From the sublime to the ridiculous, my 30th birthday was nothing at all like I planned it, started great, turned a bit shaky and recovered well at the final post, rising like the great Buenos Aires obelisque from the ashes of a burnt out birthday wreck.
The day started well, well as well as it can do when you have just kissed your youth goodbye, with a top notch champagne breakfast rustled up my own personal chef and lovely boyfriend Steve. With presents unwrapped and eggs, bread, cafe con leche and fruit salad nicley nestled in my tummy alongside champagne and chocolate, we headed off for Retiro bus station, quite possibly the scariest in the world, and that from a girl who spent her childhood taking trips out of Chorlton Street Bus Station in Manchester.
We decided to take an overnight trip out to San Antonia de Arecco to see ourselves some Gauchos, take a dip in the river and enjoy some nice food and wine away from the pollution and noise of Buenos Aires. But when Time Out said quiet, they meant quiet. Talk about cowboy town. It could have come straight out of a Hollywood set. It really did have dust balls blowing across the town sqaure.
No one to greet us save a few flea ridden dogs, stirring from their mid day slumber to bark furiously at us as we walked past. Hotels every where locked up and booked up (with who we don´t know, we only saw one other couple the whole time we were there). And it was cold, so cold.
But our sense of humour kicked in and as it turned out we had a lovely day. We glugged through our way through three bottles of champagne - well why not, it only costs five quid. Got mum well and truly typsy, think she enjoyed herself. We even managed to find a group of Gauchos, stoking a campfire and sporting luxuriant moustaches.
After a quiet night, we rounded the celebrations off in style back in BA the next day. All glammed up to the nines, we headed off to the beautiful, beatiful cafe tortoni for copious ammounts of red wine as we watched the tango show. I must admit, I wasn't really looking forward to the show, judging it to be one for the mums but it was amazing.
It takes place in a little smokey jazz style cellar beneath the main cafe, with everyone sat at little tables all perfectly laid out. And the show itself, was just beyong words. It was so passionate, so emotional and so moving I even cried. Steve lept to his feet at the end swept along by the energy shouting bravo. My mum was just mesmerised, she sat throught the whole thing open mouthed staring at the stage. Me and Dorothy had our hankies to our eyes for most of it.
We left that theatre literally dancing and spilled out into a retauarant at around midnight for meat, pasta and strawberries flambed in whiskey washed down with Tempranillo. It was packed to the rafters and totally buzzing. Heading home at around 2am, we felt just elated. A perfect end to the mums' fortnight in BA and a wonderful memory for my landmark birthday.
Now, to find those nightclubs..........
