting with more than two people present.

Deciding to live simply!

With our decision to live simply and solitarily, we will not mingle with others, we will not attend concerts or any events with large crowds for the next few months, and we definitely won’t go to any milongas until spring either.

Now is the time for quietness, as I strive to learn more meditative skills by sitting in silence and cultivating calmness. These are new skills for me, as I have always been accustomed to acting quickly in the past. My partner, Maximo, is fantastic at doing things slowly, and I am trying to follow his lead. But it’s frustrating for me. Slowly, I am learning this as it’s necessary for my healing.

The need for doing everything quickly no longer exists, as I am no longer working in my business. As a retired individual, my agenda is entirely under my control.

Learning to savor life

Learning to savor life is a fantastic present, as life is filled with many travails but is mostly awesome.

Since I retired from running an art gallery, I have enjoyed nurturing myself as an artist. After 40 years of watching others’ careers, I have chosen an artistic life for myself. It’s all about my sense of style and ethos in my writing and photography.

Since its inception five years ago, travelingtango.com has endeavored to present tango and our travels in a different light through my writings and photos. The objective is to explore different perspectives on tango and travel, while presenting the viewpoint of an older woman with a few quirks.

Discovering new things

In Barcelona, we are discovering a whole new world of non-tango experiences. As we live in a 2-bedroom apartment, we have space for projects. 
My initial question was, what would we do if we didn’t dance tango when it’s cold outside?

The answer was a bit easier than I expected, as I discovered that I had the patience to read again. I am reading in English and trying in Spanish. A bookstore is needed. This led us to investigate the bookstores that sell English-language books, new or used. The bookstore experience is different in Barcelona than when we lived in Buenos Aires. Newly published books are available in Barcelona, whereas in BsAs it was impossible to get a book newer than a couple of years old. The differences I imagine are in the governments and import rules.

It’s been a fun investigation so far, finding bookstores, as they are scattered all over the city. We found a great used book store, Hibernian, close by. After finishing a book, the store offers a trade-in option, issuing a store credit.

The other bookstore we discovered is dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. Yes, I am a big fan. As I was reading Robert Heinlein and Ursula Le Guin at the age of 12, I loved how they expanded my imagination.  The bookstore we found is called Libreria Gilgamesh. It’s stocked with books in English and Spanish, demonstrating the diversity of the genres.

Another skillset

Another skillset that we enjoy is cooking. The apartment we live in, unfortunately, has an electric cooktop, range, and microwave. The pots and pans work on the stovetop, but I’m having trouble getting the device to turn on.  Maximo has the magic touch. The oven is different; to use it, one must turn on the timer. I am learning centigrade too. 200 is about 400 Fahrenheit. 

We are learning to cook a variety of dishes from Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Spanish cuisines. 


When researching recipes, the search for ingredients can sometimes be challenging. I love the flavor of jasmine rice, as it’s a long-grain rice with a clean, sweet flavor that pairs well with a variety of dishes. I was finally located at an Asian market yesterday, after having casually looked since September.

Favorite pastimes

One of my favorite pastimes is shopping at the local farmers’ markets, which are scattered throughout the city. The produce is primarily organic, and the variety of cheeses is wide, but finding a good butcher has been a challenge.

After living in Argentina for five years, we have become accustomed to the quality of meat and prefer the taste of free-range, grass-fed meat. The meat in Spain is definitely not as good, but we continue to look for a butcher.

We’re also buying spices and sauces, and have mostly acquired the typical Himalayan sea salt, curry powder, cumin, basil, and oregano. We now need to purchase rosemary, tarragon, and herbs de francia. We have found a good fish sauce and sriracha, too. The local olive oil is delicious for cooking and salads.


These are just a couple of interests that we pursue instead of going to milongas. However, I will admit that it is very strange not to be dancing tango and socializing at Milongas.

Playing bandoneon

My partner, Maximo, has been playing the bandoneon for many years, and now he returns to practicing every day. Yes, we listen to a lot of tango music, especially some of the older orchestras and singers.

Nowadays, we have established a habit of walking daily in an unfamiliar section of town. It’s been a great way to explore the city and indulge in my favorite afternoon activity, having a beverage at a cafe.

Having fallen in love with this relaxed lifestyle, it’s essential to practice this skill by  sitting around and chatting for a few hours about life or any other topic you wish to discuss.

