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Showing posts with label Buenos Aires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buenos Aires. Show all posts

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Buenos Aires (Argentina) - The Proposal - part (III)

Buenos Aires (Argentina)
The Proposal - part (III) - 'The day'

24 November 2016

So, how did I propose to my wife you ask?

Let me tell you

The location:

For me there was simply no substitute for the Hotel Panamericano on Carlos Pellegrini. Inga and I have stayed here once before and I knew for a fact that the rooms here are exquisitely appointed, large and that the view from the corner suites with their aspect looing down Avenida 9 de Julio to the Obelisco and the image of Evita further on is breathtaking, iconic, and the epitome of what it was to be in Buenos Aires, or rather, the epitome of what it was to be asking ‘someone to marry you whilst in Buenos Aires’.


Avenida 9 de Julio - from the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Avenida 9 de Julio - from the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Avenida 9 de Julio - from the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


The set-up:

Of this I was particularly proud. For that evening I’d arranged for us all to be picked up at 8:30pm and be driven to the Faena Universe Hotel in order to experience the seductive, sultry, ethereal performance of tango in its various guises as interpreted by the Tango Rojo production.

It's a an emotive, fascinating show that conquers all the senses, combining sounds, aromas, colours, movement and flavour, the setting and the mood was going to be perfect for post question celebrations and would be the driver for what I needed to happen prior to asking the question.


The nature of the performance, the location and the atmosphere of the event dictated that we all needed to be extremely smartly dressed, meaning, we all needed to be in good form prior to heading out for the night. It also meant that we needed to be on time for our pick-up. What I known about Inga is that she is always on time. If I set a time for departure then she'll would be ready to go at the exact minute. What this also meant was that I knew the exact time that I would be proposing that evening. Seeing as though I'd set a pick-up time of 8:30pm, but asked everyone to be ready by 8pm (meaning Inga to be ready by 8pm), that meant that at 8:01pm on November 24th, 2016, we'd be out on the balcony of room 1503, overlooking central Buenos Aires and I'd be asking this wonderful person to be my wife.


Buenos Aires - Argentina

The calm before the excitement

Roof top pool at the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


Back track a few hours to a little earlier in the day.  Davis had come up to our room whilst Inga up on the top floor terrace, taking in the southern rays whilst occupying a lounger at the pool. I decided to utilise this opportunity to fill him in on what I planned for that evening. From memory I believe the conversation went something like this;

Henry:  Ok, so tonight we’re getting picked up at 8:30pm, can you be here at around 8:10pm ?’

Davis: Okaaay….’...

Obviously wondering why I'd become so anal about time.

Henry: Pulling a box out of his suitcase


 'The reason that I’d like you to be here is because I’m going to be doing this’ ­­ - showing him the box and then opening it to display the ring.

Davis: Recognising what was happening, with a smile appearing on his face.
 ‘Oh, nice….and it's about time!’

We both kind of laughed, and then Davis said something that completely threw me of my game.

Davis:Well, I hope she says ‘yes’

ALERT….ALERT….WHAT THE HELL!?!…
It was in that precise moment that my mind felt like it had gone on its own little magical mystery tour. Up until that point in time I'd never even contemplated that ‘No’ might be a viable response, and of course it could have been, in this scenario ‘I’ was a 50% chance of happening. Why the hell hadn’t I considered that? What would happen that was the final result? On what had I really based my assumptions? Why had I not conducted a valid risk assessment of the situation prior to this moment? Could this potentially be the biggest disaster of my life? 

Thank you Davis, the pressure gauge on my internal dial just went offline due to unbelievable readings.

Cometh the hour:

Throughout the day I had planned what I was going to do. How I intended on leading Inga out onto the balcony, what I would say and how the  ‘presentation’ of the ring would take place.

I had a large ring box and also smaller ring box that contained the ring. My idea was to reveal the large  box first, and  then, when she realised what was happening but before I started the  actual question, to enter into an epic fumble of the empty box over the balcony and into the abyss – I figured I'd go for that as my lead option. Why not? Create some drama, step onto that roller coaster of oscillating emotions, throw in some comic relief and  imbue the situation with some tensions and anticipation. Pretty much I thought this would be an amusing move, if not somewhat alarming in the exact moment.

Go time – asking the question!

