Author: Patricia Ferrier

Final country Brazil…..

After well over 30 flights and nearly 5 months of travelling, you’d think it would be easy to get to Brazil from Equador……wrong!!!!!
Our flight from Quito was due to fly to Panama where we would disembark and reboard to Brasilia and stay in the capital for a couple of days. Trying to board was difficult enough with a slight mix up with the booking but after persuading him there were not two Patricia’s with 64kg luggage we were able to board separately each with our own bags.
The fun started when just before Panama we were rerouted due to bad weather conditions and forced to land in Columbia. I have nothing against ending up in a different country to where I was supposed to be going, but I do not enjoy sitting in a plane on an airport runway waiting and waiting and waiting to see whether we stay in Columbia or fly further.

Later, in fact much later the weather changed and we took off again for Panama where it became obvious that we’d missed a connection to Brasilia. No one could’ve foreseen the absolute chaos in Panama airport. People shouting and screaming at officials, officials shouting and screaming at people. No announcements (not that I would’ve understood them anyway) computer system failure, the airport had been in lockdown.
As we stood in one of 3 long queues at our flight desk, we learnt that we were going nowhere that night and had to rebook for the next day. All of a sudden we were ushered through immigration with no luggage – just a bus ticket and a hotel voucher. If this sounds exciting, it actually wasn’t. We were in one of many buses transporting stranded passengers to various hotels.
After checking in it was already 9pm and no shops open for essentials. We did find a Hard Rock Panama hotel and duly bought a clean tshirt for the next day.
Unfortunately booking.com then cancelled our hotel in Brasilia as a no-show (even though we’d emailed them) and the next day as we boarded a plane at 4pm – it became clear that when we landed at 1am the day after, we had nowhere to go – no bus ticket, no hotel voucher, no reservation.
Luckily for us after a heated conversation with the hotel in Brasilia whilst using the hotel office phone in Panama, they had emailed us that they had found us a room in their partner hotel.
It was all highly complex and we only spent 1 day in Brasila. An unusual city inaugurated as Brazil’s capital in 1960. It is laid out in the shape of an airplane and is a masterpiece of modernist architecture. The city has separated zones for specific functions such as housing, commerce, hospitals and banking.
Brasilia is still developing a culture of its own. Although the city is complete – in a way its still developing.

The following day we flew to Rio, where we were looking forward to sea and sunshine…….wrong again!!!!! Sea yes, sunshine no!!!!
Frio in Rio we managed one week of our intended two, but gave up after Christ the redeemer was shrouded in clouds and the sugar loaf mountain was reluctant to give us a panoramic view…

(the clearest view of Christ the Redeemer were these painted walls at the bottom of the cable car…)

…..and the nice hotel we’d booked for our last week had a rooftop pool the size of a slightly larger than a normal bathtub.
We did however get to see quite a lot of football. However when England play I cringe and cannot look…..

and my beer consumption increases rapidly…….

And so it came to pass (not without a certain amount of persuasion for the hotel to cancel our booking free of charge) and yet again another humongous mix up in the flight booking at rio airport that we came to be lying on a beach in Fortaleza. Thank goodness for Google and weather apps that you can follow the sun. It has been winter in South America and we longed for a few rays of sunshine before our return to Europe, to a generally rainy climate and the ensuing chaos from Brexit.
I feel I’ve earnt my sunrays and shall linger in them until Friday. On Friday we shall fly to Salvador, where we spend the last few days of our incredibly long (in kilometers) journey before we fly back to Frankfurt.
There will be a completion blog as it would be unjust to finish off so abruptly.
One thing I didn’t mention was that today incredibly enough I was stopped by the Brasilian police on the beach. At first I thought I may be getting arrested for looking like a white whale, however they told me it was too dangerous to continue walking on the lonely stretch of beach. I disagreed as walking white whales (especially the older models) are generally considered quite safe. However I’ve avoided prison so far and smiled politely and walked the other way.