In these cafes, groups of grandmothers chat while the younger generation smokes their cigarettes and drinks their coffee. People are not inhibited about conversation, and this is evident in the volume of their talk.

Living in Barcelona

Living in Barcelona unhurriedly presents a learning curve for me, as my past culture was one of rushing and working. Here, work is secondary to family and socialization.  Life is so much more relaxed. Time and tracking time are irrelevant.

We are hopeful that in the spring, we will return to dancing at milingas and festivals in Europe. Now we practice dancing tango in our living room on wooden floors, and I am pleased to say I can still dance tango.

In the meantime

In the meantime, it is my hope that you, my reader, will enjoy my stories of the experiences we have residing in this remarkable place that we call home.

Wishing all a very happy healthy holiday season and the best for the upcoming New Year.

Stay strong, be greatful and may you find what makes you happy!

Abrazo

Ruth y Maximo



Fresh & Cold: Barcelona

We are spending this winter in Barcelona, and the weather has turned colder with temperatures in the low 40s. Winter reminds us of our frailty. We approach the winter season with its colds, flus, and, of course, its numerous festive holidays, reunions, and parties.

The social season begins in mid-December and ends with the New Year celebration. Do you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa?  Do you relish this time of year by turning into a party animal? Or are you an introvert who hides for the month?

Celebrations

Many households celebrate the holidays with traditions that have been established for generations.  My small immigrant family consisted of a mother, a father, and three little girls. We spent most of our time together because the neighborhood we lived in [predominantly Italian] didn’t encourage intermixing among immigrants. The Italians all played together, the Puerto Ricans all spoke Spanish, and the Poles all spoke Polish.

This neighborhood

This neighborhood was located next to one of the Holland Tunnel’s entrances on the New Jersey side. Lots of dirt, noise, and traffic. We lived on the 5th floor walk-up in a two-bedroom apartment that was cramped and dark. The rooftop served as a playground.  No guardrails. No safety features. Just a large expanse of open roof with a view of the Hudson River and the Lower East Side.

The neighborhood was diverse. There was an Italian bakery, a Kosher butcher shop, a fishmonger and fruit store, and, of course, the corner store. Supermarkets as we know them now did not exist, except for the A&P, which was a small, localized market.

The corner store

The corner store was not only a convenience shop but also a social connector. It was a place to hang out and drink your soda, and chat with a friend.  This was the place your father sent you to buy cigarettes at 27 cents a pack or buy that container of milk late at night.

Besides the 5 story brick high-rise buildings, this neighborhood had a few two-story homes. Multiple generations of family members lived, sometimes sleeping three kids to a bed. The chatter of voices never stopped. On any warm summer evening after the supper together, people would hang out on their stoops [modern-day porches], chatting with folks as they walked on by. Sharing a joke, asking about a family member’s health, or simply trying to connect with others.

Living in Gracia

Currently, we are fortunate to live in Barcelona, this city has a connection which permits us to enjoy an easier-going lifestyle than Buenos Aires or Seattle.

The city offers incredible fresh food markets, cultural and artistic museums, a wide assortment of
restaurants, and bars all offering their wares at very reasonable pricing. These spaces all provide encounters with local culture.

And now, with the holidays imminent, there are a few special holiday activities in Barcelona, such as the Santa Llucia Fair, which dates back 237 years. “Located in front of the majestic cathedral, the fair’s distinctive charm captures the essence of the holidays. The stalls, filled with traditional Christmas products, offer a fantastic selection from nativity scenes, figures, and trees to crafts, moss, and herbs that fill the air with a heady fragrance.

At the moment

At the moment, it’s beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas, with lots of decorations and sparkling lights. There are lustrous lights hanging on all major streets, creating a nightly magical glow. Massive holiday ornaments are strung across other streets, forming giant ribbons of light that blink on and off.
The night air is festive, and people seem delighted to celebrate the holidays.

Barcelona is situated on a plain with the Collserola mountain range to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the east. We live in the neighborhood called Gracia, which is a hilltop. Here, there are predominantly 4- and 5-story brick apartments, with retail stores scattered across most first floors. This neighborhood, Gracia, was once a separate village but is now incorporated into the city.

