Buenos Aires - Weekend

Friday night I was back at the hostel taking it easy and drinking beer with Christian from Germany. There was even some live music at the hostel which was nice. The band was presented as a funk band and they sounded very much like Manu Chao at first but then the music varied quite a bit. The band was good but I felt very unimpressed, probably because I was in the mood for salsa and have been spoilt by some of the best salsa musicians in New York. That gave me a bad conscience. It was a good night though.

Saturday morning I was freezing on top of the Buenos Aires yellow sightseeing bus listening to a robot-like and humor less speaker in the headphones. The good thing about it was that I got to see a little of La Boca which seemed like a pretty nice part of town. It also gave me some kind of orientation and overview of the main tourist attractions.

On saturday evening I had my first tango class with Jonny at the DNI tango school. It was truly awesome and great fun. They started with leading basics and then quickly progressed to more advanced steps. Very cool. I'm definitely coming back for more lessons.

Saturday evening I was finally able to hook up with Charlie from Sweden. It was a birthday party at the Newbury bar on the Honduras street in Palermo. It was amazing to see the number of bars on Honduras and the nightlife in Palermo. Latin americans are very good at partying and welcoming new people and making them feel at home in a group. That's something to learn from.

On sunday we took the train further up the river to Tigre with Charlies room mates from Holland, Germany, and England. It was very nice to get out of the city for a while. We took a boat tour along the river which was nice. A perfect lazy sunday excursion.

Today is monday and the start of my spanish lessons. Very excited about that!

Buenos Aires - Day 1

At around midday I ventured out of the safety of the youth hostel and into the chaos of the city. I took pictures with my iPhone as I went and there a lot of views to take in - beautiful parks and purple trees in bloom, huge buildings, and nice architecture. It's really hot down here now with peak temperatures at around 27 degrees celsius and I'm enjoying that although it can get tedious later in the day. The city appeals to me quite a bit and I think I can see where the comparison with Paris comes from.

I got myself a local cell phone number and I registered at the Ibero spanish school.

In the evening there was a BBQ on the rooftop terrace in the hostel with a lot of wine and meat. Very Argentinian and very nice.

Today I think I'll try the subway and visit the tango school and arrange for some private spanish lessons. Also, I'm curious to see what Palermo is like, the fancy uptown neighborhood.

First Impression of Buenos Aires

After a looooong flight with Lufthansa from Frankfurt I finally landed safe and sound in Buenos Aires. We flew past Dakar in Africa and over the big country of Brazil. All in all it took about 13 hours and 45 minutes and we arrived on time. That's almost twice as long as the SAS direct flight between Stockholm and New York! I was trying desperately to kill time on the plane, watching a handful of movies, listening to spanish lessons and reading spanish books, but still, it was hard. Note to self - bring a very exciting Dan Brown type of book next time.

The vibes I have been getting so far here have been friendly, relaxed, and yet organized and modern. The Art Factory hostel in San Telmo is very artsy and cool! A lot of paintings and nice decor, a roof top terrace with a grill, and all the practicalities you need.

My goals for today are to go check for a local cell phone and try to make first contact with the spanish and tango schools.

I'm very excited to be here!

Highlights from my Last Week in New York

A friend came to visit me on the 22:nd of October - my 35:th birthday. We had 20 degrees and sun on this day. We started with a latte from Starbucks on Times Square. Later on, the banana bread from Starbucks became a favorite. We had dinner at Union Square Cafe - rated most popular restaurant in New York by Zagat guide. The food was excellent without being too fancy or stylish and the same can be said of the place itself and its atmosphere. Great service, nice decor, but yet simple, relaxed, and functional. We took a taxi home. It's a nice feeling to ride a taxi on Manhattan and it's cheap too.

We had lunch at Sushi Yasuda - supposedly the best Sushi restaurant in New York. It was really upscale and authentic and if you are a sushi fan willing to open your purse it may be worth a visit. It was definitiley something very different from your average Sushi restaurant in Stockholm. On friday lunch Sushi Yasuda was full (you need to book a table there) and so we ended up at Michael Jordans steakhouse in Grand Central station. I really like that place. It's an upscale steak house in a beautiful setting. Great stakes! Pricey though, of course...

We tried some shopping at the Disney Store, Victoria's Secret, Bloomingdales and Macy's. Friday evening I enjoyed an amazing piano concert with Murray Perahia at the Carnegie Hall. It was one amazing piano piece after another. The composers covered were Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Chopin. It was an orgy in beautiful piano music and Perahia delivered it beautifully. According to my room mate Erik who studies classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music it doesn't get much better than this. I can't disagree with that. We were sitting way up on the balcony of Carnegie Hall. The concert piano looked like a small instrument from there. But the acoustics were amazing and the hall had a beautiful ambience. This was probably the best classical concert ever for me. It was a big experience.

We did some shopping at the spectacular Evolution Store in SOHO. Unfortunately we forgot to return there to buy the Shark in a Jar...

We wanted to see a Broadway musical and we chose the Lion King. It was quite an experience, especially for the dancing, the music, the decor and all the costumes. A lot of work and money must have gone into a Broadway show like that. The plot and the dialog didn't do much for us though and we would have preferred more music and dancing... I was most impressed and moved by Tshidi Mayne - a great african singer performing "He Lives in You".

My stay ended with a magical dinner at the Gramercy Tavern. This restaurant is top rated in Zagat and we were very happy with it. Nice dark and fancy decor, great service and food. We had a three course menu and the whole evening was a great experience.

The trip home went really well, so well in fact that we got upgraded to business class - massage seats that can be converted into beds, three course meals with port wine and liqeur. Nice! :-)

Being back in Stockholm felt great. Fresh air streaming through my lungs walking through a beautiful city. In many ways, Stockholm may very well be the most beautiful city in the world. However, after only a few hours or so the cold and the darkness was starting to get to me... I'm very fortunate then to be leaving for my next adventure soon - Argentina!

What if Now is All There is... Then What?

I just had a shocking and scary realization and it is that life is merely a series of "now" moments. It's as if up until now I has somehow assumed there would be something more, some alternative place or dimension that would be better than "now". In this other place things would magically happen for me and I would be happy. I have many times been taught about the importance of living in the present. For some reason though it's only now that it's sinking in with me what this really means. Because we have no choice really. We have to live in the present. Why? Because the present is all there is!