The Galápagos Islands…

A slightly complicated journey takes you to the Galapagos. From Quito, 2 flights to Baltra, a bus to the boat and a boat to St. Cruz and a car to the centre. I like the idea of these islands not being too easily accessible, it gives them a hidden and secretive element, even though they are well infested with tourists. Did I write infested? I will elaborate on this shortly…..
Once at our hotel we found a second type of infestation…..genetically enhanced ants crawling the walls. Maybe to be expected but I draw the line when I have to share my bed with them. We were offered a choice of two other rooms, but on inspection discovered that the same army had besieged both rooms and so we remained where we were and scratched and itched and batted the hell out of anything moving 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜

We then went to the Charles Darwin research centre, where the story of Lonesome George immediately caught my attention. He was such an old old turtle and the last of his species, a giant Pinta Island turtle. He was brought to the research centre and although he was probably at least 150 years old, attempts at reproduction were made. However these remained unsuccessful and poor old Lonesome George died without passing on his genes. It’s such a sad story…I bought the book of course, to go with the rest of my library I have purchased on my travels.
Referring back to the Galapagos being “infested” with tourists, it was after discovering Lonesome George that I thought how nice it would be sometimes to be a lonesome turtle, especially in places of mass tourism i.e. airports, planes, buses, hostels, hotels….in fact just any place where huge masses of people accumulate. I have always disliked crowds and mass tourism and when confronted with these situations in the future, I shall pretend to be lonesome George and retreat into my shell to be alone 🐢 (however this will exclude any royal gatherings, weddings, funerals, or coronations due to my patriotic tendencies).

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On the second day we sailed to Mosquera where seals slept peacefully and iguanas and crabs just wandered around.

From this point we had had our first snorkeling trip and ventured into the ever so slightly cool cool ocean. When our guide Dave indicated the hand on head signal which means shark, I did wonder why I was doing this, but was equally amazed at the huge creature lying below me and also relieved it did not want me for lunch. 🐋

After this we returned to the boat resembling a somewhat frozen whale like figure and continued our cruise to the Island of North Seymour.
Here we saw a collective gathering of many different species of birds.
The great and magnificent Frigates (that is the name of the species although they were great and magnificent as well) with the males huge billowing red necks to attract the females and the
blue feet boobies, once again the males dancing and swaying and showing the size of their feet to attract the females. It is said the bigger their feet, the more attractive they are as their feet protect the eggs in the nest. All in all a theatre on an island, a wonderful show provided by the mating birds and their attempts to attract a partner. Scenes of singing and dancing using their own props and providing a hugely entertaining afternoon.

On our third day we cruised to the Santiago Islands.

The first island, purely a lava Island with evidence of four eruptions. If I am honest I am not geologically inclined and did not take too many photos of the different formations the lava had left.

We then proceeded to the pinnacles and walked up to the viewpoint.

Our second snorkeling experience….

….was even more adventurous than yesterday. Our guide Dave who has now been awarded the prefix of danger Dave was keen to push us under water until we had seen our second shark languishing in a cave. Once again although I am scared of sharks I was by now feeling nonchalant about the whole thing. On his insistence I was once again forced down to the bottom only to become 👀 to 👀 with a rather large stingray. Danger Dave made it his business to make sure we saw all the delights of the ocean even when I thought drinking a cocktail on a boat would’ve been slightly less precarious 😄 For the second time I asked if the sharks really do not bite, to which he replied, I should be more wary of him, as he bites harder 😱 hence the name danger Dave, the wonderful guide with short legs and long trousers.
We were rewarded on our journey home with a slight bout of motion sickness as the sea became choppier. There was more or less silence amongst the passengers mostly because they had towels in their laps and were praying that it remain clean. I had no towel, but prayed anyway.
Later we posed for pictures on the boat, still swaying slightly ….

On our fourth day we went to the wonderful Tortuga Bay. Here we could swim in the crystal clear waters and burn in the blazing sun. It’s a long walk to finally get to the bay, once again has that element of secrecy about it, although everyone knows where it is. The 45 minute walk up the pathway and the following 1km walk along the beach to get to the bay may just deter some people.

Our Sunday afternoon was spent in the highlands walking around masses of turtles, some languidly bathing in mud and some just randomly roaming. These creatures are just so relaxed and slow – maybe we should all start to chill a little like a turtle 🐢

The following text I already posted on Facebook. For those who do not have an account, it is a short summary of my experience of the wonderful Galapgos Islands……

The Galapagos where turtles roam, eating fallen, ripened guavas, seals sleep in the sun or stand in line at the harbour for a piece of fish, birds sing and dance and recreate, sharks are vegetarian and sting rays do not sting. Sea and sky shades of blue, white sands shimmer in the sunlight. Waters crystal clear, penguins glide and multicoloured fish swim.
It’s hard to imagine a more peaceful and harmonious setting, unlike many other parts of our world today 😌