As the afternoon hours ticked down to the single hours and then to minutes, the moment of truth fast approached. When Inga went into the shower and started to get ready I knew right then that I had 20-30 mins to put everything in place for preparation of that moment

In actual fact it too me just 5 mins to get set.


For the remaining 25 mins  that I'd given back to myself I rehearsed in my own mine what I wanted to say. I think I constructed akin to being in the city I love, with the woman I love and wanting for them to be in my life forever. Those words, the way they melded in my mind, however eloquent and genuine, didn’t quite make it onto the stage of reality in the critical moment.

When Inga came out and I knew she was ready to go, I invited her onto the balcony. I started with my rehearsed lines, but I fumbled almost immediately. I could feel the sounds of my voice quivering and the words starting to drain down the good ‘ole tunnel of oblivion.


Waiting for the answer - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


The balcony – the moment – the rehearsed fumble

I had placed two boxes in separate locations, hidden on the balcony, not obvious to a person that wasn’t looking or expecting them to be there. I think at that point in time I managed to say, ‘Well, I’ve brought you out here for a reason….’,  I turned around picked up the larger box and started on my faux presentation. As I started to open the box I deliberately instigated a clumsy looking fumble that inserted two desperate grabs that looked like I was attempting to save the situation from disaster. In fact what I did was quite deliberately set the box sailing out over the edge of the balcony, through the early Buenos Aires evening, perhaps out onto unsuspecting crowds below. A dream, a hope, all vanishing in one moment of idiocy.

Her face was priceless…it was amazement, horror and desperation all rolled into one look.

I stood in front of her, frozen, extending the moment for the reality to dawn. I wanted to make it look like that all the epic fails of humanity at somehow be distilled and existed solely within me, like I was the personification of human failure.

Inga  looking at me, asking incredulously and with a certain degree of anxiety 
“You’re kidding?’

Holding that moment for a little longer than I needed to, looking desperately out over the balcony, I responded by saying ‘


Yes, of course I’m kidding’.

In that moment I swung around, picked up the smaller box with the ring, dropped to one knee and asked her the question that I had been waiting to ask for such a long time.

Inga: ‘YES’




It's a thumbs up!!!! - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

It's a thumbs up!!!! - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


OH YEAH – BUENOS AIRES, YOU DELIVERED!!!!!

In that moment it felt like everything that I’d wanted to happen, all the elements of where I wanted to be, with the person that I wanted to be with came together, and hey, didn’t we have the right city and the right backdrop to set off the party.

A night out with my fiancée and future brother in-law:

That night in BA was just the best. Heading down to Tango Rojo at the Faena Universe just completed the day and the situation so beautifully. Music, elegance, fun, happiness, it couldn’t have been better.

Making our way back to the Panamericano later that evening we slipped into the hotel Cigar Bar and set about on a few Montecristo’s as we spoke of what had transpired that day, and in fact, everything that had led up to that moment in the prior months.


 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cigar bar - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cigar bar - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina


Avenida 9 de Julio  - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Tres medias lunas y una cortado - Plaza Dorrego mid morning breakfast - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Early evening in San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Buen Viaje - 'absolutely' - thank you Buenos Aires!

Leaving now for a short time, we'll be back - Aeropuerto Ezeiza - Buenos Aires - Argentina


-Sometimes you’re lucky enough that the things that you want and desire all meet at that point in time that becomes reality. This was one of those moments and boy, didn’t I feel like a lucky man.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Buenos Aires (Argentina) - The Proposal - Part (I)



Buenos Aires (Argentina)

The ‘Proposal’ – Part I – a place to call my own
17 NOVEMBER – 25 NOVEMBER 2016

Argentina and Buenos Aires has left an indelible mark upon me. No other place in the world, other than the city I grew up in (Sydney), and the city that I associate with my family, and where I lived for a few years (Belgrade), has allowed me to feel as at home, feel as comfortable and be in my place as Buenos Aires. Ever since I fell for this city back in 2010 all I ever wanted to do was to carve out a piece it and have it for my very own. Somehow  that opportunity had now arrived. This was now my time.


First stop Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - just a transit port this time

This is exactly the feeling you have after 14 hours in the air
Rio Gallegos Airport - Brasil


Sometimes when your stars start to align or when your plan starts to come together, you begin to see reasoning behind how the pieces of the puzzle actually managed to fit. You see what was once disparate reasoning, which never truly made sense, all of a sudden form that needed single view, that picture of complete clarity.

