La Boca - Tango Land

Overnight stays are infrequent on this South America itinerary. Generally this ship departs from a port no later than 8 PM, after visiting anywhere between 4 and 10 hours.

Buenos Aires is a notable exception. The so-called “Paris of South America” provides so much to do, and the ship obligingly provides many excursions. Among them are “Iguazu Falls-Natural Wonder of the World”, “A Gaucho’s Life- A Day on the Estancia”, “Palaces and Architecture of Buenos Aires”, “In Eva Peron’s Footprints”, “Panoramic Buenos Aires”.

One of the most popular excursions is “Tango - A Night of Passion and Desire”. Pretty hot stuff for the senior demographic of this ship. Passengers leave in the early evening for a nice nightclub, have a 3-course Argentine dinner, then watch a big floor show with live music and Tango performances, all this against the romantic backdrop of the Southern summer night.

All this off-ship activity makes for a quiet piano bar. Even if folks get back while I’m still playing, they’re pooped and ready to retire. In addition, the next day in Buenos Aires is their disembark day, so there’s last minute packing…..basically their cruise is over at this point.

I had IPM (“In port-manning” -- a maritime regulation that required me to stay on the ship) on the first BA day. But on day#2, while people were disembarking, I was taking a cab over to La Boca. This highly-touted section of town is old, colorful, artsy, bohemian, a tad dangerous at night, and most importantly, the Birthplace of the Tango.

Even more specifically -- one goes to a little street, one block long, called Caminito, named after a popular Tango song. No, I don’t know the tune, and I’d never heard of it before.

This “Caminito” Street is closed to car traffic. Where parked cars normally are, instead there are the tables and chairs of the many open-air cafes that line both sides of the street. The sidewalks serve as little stages for musicians and tango performances.

It was a pretty sweltering day, so I sat down with a liter of Quilmes, the ubiquitous beer of Buenos Aires. I ordered some beef dish, which was pretty lousy considering all the hype about Argentine beef.

But my goodness, those Tango dancers!! So sensual, so graceful, so complex. There seemed to be an infinity of stances, steps, turns. No way this could be done spontaneously, each routine seemed to be beautifully and uniquely choreographed.

It was light-years beyond the basic tango lessons they give over at the ship, like the difference between Rhapsody in Blue and Chopsticks. The Veendam Tango specialists are “Juan and Eileen”, a long-married couple, him very Hispanic, her very Irish, who have a long-term gig on the ship. They’ve been on the ship ever since it first reached Argentine waters, almost 3 months ago now. In addition to giving the Tango classes, they are occasionally the headliners in the Main Showroom in the evening, doing a 45-presentation of Argentine song and dance. They’ve got a pretty sweet situation, and they’re always smiling.

Eventually I’d absorbed as much Caminito Tango as I could take in. I had another liter of Quilmes, did a little wandering around the adjacent streets, took silly pictures…..

It takes two to tango, but one person alone can be a total dork

It's Quilmes Time

…..and got back to the ship in time for the 4PM General Emergency Drill. 1200 new passengers have to be herded out to the lifeboat deck and given instructions for Abandon Ship Procedures, and other unpleasant what-ifs.

Many employees have the Traffic Director job, positioned in stairwells and other key places, steering bewildered new passengers to their proper place. My piano job on the ship is fairly high-profile, so they put me in a highly trafficked stairway, acting important, telling people where to go, wearing my lifejacket and smock. The only thing missing is the whistle.

Eventually the drill is over, I return to my cabin to dump the life jacket in the closet. Around 5PM I feel the familiar rumble underneath my feet. I find a vantage point and see the ship’s first labored sideways movement from the dock. Up on the top deck a band is playing “sailaway” music, and people are sipping colorful-looking tropical drinks at discounted prices, and another party begins.