Today another early start, a delayed flight and believe me the day did not get any better…
On landing in Quito the usual lengthy queues, mass crowds, immigration forms, custom declarations, stamping of passports and then lifting all the luggage to have it scanned on arrival at customs.
Imagine my surprise when one of my bags were detained and I was asked what was in it. As I have an ever growing number of bags I could only hazard a guess as to why I was being asked this question. “Lady you have bananas in your bag” the customers officer ever so keen to help me out stated. “Oh have I?” I replied wide eyed but not completely legless…I was then escorted to a “room” where my bananas were laid out on the table – both of them – 🍌🍌
“Lady you declared you had no fruits or vegetables products with you” the customs officer declared in a severe tone of voice. In my head I was wondering whether I would be sent straight to jail or whether I could possibly phone a friend first or even use a real toilet instead of the
impending prisoners bucket. I then had to hand my passport in, which I was reluctant to do as you never know if you’ll get it back after 25 years in jail for such
a serious offence.
However after I had completed a form and corrected the customs officers incorrect sum of three illegally imported bananas to the correct sum of two, I then had to sign a declaration (of what I am still not sure!!).
After my passport details had been noted I was then free to go. Unfortunately I had to leave my pair of bananas in customs where I’m sure they enjoyed them as they were just the perfect ripeness for a banana.
My criminal record is growing and alas I fear there are a number of countries who will not welcome me with open arms anymore. My false Peruvian notes still hide in my purse and I have not been arrested for Money laundering……yet!!!!

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu called the city in the clouds is a journey through the many sectors of the Inca citadel. It is wrapped in a halo of mystery and mysticism. Due to its temples, plazas, ceremonial fountains, streets, storehouses and agricultural terraces, it has led Machu Picchu to be considered as a masterpiece of architecture and engineering and one of the wonders of the world.
It is a halo of scenic grandeur and cultural richness with an air of mystery. Revealed to the world just a century ago.
So how do you get there?
There are a number of ways. If you have time you can do the amazing Inca Trail or the Lares Trek or half an Inca Trail. If you have limited time, you can start from Cusco as we did. Our “package” involved a night in my hopefully last ever hostel in Cusco. The next day, a bus ride (2 hours) to Ollantaytambo
and then a train ride Inca Rail (I remember when Inter Rail was a sensation!!! – the world is changing from inter to inca) also 2 hours long passing along the river and mountains into Aguas Calientes
The next day involves a 4:15am wake up, a bad cold and a stubbing of the toe on the shower basin, resulting in a bright purple colour and a series of swear words before the sun even rose. 😫
At 5am you find yourself standing in an already long queue to catch another bus to Machu Picchu.
However…..arriving at Machu Picchu is just truly amazing and as the sun rose at 7:10am, my purple toe became a distant memory in that simply magnificent moment – I’ll say it again, because it was…..a magnificent moment. 🌖

One section where mortars were believed to have been filled with water to facilitate astronomical observations of the constellations.
Today however – full of tourists reflecting their own faces – like us 😉

After an amazing tour, you have several options depending on what you have booked. You can explore the site further and go to the Sun gate and the Inca Drawbridge. You can climb Machu Picchu, you can even go home….or you can do what we did…………
Huayna Picchu can be climbed after passing through the plaza where the sacred rock is located. I made the fatal mistake of reading Trip Advisor before doing this ascent – a huge mistake!!! People describe it as the scariest thing they’ve ever done, some backed out, some said, “never again!!!’ This did not go down well with my cold and painful toe…..and I wasn’t going to do it at all. However the fact that we’d booked it and only 400 people per day (2 time slots 7am and 10am 200 per slot) are ever allowed on the mountain made it a now or never situation and at 9:30am it became a “now” situation.

The entire southeastern face of the mountain has a pathway leading to the summit. The ascent is difficult but well worth the effort as it provides a new perspective on the entire city
of Machu Picchu.

Every step along the trail reveals a stairway carved into the rock, sections of stone pathway, terraces and elegant Inca structures built on impossibly steep slopes. Some of the terraces feature alters, the surfaces of which project out over the abyss where some seven hunter metres below the brown waters of the powerful Urubamba River rush.

The summit of Huayna Picchu is crowned by a series of sharp, ragged rocks. The view is overwhelming, spectacular. It is a great granite cliff rising 2,000 feet sheer.

