3018  Spain travel report - Part 4 ... the last stop

Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 11:11:27 -0500
From: Tanguero Chino <tanguerochino@NETSCAPE.NET>
Subject: Spain travel report - Part 4 ... the last stop

The morning after the milonga in Sevilla, we left for Madrid, a 6 hour
drive. I wanted to get to Madrid for the milonga at Cha-3 because it
had been highly recommended by several people, both in Barcelona and in
Sevilla. We got into Madrid late in the afternoon, got a little lost
n the highway that surrounds the city, but did eventually find our way
downtown to our hotel.

My wife still had not recovered from her cold, so I was by myself again
going to Cha-3. I left the hotel later than planned, so instead of
taking the metro, I called a taxi. Little did I know that I would be
caught in a traffic jam downtown at 10 ob clock at night. Luckily, it
was a relatively short ride from my hotel near the Atocha train station.

Cha-3 is a night club that hosts all kinds of dances. It is a large
place with capacity of 250 persons, if not more. We had about 120 to
150 dancers that night. The rectangular dance floor is in the middle
of the room, sandwitched between by the main sitting areas on either
side. Tables in these areas are arranged 3 rows deep so cabezeo will
not work here. There are also some tables in front of the bar on a
third side, and bench type seating on the far end. That was where I
sat for the first half hour, observing and noting the dancers. My
observations did not let me down, and I had many good dances throughout
the evening. It was 3:30 before the DJ stopped the music. Imagine
that, on a Thursday night (Friday morning really). Luckily for me, I
didnb t have to work the next day.

When the milonga was over, I went up to the DJ, Leo, to ask him about
milongas for the following days. I already had a list, but with my
experience at Barcelona, I was looking for advice. It was a good
thing that I did, as I was told about a new milonga that had been
around for less than a month and had not made it on to any list on the
internet at the time. I was ecstatic that I had asked. I will explain,
but first I have to thank Leo for having arranged great music for the
evening, and for driving me back to my hotel.

My flight back to Canada on Sunday morning was at 6:20. When I bought
my ticket, I was thinking that I can dance till the wee hours, shower
at the hotel and then catch a ride to the airport. You can imagine my
disappointment when my initially search indicated that the only Saturday
milonga ends at 23:00. The new one, however, does not end until 3:00.
I was able to do exactly as I had originally planned.

The new Milonga del Centro is held at Club Guardalajara at Plaza Santa
Ana #15, right next to Hotel Tryp Reina Victoria. It was not a very
large space, but it was well attended. I saw a few people that I had
met on Thursday, and met many others, including a transplanted
Californian, David, who is now teaching tango in Madrid. I arrived
early (around 23:00) and there were not many dancers at that time.
However, it really picked up around midnight and was eventually filled
to capacity. The music and the dancing were great, once again. The
surprise came at the end, when the milonga stopped right around three
ob clock. With a latino country, and especially with Madrid, it was
unusually punctual.

I got a taste of what Madrid night-life really means when I was leaving.
For some reason, the van that picked me up for the airport went through
some small streets instead of staying on the main thorough-fares. The
traffic jam on these streets was as bad, if not worse, than day time.
Some line-ups to get into the clubs still had close to 100 people, and
thatb s not just one or two clubs. And all this at 4:30 in the morning.

I really enjoyed this trip in Spain, both from the traveller and from
the dancing aspects. Several of the women I danced with asked me when
I would be back. I donb t know, but it is definitely in my plans. Next
time I will have to visit the north. Looking at the list that I had
compiled, there is lots of tango in Zaragoza. And then there is Bilbao
and San Sebastian. I would like to return to Barcelona and Madrid as
well.

Well, until the next tripb &.




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