Let's go back to South America... Rio was amazing in terms of beauty in nature. It was incredible how Brazilians looked hot in their swimwear and so ordinary in civilian clothes! Quite contrary to what one would imagine, looking at the likes of Gisele, the supermodel. They were not skinny by any means, yet, when Hala and I visited the five-story store, selling primarily beachwear and gym wear in the Copacabana area, the bikinis were sold in size S mainly! Do you know how one gets offended by the offer of trying a larger size from the moody salesperson? It was fine in Rio... There was no Large size in that particular store, barely any Mediums!
We said goodbye to our wonderful hostess Alicia and Rena who had tears in her eyes as we parted and took the plane to Buenos Aires.
Upon arrival, we checked into our trendy boutique hotel in the Palermo, residential area of the city. We unpacked and got ready for a kind invitation for a Thanksgiving dinner at our dear friends' holiday apartment, whom we had met previously in London and Miami. Tommy from Miami and his partner Tobi introduced us to their Argentinian neighbours who invited us to the theatre the following evening. A gay musical!
Another night, dinner was at the Faena Hotel with Tommy and Tobi; which was a repurposed grain warehouse, now, lavishly designed by Philippe Starck. We developed a taste for the Argentinian red wine, Malbec produced in the Mendoza region and those deliciously tender steaks. Due to this reason, with the best of intentions to visit the night spots, we hardly made it out after the late dinners.
We visited Malba, the Museum of Latin American Art, where paintings of Frida Kahlo; one of my heroines and others from modern masters such as Jorge de La Vega partially covered the high walls. Here is a picture taken of the outside as there was no photography allowed inside.
We changed hotels after four days and moved to the Recoleta area. Our hotel room faced the Cementerio de la Recoleta; where many Argentinian presidents are entombed but most visitors go to see the resting place of Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, aka Evita. We were almost desperate to find a local, non-touristic tango cafe downtown but were told by the locals that such a place no longer exists.
The most memorable day in Buenos Aires was spent at the San Telmo Sunday market; filled with bohemian charm. Artisans, musicians, and street performers gathered to share their treasures and talents with the public on the pedestrianised cobblestone streets.
We managed to find two seats at an outdoor restaurant, under the warm sunshine and watched the colourful passers-by from all corners of the world as so many different languages were spoken.
As the afternoon fast approached, we heard a hoo-ha and clapping from the small main square. We approached the crowd gathered around a couple dancing tango. The male dancer explained the movements of tango in Spanish and they danced passionately into a sweat of heat.
As we had arrived late, it was difficult to see the performance in full, so my attention got diverted to the two couples sitting in the opposite direction to where we were standing. My eyes sparkled at the site of the very good-looking man in the middle. I told Hala: "Com' on sis. Let's move to the other side."
"Now what Haldita?" This was my sister's well-observed comment as she was deeply taken by the performance.
"Look at that gorgeous guy sitting opposite," I continued, "I just wanna have a closer look at him."
"Do you ever stop? And then what?" Hala puffed in the air and followed.
"I just like observing beauty; be it in a painting, a scenery or a person!" I replied innocently. "Then nothing."
As we pushed our way through the crowd, I noticed a familiar face sitting next to the attractive man.
"Hey Hala, isn't that guy some famous American actor?" I observed.
"Oh! Yes. We've seen him in so many movies." Hala noticed.
"That's right. Shame we can't remember names!" I said as I got right behind the seated couples. I must admit that my eyes hardly left the profile of the bearded man sitting in the front with his 'babe' of a girlfriend all over him.
When the act finished, the male tango dancer announced that a famous Italian actor was in the audience and his arm stretched towards the man I was staring at and called him to the stage! As I definitely had no idea who he was, I approached the 'other' famous American actor and asked to take a photo with him. He was charming and agreed as I asked Hala to join us. I also chit-chatted with him briefly! It was only the following evening at dinner with our friends that it was revealed that Willem Dafoe, the famous American actor was in Buenos Aires filming.
"Wait a minute," I interrupted Tommy. "We saw him. In fact, I have a photo to prove it." And hence brought out my camera.
From left to right: Glada Colagrande (Willem's wife), the tango master, Willem Dafoe with another famous facial expression and the gorgeous Italian actor! It's good I am not a photographer for Hello!
Our travels took us further to Punta del Este in Uruguay. And who did we meet there? Aha...
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