Let me just say I was more than extremely proud of Dani and myself and we earned our chocolate for at least a week after that.
There is however no time for a long patting on the back ceremony, because as soon as we came down, we had to catch the bus back to Agua Calientes, pick our baggage up and go the train station by 2pm. Then the train journey again and finally another bus journey back to Cusco. We were then unceremoniously dumped as a group in the main square and had to walk back to our accomodation.
You can imagine what state we were in by the time we reached our bed and breakfast (thankfully not a hostel!!!!)
Would I do it again? No question… not tomorrow but definitely the day after 😀

Lima

How many times have I told my kids not to talk to strangers? Do I follow my own advice? Obviously not……I became an “opfer” yesterday in peru – a car stopped and there were 3 people in it. An oldish lady and two men, one of which was the driver. They asked me if I had 2 ten Sole notes in exchange for a 20 (which is only about 5 or 6 euros). As the sun was shining and I’d read a lot on New Yorks acts of human kindness, I got my purse out and had a look but I didn’t have change. The woman saw I had a 100 sole note (ca. 30-35 euro) and asked if I would change it for 2 X 50 notes – which I did and then they drove off and I suddenly thought OMG they are false notes. Later when I go to pay in Starbucks they said “these are fake notes” – so I was conned – stupid blonde going on grey tourist 👵🏼😏
So then Dani and I go to a policeman (at the risk of getting arrested again – this time for money laundering) and show him the money and the security guy standing next to him sniffed the notes and said “yip fake notes) and the policeman said I now have 2 nice souvenirs 😂😂😂😂
Now last night as my brain and I were fighting about getting to sleep, my brain said “if that guy can smell fake notes, surely the sniffer dogs at the airport will smell them too!!”. I said to my brain, “go to sleep” meanwhile conjuring images of being arrested at Lima airport for money laundering……
This travelling business does not get easier……

Barranco

Barranco is one of 43 districts in Lima, Peru.
The district is considered to be the city’s most romantic and bohemian, being the home and working place of many of Peru’s leading artists, musicians, designers and photographers. Barranco’s beaches are among the most popular within the worldwide surfing community.
There are many houses in the colonial and Republican style (called “casonas”), flower-filled parks and streets, and appealing beachfront areas.

The Museo Pedro de Osma, which hosts one of the best collections of colonial art and is a superbly maintained late 19th century building. We were fortunate that the Italian Fashion designers were hosting a temporary collection of retro creations – amazing 😄

Images of the coast

Cuzco

The day we arrived was festival day – a packed out town….

Pay these women and you can take a photo….the more you pay,the more they smile – I obviously didn’t pay enough 😬

More on Cuzco later…..

Inca Trail

We move to a hostel today to start the Inca Trail tomorrow. Due to time limitations we cannot do the whole walking trail and will proceed at first by train – YIPEEEEE

I was reading some really some really interesting “stuff” in our lovely B&B last night and I loved the way it was written and therefore I have condensed it and changed it so as not to get arrested for plagiarism. (along with my other potential situations for getting arrested!!).

All civilizations on Earth try to explain the world surrounding them, as well as the mysteries of the cosmos and nature. The great civilizations like the Greek, Hindu and Chinese have the same search for the divine, but with particular interpretation of their specific reality about the heavenly and the worldly issues. The mystery of the mountains was an important element to such search in the Andean view of the world.
Almost all people from the Peruvian community’s have a mountain considered as their Apus, their sacred being. Ceremonies and sacrifices were commonplace.
Today there are less people living around the mountains. Only old shepherds remain in the high Andean plateaus, youngsters migrated or share globalized cultural models through modern communication system.

More on the Inca trial to follow….

Vaparaiso, Pirque, Rio Hurtado, La Serena

The days are passing in Chile at at alarming rate. We spent two days in Valparasio, visiting a nice organic winery on the way – it’s getting ridiculous now, our wine consumption (ok testing) starting before midday.)

Small trip of the harbour in Valparaiso all in Spanish enabled me to concentrate on my “photography” because I understood 0,05% of the commentary 😟 so just some nice pictures of seagulls and sea lions and very nice they were as well.

