Last night we were back at Teatro Colón, this time for a performance of Swan Lake (El Lago de los Cisnos) by Piotr Ilich Tschaikovsky, the Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón, directed by Mario Galizza, and the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón directed by Carlos Calleja. It was an excellent production all around, the music, the staging and the ballet dancing — but very different from the early music concert we heard the night before.

One thing that I appreciated in the early music concert was that the orchestra did not warm up in front of the audience — they had already tuned their instruments, came out in an orderly procession, and played. All the performers, except the harpsichordist, the cellos, and the theorbo player, stood throughout the concert. Unlike many early music concerts, the ensemble really only tuned two times during the concert, not before every single piece as is often the case.

Last night, though, was like a typical American concert, where the orchestra comes out early and warms up (I mean, practices!) in front of the audience, creating all kinds of cacophony. To me, it’s like combing your hair in front of someone — I wish they would do this backstage and not in front of the audience.

We were sitting in a slightly different part of the theatre from the night before, so we got a different perspective of this building. It was still spectacular, though. Unfortunately during part of the first half, the lady next to me had big hair (!) and was leaning over the side partially blocking my view. However, by about the middle of the first half, she moved and let her granddaughter sit there instead. I was most appreciative!

The ballet dancing was incredible, but I have to say that the ending of the ballet was absolutely spectacular, with unusual stage effects. It was a fantastic experience!

Yesterday we got up early to catch the train to Tigre, where we did some shopping at the Puerto de Frutos, now a busy craft market. 

It was so cold this morning (about 52° F) that we all wanted something hot to drink. What was unusual was the here in Argentina, milk is served warm and you add a chocolate bar to it, creating hot cocoa — like a Deconstructed Cocoa! A glass of water is also served with it.

We’re fast learning the ways of being Argentinians, taking taxis everywhere to get around the city. I also wanted to mention that people don’t throw toilet paper down the toilet, but you put it in a bin next to the toilet. That’s like it was in Greece — and takes a little getting used to.

We stopped to look in the some of the stores in the very small area known as Chinatown. I was reminded of my parents’ vacations years ago — no matter where they went in the world, they always looked for Chinese restaurants to eat in. I suppose it’s not too different from people who look for McDonald’s restaurants wherever they travel!

In the afternoon we stopped at the Hipodromo, a horse racing course and one of the most important in the country, hosting 120 days of racing and 1,400 races every year. Races are hosted three days a week, with about nine races per racing day.