Dance, Barcelona & Palermo

One of the things I want to do in Europe is dance, in BsAs I had the opportunity to dance with people from all over the world …. so now I’m travelling and want to do the same. In Barcelona I went to Club Pipa Milonga …. a little tricky to find the handwritten ‘pipa’ on the intercom, but I pushed the button and was buzzed in. Up a couple flights of stairs and through the door into a dark but lively club. €6, to get in …. this place is small but the dancing was great, the music very good and the atmosphere and ambiance of this milonga unique …. the windows open onto Plaça Real with it’s tables and glowing lights. Another evening I ventured out to a Salsa club, Agua de Luna … No ‘cover charge’ but you are expected to buy a drink, this was the worst mojito I’ve ever had and it cost €10! I would rather have paid a cover …. seriously! The dancing , however was very good and the music awesome … great DJ! In Palermo I picked Circulo Ricreativo Della Difesa, can I just say public transport in Palermo sucks … It’s O.K. if you don’t need to make a connection/transfer but otherwise you wait! Finally … I got to the address of the milonga only to find a military area, I almost gave up …. didn’t really want to enter the gate with all the warnings on it but I’d come so far and it had taken so long I wasn’t going to leave that easily … I walked up to a doorway where I could see a man sitting and I asked him if there was a milonga? I figured there was, I could hear the music but how to get to it was a mystery. He jumped up and led me through a building and up some stairs and what do you know ‘A Milonga’ with about 200 people energetically dancing to the music. I danced some wonderful tandas … the dancers were very good and the DJ terrific. Getting home after transit has stopped is another story …. cabs won’t stop on the street, you have to call … I did find a taxi stand and a taxi did arrive and take me home at 2:00 a.m., it was a great evening despite the transportation glitches. Milano was a ‘no go’ the subway stops at 12:30 and the milonga was far from where I was staying … I really wanted to dance here :(, but there will be other opportunities along the way!