Colourful walls in Valparaiso

Pirque
is just in the middle of nowhere – I say nowhere excluding the wineries of course which we visited on day 1 and incidentally the same one in day 2 as well, where they said to us “you were here yesterday as well!!!”……correct and 10/10 for observation I thought.
Each time we went we were on some bicycles – well some contraption which resembled a bicycle. The nice guy in the ticket office offered to drive us home on the second day in his “vehiculo” which I found completely hysterical after all that wine and would’ve loved to drive home in his vehiculo and not on that “bicycle”. Our accomodation was also believe it or not – yes, a wine barrel -it’s becoming a series of from wine barrel to the next….. 💃🍷💃🍷💃🍷💃🍷

Rio Hurtado…
A short domestic flight from Santiago and a long 3ish hour drive up winding, sharp curving roads had me thinking I was travelling in my wine barrel tardis and made me feel rather nauseous.
“Mother lets go horse-riding” said Dani to mother – which is me, a mother who has only ever given a horse a lump of sugar from about 3 metres away.
What a place for a lesson…this is your horse and this is yours (to me and Dani)….Mmmhh I thought – how the hell do you get on it?
You can get on, no? was the question and no was also my answer. However once shown where the stirrup was and how to use it l was amazed I managed it – if you’ve ever seen me trying to get on a banana boat – you would’ve been amazed too. Well there was no lesson and we climbed the narrowest, steepest, rockiest pathways I have ever been on – well, was I scared? to be honest as scared as what came out of the backside of the horse Dani was riding on – so yes I was. I didn’t dare look to my right or left and that poor bloody horse me clinging on for dear life.
– [ ] However giving myself a little credit, I became came nonchalant at one point – just holding the reins and pretending I was an incredible equestrian – which I am of course now. It was nice to get back on solid ground even though I was walking like a cowboy for the rest of the day!!!

La Serena

is where I accidentally stumbled across some more sea lions, making loud snorting noises and spitting fluids (and the sea lions were as well !!!).
I was so impressed it was almost a David Attenborough moment for me – I found myself hiding behind a car and filming as if I was some nature reporter on a dangerous mission – it was ace – I was ace – the sea lions were ace – it was an ace moment 👍

Afternoon beach time wine session
after my “Patattentborough” moment 👍🍷

After La Serena returned to Santiago for a few days (another flight – number 22 from 33 in total) before we fly to Peru.

Chile a diverse country, we’ve done so much here as indeed everywhere we’ve been. More challenged with the language here as out in the sticks if you can’t speak Spanish – you’re stuffed basically.
Remind me on my to do list:
1) learn Spanish

5 weeks from 22 to go……

Today was a special day in many ways…..
Francisco our jeep tour driver and guide picked us up from the hotel at 7am (7:30am Chilean time).
Into the Andes we drove, the mountains which frame the Santiago horizon, making it so unique. The tallest mountain around Santiago , the Tupungato mountain standing at 6,570m.

Francisco is one of the worlds special people – born in Chile, lived in Italy between the ages of 10 and 15, studied fashion design, produced films, lived in various other countries, a passionate surfer and an all round entertainer, now owning a company doing the tour we did today.
We stopped to make coffee, but unfortunately he’d forgotten his stove, so we gathered dry sticks for our barbecue later and drank water instead.
The Andes are truly amazing and Francisco when not telling us his life story told us many interesting mountain stories.

Our barbecue had to be the absolute highlight of the day – Francisco lit the fire with the gathered wood – the table decked with meat oozing blood (almost made me want to become vegan) a bottle of red wine, cooked salmon and tortillas.
Dani the vampire tucked into the meat, me slipping a few sneaky crisps in my mouth inbetween a polite mouthful of bloody meat washing it down with the wine.
Daytime wine makes listening to people’s life stories a lot easier and when he got to the part about how he originally wanted to become an actor as he had seen John Travolta in Grease – cue me to take over “oh Grease, John Travolta, Olivia Newton John, Bee Gees, lurv lurv lurv and who didn’t want to be her, wear the satin pants, the leather jacket, those red shoes and have that cigarette hanging out of the corner of your mouth, stubbing it out at John Travoltas foot and say, tell me about it stud ” ……
Oh daytime wine, I was possessed, I could’ve given a talk at a TED X conference, my passion being the 70’s – disco, Saturday night fever, denim, lip gloss, first love, first kiss, heartbreak, flared jeans, cheesecloth blouses, lashings of blue eyeshadow, lager and lime, lager and black, cheese and onion crisps, chip butties and cigarettes
– and so on…….my passion, my guilty pleasures.

But then it was Danis turn, when he had tried to continue about his acting career and him choosing fashion design instead – Dani then mentioned fabrics in India and then Indian history and then continued with China and Chinese history.
After this, the conversation got really deep and philosophical and I had to go and wee behind a rock to stop myself from singing “ain’t no mountain high enough ain’t no valley low enough” as it was all very mountainous and deep all at the same time.