Barcelona is a conglomerate of many small neighborhoods with stores, restaurants, and bars. With so many unique spaces, I am always marking new places on my map to visit as we pass by on the bus or taxi.

Such a different type of energy from a typical American city. Whose attributes include a myriad of box stores that present a very homogenized approach to retailing, with most merchandise identical to that in other stores.

Enjoying the differences

What I enjoy is the vast selection, whether it is food or clothing.

There’s a process of discovery here that doesn’t exist in many cities. Over the years, the world has become a smaller, more homogenised place without the diversity of the past.

Except here in Spain, where the spirit of diversity seems to have been nurtured and encouraged. On a typical block, there might be 3 fruit and vegetables stores, a few restaurants, the obligatory nail salon, and at least one pharmacy.

Walk another block, and the scene is repeated, but the order might be different.

For me,

For me, Barcelona has become a city that we are exploring neighborhood by neighborhood. There are many barrios ib Barcelona including Eixample that is totally about Gaudi, Barrio Gòtic the old section of the city, and of course, El Born, which is pretty trendy now.

When we are out at night, we have never felt we are in harm’s way but then again, we have both spent much time in big cities. We are not careless, and we always try to take a taxi home.

As we continue to get to know the city that we have chosen as our new home, we also discover the quirks of the people. Most people start working later and work much later into the evening. The city is very garrulous as the locals are friendly, insisting on embracing new friends with two kisses, one on each cheek. In this country, people love to chat about everything and anything. Engaging with strangers while waiting in a line is the standard.

A major nuisance

The major nuisance that we have noticed is the folks who travel to the city to get totally wasted and vomit in the streets, generally behaving stupidly, mostly 20-somethings from many different EU countries. Overtourism can ruin a city, but Barcelona, like a few others, is trying to limit it. Only the future will tell if the measures they are trying out today will be successful, encouraging tourist taxes to go up, probably as rigorous as other sanctions.

But with this city being the cultural mecca it is, the proposed limiting of tourism is difficult. Starting in 2026, cruise ships will be limited as to when they can visit the city, especially the day cruise boats. The town, like many other popular destinations, is trying to encourage cruises that start and end in the city, therefore attracting a better caliber of tourist.

As we have chosen to live in Barcelona for many reasons, we watch this dynamic city change and grow. It is such a pleasure to live in this city and to become a local, learning the ways of this city and sharing the stories of these discoveries.

Links

https://www.eseibusinessschool.com/culture-shocks-when-m

https://www.google.com/search?q=elevation+if+garcia+Barcelona+&client=ms-android-tmus-us-rvc3&sca_esv=ec9d1a2ade95c9b3&sxsrf=AE3TifNjehZDfqc1XObKkK-CzJdGSSbEaA%3A1764487298039&ei=gvArafWRAqTPwbkPzdnukAM&oq=elevation+if+garcia+Barcelona+&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIh5lbGV2YXRpb24gaWYgZ2FyY2lhIEJhcmNlbG9uYSAyBxAhGKABGAoyBRAhGJ8FMgUQIRifBUjlOlCIDViSL3AAeACQAQCYAZACoAGzDKoBAzItN7gBA8gBAPgBAZgCB6AC6QzCAgoQIxiwAhiwAxgnwgILEAAYsAMYCBgNGB7CAg4QABiABBiwAxiGAxiKBcICCBAAGLADGO8FwgILEAAYgAQYsAMYogTCAggQABgIGA0YHsICCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFwgIFEAAY7wWYAwDiAwUSATEgQIgGAZAGCZIHAzItN6AHzyWyBwMyLTe4B-kMwgcFMi01LjLIBzM&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp


Barcelona to Scale Back Cruise Capacity by 2030

Travel today

In the lap of luxury, so the journey begins…

Remember

Remember the innovative days of Pan Am Airways approximately in 1920 until its demise in 1966. In those early days passengers would dress up for the flying experience that was a sparkling aluminum plane with windows and acess was possibly by a set of walk-up stairs.

The experience was enhanced with gourmet food served on porcelain plates, accompanied by cloth napkins, and cocktails were presented in crystal glasses. The interior of the plane offered spacious seating on couches or lounge chairs and offered a higher ratio of service personnel to clients.  The prices were relatively expensive, and it was pretty uncommon for many people to fly.

