Bon Dia. It’s been 25 days since we left Argentina on April 30th.
We have traveled by plane, fast train, slow train, taxi, metro bus, tram, funicular and teleferico, but mostly on our feet.
In walking, we have averaged close to 6 km a day. 12,000 steps. That means that in the past 25 days, we have walked approximately 150 km.
The sights we have seen are beautiful, both modern and antique. The Alhambra of Grenada. The Prado in Madrid and the Sagrada Family in Barcelona. The old cities of Gerona and Toledo. And many other smaller sites.
We danced Tango at a festival in Tarragona called Salou Tango, which was small and intimate.
In Madrid, while finishing a cup of tea, we ran into a friend at the same restaurant whom we knew from Tango in Buenos Aires…he lives part-time in Tel Aviv, Barcelona, and Buenos Aires. The small world of tango.
We danced tango in Madrid at the Milonga de Bulin on Calle Jacometrezo…again a small club with an excellent floor, with the typical arrangement of chairs and the women sitting on them. Smiling and sitting. Waiting.
The milongas in Granada are on the weekend, so we didn’t get to dance there. But we did see two amazing Flamenco shows from two different families.
And in Barcelona we have danced at Milonga de Emocion, Milonga del Angel and Club Tinta Roja.
Dancing tango in Barcelona is very sweet as the leads are nice and the conversation flows as with the usual, Where are you from? In Spanish, with a Cantaluynia twist.
What we did notice was the difference in the music, TDJ’S played lots of Darienzo, lots of strong rhythms, but not much Pulieses or Disarle.
There are dancers who use an open embrace, and others that dance closed embrace, but a good time is had by all. Another lovely element was we would run into dancers that we had met from the festival in Salou and other milongas in Barcelona. Very cozy.
The one thing we noticed that was different from BsAs is the feeling of the Milongas, I find the Catalunya/ Barcelona folks to be non emotional crowd. Maximo tells me it’s how the people are here. Very reserved. He was born in Girona and lived in Barcelona many years ago. He’s not only a lovely tangero and partner but a good guide as he lived and danced in many barrios in Barcelona.
But it’s Tango!!!
Daily life in Spain is different from Argentine as everything here functions all the time. The electrical power, the internet, the public buses and trains, and the amazing quality of food… but it is pretty ironic, we meet so many people who have moved here from Argentina. They love and miss their country, but they do not love how everything doesn’t work there. They like getting paid in a currency that functions all the time and does not fluctuate wildly and daily like the peso.
The old grandeur that is Barcelona, I love but yet all the old and antique has a function and is purposely recycled into something new.
This city is alive and breathes… you can feel it in the streets, in the food, in the cafes and while walking along the ramblers of the city looking for another cafe for a coffee.