I’d been within Inga for 18 months at this point and had known for quite some time that I wanted to ask her to marry me. Now, as any man will tell you when they’re faced with the various facets of this scenario, your mindset immediately goes into planning mode, Where will I ask? How will I ask? What sort of ring would she like? ...there are in fact endless questions to which answers need to be found.

In the weeks where these questions formed and started to turn over in my mind there was a point in time where most of those unknowns became clear. My first requirement was that I needed to set the premise, or the proposition to Inga about the location. This step I’ll call laying the foundation. There had to be a logical reasoning for wanting to head to the deep south other than the notion of just wanting to go for the sake of it. That in itself would bring up more questions that I wanted to answer in a situation where I needed to be as clandestine as possible.


San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cafe con leche - Plaza Dorrego Bar - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Plaza Dorrego Bar - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Plaza Dorrego Bar - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Plaza Dorrego Bar - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Inga of course knew that I'd always had a goal of buying a place in Buenos Aires. The time for simply wanting and forlornly looking through real estate advertisements was now over. So what better way to get serious and make the idea a reality than being on the ground in your destination city, to get a look and feel of a place and particular location in the city that we're both very fond of. Of course it was obvious in the end and my reasoning to her made it obvious, we just had to go to Buenos Aires...of course we had to go to Buenos Aires...in order to propose and buy an apartment – wrapping it ALL up into one unforgettable memory. Now that would be something that just couldn't be beaten.

In my planning therefore I started to consider what I’d like to call, the sweetener. What could I do to elevate the entire experience into something even more unforgettable? To me, in order to heighten an experience you need to be able to share it. It gives the experience a different perspective, energy and degree of excitement. So, I threw out the option to Inga. Why not ask her brother Davis to come down to Buenos Aires with us? We could show him around the city that we love, have him experience something totally different to Europe and of course get his feedback on our potential apartment purchase.

….so the plan was activated and put into action – on the 17th of November, 2016 it was due to commence

Landing in Buenos Aires on 17 November 2016  made it my 7th time in this wonderful city since  my first time in 2010 .Not bad for a Sydney boy with absolutely no affiliation to the country other than his love of meat, Malbec, Messi and football.

That feeling I have when driving from the airport in Ezeiza is always the same. Excitement, energy, anticipation, only that this occasion it felt like an arrival on steroids. Overwhemling anticipation that would lead to a proposal, potentially an apartment purchase and also Inga’s brother joining us for the whole adventure, well, this was going to be epic.

Typically Inga and I find ourselves hiding out in the barrio of San Telmo when we stay in Buenos Aires. This is the oldest barrio in the city, the most atmospheric and the one that has the most character. It’s colonial buildings, cobble stoned streets, antique shops, parrillas, tango parlours and cafés all combine to make this part of the city truly special, but also, Inga and I have a lot of great memories that have been banked away from occupying this corner of the world at various times.


San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Brigada Parrilla - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Walking in San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Walking into Plaza Dorrego Bar one morning we were greeted by the smiling face of a waiter that we’d gotten chatting with on previous occasions. Plaza Dorrego Bar is an old school café across Avenida Defensa from Plaza Dorrego itself. The waiters are all male and have the standard black tie, black vested uniform that makes you think of a bygone era – a classic, evocative, old school space with traditional Argentine style chequered floors, a weathered wooden bar and wooden tables. It has that old musty smell that just melds perfectly with this section of the city, and I have to say, is a favourite morning spot for me in San Telmo. My order is always the same, a cafe con leche y tres medias lunas.  Our waiter already knew, it was saying my order to me at the same time that I was.

Davis flew into Buenos Aires the next day. His arrival added a totally new dimension to our time here. It almost felt like we were showing him around our home town. I felt the same way I’d feel if I was guiding someone around Sydney, of course, you want them to like your town and you feel its your job to show it off to the best of your ability…which is what we absolutely did, and in spades.