There was an occasion which remains in my memory of a trip I took with my father.  As the oldest daughter of 3, I was usually treated as the adult child, as my immigrant parents were not totally versed in English yet.

I was probably around 8 or 9 years old, and my dad and I flew on a Pan Am Boeing Clipper from Newark Airport to Detroit. We dressed up in our best clothes and sat on a couch that ran parallel to the window. I think the occasion was my father’s brother’s birth of a child but those details are a bit fuzzy.

Old ways

What I do remember is the excitement of being on a plane. We had walked directly through the entire airport to the gate and climbed the movable steps, with the stewardess helping us find our assigned seats. I wore a big, crinkly brown and black plaid skirt that my mother had sewn for me and a freshly ironed blouse. My dad wore a jacket, slacks, and a tie. We were scrubbed clean and dressed to the nines! I think we were served food but who could eat as you watched the scenery pass by below from the vista of 10,000 ft. I was fascinated by the scene.

The journey lasted maybe 2 hours but I think our world changed, perhaps it was by the air or the nature of the ride, because we definitely felt special as we were doing something that most people only dreamed of.

I don’t remember how my dad paid for this experience, as we were, in reality, very poor, but I remember how special we felt.



Today’s experience is so very different.  Air travel is a necessity if one wants to go long distances. Miami to Barcelona.  The only other alternative is a cruise taking a week or so and as most Americans only get 2 to 4 weeks off as vacation and most folks prefer to get to their selected vacation spot speedily.

Airports today are scenes of total chaos, people arriving and departing for destinations for business for vacations and also many retired folks traveling to explore the world. Lots of students and folks under 25.  Parents with newborn babies and parents who probably should have used a condom.



The scene today is one of people rushing around the airport, to catch a flight, poorly dressed people in sports gear and running shoes, lots of logos and no matter the age and or sex, lots of noise and commotion. The days are perfect examples of hurrying up and waiting.

Hurry up and …

Travelers come in a couple of different types, the ones that get to the airport 3 or 4 hours before their flights and those who just squeak by with minimum effort and time.  Which one are you?

At Miami airport today there were two canine companions, one was a St Bernard and the other was the largest golden setter I’ve ever seen. Both had harnesses that had written on them saying that they were working and do not pet. It was such a big surprise, all I could do was smile as their handlers were small people in stature. The St Bernard being almost as tall as the handler.

There were no cats in cages on this flight as this is very popular. Not sure why either, except that the population is very mobile. The sound of a cat’s displeasure has become de riguer like the whisper of the plane.

Thinking back to the Pan American Airways flights, it all seems so nostalgic, except of course the current altitude is higher and the speeds are faster but it still takes a day to get anywhere.

Pan Am Air

For personal reasons back in September we had to change all our travel plans and OMG most airlines are very helpful as are the hotels. Only lost money on a deposit on a hotel in Puerta Vallarta [ if anyone wants to use it in exchange for a bit of cash, let me know] and only one airline insisted on a travel credit. Most of the others, my money was refunded.

So I booked us from Barcelona to Miami, premium economy.  Services were good, as I ordered a special.meal and received it one way and not the other. Those wider seats are definitely worth the money on flights over 9 hours, but for me, these days flying is so much harder on my body. In the future anything more than 9 hours has to be broken down into a couple of flights. After all, I am retired and don’t need to get anywhere quickly.



At the age of 73, I am trying to learn to slow down, but am finding this a bit difficult. Learning to do nothing is a definite artform. Meditation helps as does walking and doing a bit of chair yoga for my health. The best teacher for sitting still is my partner, Maximo.  He’s lived such an experience-filled life, but he can sit for hours and watch movie on his telephone learning English.

Yes, flying is necessary.
But then so is love, tango and traveling.

We look to the future while building on the past adventures except now we will buy a van and start doing road trips when the temperatures climb to the 90s in Barcelona.

Ahh the road map that will be is our guide are the Tango festivals and milongas and general historical interest.

Places to go

I would like to visit Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. Countries that are part of the EU but do not use the euro currency as my economy is built on dollars.

We await spring as the holiday season has started, with all the lights and regalia that make the holiday celebrations what they are. The comraderie, the food and the drinks.

All images in this story are courtesy of various websites including Getty images, shuttercock and Pan Am Airways archives.

Continue reading “Travel today”

Traveling Tango

Creator of Tango Experiences

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