GoldenBeeTours

Buenos Aires is one of my favorite cities in the world. And not only because it is a cosmopolitan city with loads of charm and world-class hotels, restaurants and shopping. The Argentine capital is also where South American culture meets its European roots, and the result is a vibrant and sophisticated city like no other.

Buenos Aires offers the advantages of international centers like London, New York or Paris - for a fraction of the cost. The exchange rate is 3 pesos for 1 dollar; to have an idea, dinner in a top restaurant with their great Malbec wines costs less than $10 per person. Let it also be said that the elegance and good looks of the Portenos, as the natives of Buenos Aires are called, add a lot to this city’s allure.

Not surprinsingly, our Tango in Buenos Aires tour, last November, was great. We arrived in the Southern Hemisphere at the end of their Spring, but the hot Summer days Buenos Aires is famous for had not yet started. Coming from a cold end of Fall in New York, this sudden change of weather was most welcome - coats were off right on arrival at Ezeiza Airport.

We were lucky with our hotel: five star Caesar Park Hotel was elegant and calm, yet in the center of Recoleta, one of the most prestigious neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Surrounded by grand French-style mansions, embassies and upscale boutiques, we were right across the street from Patio Bullrich, an international shopping center offering from Chanel and Yves Saint-Laurent to the famous Argentine leather and wools.

But the main attraction of our tour was tango, and the high point of our days were dance classes in the San Telmo studio of Maria Edith. A warm and friendly tango dancer of international acclaim, she and her dedicated team of instructors introduced us to the magic world of this dance that - in its theatrical movements and dramatic sounds -embodies their culture. Maria Edith taught us not only steps, but also that for us women dancing tango means allowing our bodies to be led by our male partner, following his moves and control. A fascinating cultural experience, to say the least.

People in Buenos Aires love to have fun and seem to live by night; no self respecting citizen goes out to dinner before 9 pm, and the streets are full until late hours. We soon adjusted, and each night took us to a different great restaurant: for the famous Argentine beef we chose El Mirasol, in the La Recova area; meat never tasted that good. For a special treat with local flavor, we drove far away to La Boca, a working class neighborhood where tango was born and still rules, to a restaurant that is also a ’shrine’ to soccer team Boca Juniors, the leading team in this city where soccer is almost a religion.

Oh, and the tango shows! Fantastic! Totally off-the-beaten-path and hard to find, was a presentation of Fernandez Fierro, a tango orchestra that is starting to attract attention the way Ástor Piazzolla did, before achieving international fame. The audience at this funky and far away place was mostly young people and Europeans, who always seem to know where the special attractions are. We did, too, and this show was one of the best we saw.

We had an excellent driver in Matias, a Porteno who knew his city well and made sure we were always safe. With him in tow we visited sophisticated Puerto Madero, hip Palermo Viejo, busy Calle Florida, the museums Evita and Malba, and many other sites in that culture-loving city. On our last day we were able to attend the opening match of the Argentine Open Polo Championships , the major polo tournament in the world; the Argentines are the undisputed leaders in the so called ’sport of kings’. This event attracts a very international crowd, and nowhere else it is played quite like there - as Matias told us, explaining its rules. Nothing like a driver who knows his polo.

Only in Buenos Aires.