From the day that he joined us on Defensa with the traditional Sunday afternoon markets, we guided him to all of the spots that were both known and loved by us. Starting in San Telmo, post market day, we showed him the Che mural on Pasaje San Lorenzo, walked around the old antique stores and cobble stoned streets, ending up at the famous Parrilla La Brigada in the evening for a round of Malbec and steak, their famous moniker being that their steak is so soft ‘that you can cut it with a spoon’.


Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

El Ateneo Grand Splendid - Avenida Santa Fe - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Avenida President Roque Saenz Pena - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Buenos Aires - Argentina

Of course, we also spent some time down in the colourful barrio of La Boca. An historic and proud barrio of Buenos Aires located next to the city’s port where the Riacheulo River meets the Rio de la Plata. This area has always been known as poor part of town. In some ways bleak, very industrial and rough, the barrio can be intimidating if you find yourself strolling into its unsafe areas. Tourists are constantly warned not to stray off the well trodden paths for the sake of getting robbed. The main area of Calle Caminito however is rather kitschy and largely touristic. Filled with cafes and open air tango shows it’s the typical tourist trap that you'll find anywhere in the world. Of course you can get off the beaten track but perhaps not best down in a solo manner. Still, for what it is, it’s worth showing, even from an historical aspect of the city and in terms of photography. The colours and the theatre just make this area stand out in photos.


Retiro - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Retiro - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Four Seasons Hotel - Calle Posadas - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Brigada - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Calle San Lorenzo - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Feria in San Telmo - Defensa - Buenos Aires - Argentina


Feria de San Telmo - Avenida Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Feria de San Telmo - Avenida Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Brigada - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina



La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Brigada - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina


Our path through Buenos Aires on this occasion was largely dictated by my apartment hunting. I’d orchestrated my search was with the assistance of a well known BA consultant, Michael Koh, who’d put me in touch with an agent he trusted and had worked with previously. I found Michael online after a fair amount of research. Essentially, in his role as a consultant, he assists foreigners like me, who are interested in real estate investments either in Buenos Aires or Argentina, to go through the ‘discovery’ and contract process. A process, which without prior knowledge, can be quite complex and being Argentina, inevitably takes many twists and turns. He was, without question, the consummate professional and made himself available to answer my queries at all times. Absolutely phenomenal guy I have to say.


La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina


La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aries - Argentina

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Michael’s recommendation of looking outside of my favourite barrio, San Telmo, therefore extended our search out to Palermo, Palermo Viejo and Palermo Soho. These areas are typically known as the trendiest parts of the town, so coupled with real estate viewing we took to showing Davis parts of the town that were within our search zone. So aside from the old staples like Café Tortoni and Recoleta cemetery, we also took in a dinner at Don Julio in Palermo, which incidentally in 2018 made it to #6 on the list of Best South American restaurants, https://www.theworlds50best.com/latinamerica/en/the-list-2018/Don-Julio.html  currently #55 in the world. 

Another evening we were back in Recoleta and took to seeing the wonderful Fuerza Bruta (Brute Force), a post-modern theatre production that incorporates music, theatre, light shows, water, smoke and a plethora of interactive engagements in a setting that completely surrounds you. As a member of the audience you effectively stand in the middle of the stage as the performance takes place above your head, on the walls, on the front stage, everywhere. It’s so completely immersive, mind blowing in its action and free flowing, it pushes and pulls you in all directions. I’ve only ever seen the show in Buenos Aires, and even though it can now be seen in cities around the world, the concept and production originated in this city.


Cemetario de Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cemetario de Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Don Julio - Palermo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Don Julio - Palermo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cafe Tortoni....this guy....'Siiiiiiiii'

Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Of course the hits just kept coming in terms of experience as post Fuerza Bruta we hit the Hard Rock, the Four Seasons for drinks and then went to Floreria Atlantico, another Buenos Aires highlight, ranked #14 in a list of the World’s Top 50 bars, http://www.worlds50bestbars.com/fifty-best-bars-list-2018/?ist=11, this place is one of those cool, interestingly hidden places, where you could easily walk by on first passing. From the outside it’s just a florist shop, and indeed during the day that’s all at is, but this late night florist holds the coolest secret. Through a non-descript door you descend the stairs into a very cool Latin American speakeasy. Admittedly it’s not my favourite bar in Buenos Aires as it gets packed quickly and early here, and really, there’s just better set-ups around, but with that said, the drinks here are on point. The bartenders now what they’re doing and the drinks are special.