Argentina - Day 3

Today we took it easy. Coming from Portland, where people eat between 6 and 8 pm and the city generally shuts down after 10 pm, we are having a hard time hanging with the Buenos Aires nightlife. Lucky for us the 4 hour time difference works in our favor.

I spent the morning reading in a coffee shop in Palermo (a trendy neighborhood in BA) while Meg wandered around the streets window shopping and trying not to step in dog doo. In the afternoon we ventured to a local bar with Meg's Idealist co-workers to watch the semi-final of the Champions League (European soccer) between Manchester United and Barcelona. The match featured two of Argentina's top stars squaring off against each other, so there was a lot of local interest.

In the evening we fell into Argentina night survival routine:

- nap 7:30 - 8:30 pm
- shower 8:30 - 8:45 pm
- be grumpy from the nap 8:30 - 9:00 pm
- dinner (some variation of steak) 9:00 - 11:00
- post dinner activity 11:30 - 2+ am

On this particular night we went to a traditional tango show at Confiteria Ideal. Stepping into this building was like stepping into a time warp back to the early 1900's. This beautiful dance hall featured marble floors & columns, detailed dark wood paneling, and ornate chandeliers. There was a live band and the dancers ranged from old school Argentinians (including one gentleman who looked like John Waters in a red velvet smoking coat) to younger folks punked out in attire that can only be described as Peter Pan meets GQ. This was definitely not the place to learn tango--just to watch and listen in awe.