Soon after this we cleared up – but there was more…..
I spotted some Condors eating a dead horse and the jeep halted to a sudden stop and I found myself thrust against the back of Francisco’s chair once more. Now let me just say, since I have been on tour my bird spotting skills having developed enormously. However this particular coup, was like winning the lottery, in Franciscos eyes, I was propelled into the top ten bird watching persons of all time – I actually think I was position number one at this point and I seriously considered asking for a pair of binoculars for Christmas. Condors are the lions of the Andes – there was a whole group feeding off a dead horse – we approached with stealth and caution like bird watchers do – Francisco avidly filming the whole episode – I tried to be nonchalant about the whole thing – but really I was dead proud of myself and my bird spotting abilities. 😄😄😄

After this Francisco spotted the spider – I let it crawl my anorak – because really I would like to have spotted it first 😉

However this is where the story take a tragic end and it really does – Francisco received a call to say his mother was about to die in the hospital and we drove like hell to get there – Francisco was crying and kissing a picture of his mother on his mobile and it was so tragic I felt like crying too – that and trying to hold onto something as the seatbelt was broken 😱

That’s where the story ends – a day of highs and lows – mountains and valleys, condors and dead horses and poor Franciscos mother – it’s the circle of life 😔

Not a bad way to spend a Thursday afternoon……💃💃💃

A quick description of La Boca

Our time in Buenos Aires is almost done – I didn’t just like Buenos Aires – I loved it 😍💃💃💃💃😀

Have you ever flown from one airport to another in Argentina and ended up in Brasil?
I kind of remember getting up at an unearthly hour as so very often on this journey. I thought we were flying to Iguazu in Argentina – but somehow after our flight we ended up on a bus at the Brasilian border and had to hand in our passports – not having a clue what was going on, we waited….and waited……and waited and suddenly we had a visa for Brasil. Did we want one? oh why the hell not, let’s go to Brasil. In the afternoon we saw the wonderful falls from the Brasilian side. Our hotel was in Brasil, but the next morning we got on a Spanish tour bus to Argentina and saw the falls from the Argentinian side. We understood nothing but the picture speak for themselves – magnificent!!
The bus returned to Brasil with us on it of course and the next day we caught another bus back from Brasil to the airport in Argentina and flew back to Buenos Aires. Confused? I was 🙃

The “Bird Park”

When you have to check out of your hotel and you have a couple of hours with nothing to do and nowhere to go – there is always a bird park round the corner 😳
Interesting if you have 120 mins to kill.

Saturday night tango in Buenos

Having looked at a few ads for tango shows and not knowing which one to choose, we were wandering aimlessly down a cobbled road and saw a book shop. Being a book nerd of the highest order, I felt compelled to go in. Imagine our surprise when from nowhere a little old man opened some red curtains at the back of the shop and showed us a little restaurant and a stage all ready for Saturday nights dinner and tango show. Done deal – tickets bought (well a handwritten scrap of paper) and 2 of the available 20 chairs booked.
At 9pm we turned up for “the show” not knowing what to expect at all. Through the bookshop, through the red curtain into a dimly lit restaurant we went, where the stage lit up in red lights. In total we were 14 people who enjoyed a magnificent show of one singer, two musicians and two tango dancers. The singer looked similar to Klitschko, the same physique in an aubergine coloured suit, ever so slightly tight in a few specific areas 👀
His more than overly shiny shoes shone brightly as he belted out his dramatic ballads, his teeth out shining his shoes, his lungs about to burst in the ever so slightly tight suit.

The musicians equally dramatic, the intense look on their faces, one playing a guitar, the other a bandoneon, the typical tango accompaniment.
For the most part, they had their eyes closed, their expressions reflecting the pain or delight in interchanging chords.

And then of course, the tango couple, obviously equally intense and dramatic pulling and lifting and pushing each other around the floor – that embarassing interlude when they ask members of the 14 audience to dance…..why me? I had to refuse, I would’ve looked ridiculous – 2 people accepted and they could obviously tango (remind me to get some lessons on the off chance I should return to Buenos Aires).

After the finale, we were able to speak to the singer , musicians and dancers (well if you could speak Spanish). I did however say to the dancer that I could not tango and he did that beautiful South American Kiss Kiss thing on the cheeks (maybe he thought I was asking for a quick snog 👄👄!!!!)

Great evening – Buenos Aires – the place to tango.