A dog's life ;-) (Hamburg)

My third morning in Radisson Blue Hotel was to be my last one, as I have now relocated to a perfectly acceptable hostel for 1/15 of the price... I did my best to savour all the delights of a luxury hotel, though, sleeping in as well as having a lazy (and huge!) breakfast before checking out only slightly after the supposed dead-line of noon.

I recognise that staying in such premises does have its benefits, but in general I  think the whole thing is somewhat overrated: I mean, for 178 EUR/ night (which is supposedly a discounted price for conference guests), you get a wonderful view, plenty of space and more or less friendly treatment (you should have seen the expression on the receptionist's face last night when I got in, having cycled in the rain for about half an hour!). But, you also get a toilet that has no hooks to hang toiletries, a shower head that does not stay in place, a bathroom floor that is not inclined properly, meaning that the water collects in front of the door...and STAYS there unless you towel it off yourself... and a room smelling of cigarette smoke. All in all, I did not mind too much having to leave.

Last night, getting to the milonga at El Abrazo involved a lengthy ride through the by-now dark streets of Hamburg; as I was in the centre and the venue was in the suburb of Altona, it really would have been clever to take public transport... but no, of course I had to cycle there. After going round more or less half the city (or so it seemed), stopping at various points to look at the map, and suffering some terribly bumpy stretches of cobbled streets, I managed to find the place. Must say I had started to wonder if this really was such a brilliant idea after all!

However, as soon as I got in, all my qualms vanished. The place, a dance studio upstairs of an old, run-down warehouse was lit by candles, and upon entering one was immediately struck by a wave of almost tropically hot and humid air. The room was brim-filled with people, furnished in a nice and cozy way, and the dance floor was full.

I seem to have become more accustomed in getting invitations to dance, and once again spent almost the whole night on my feet. What was special about El Abrazo was that there were quite many tall leaders, something that undeniably does bring a new element to the dance when one can reach UP instead of DOWN when dancing :-)!

For some reason, i was very relaxed ever since the first dance, and despite the floor being EXTREMELY slippery (really, I cannot see what is the point of having ladies at the brink of losing balance at any moment, when every boleo or volgada is performed at the risk of landing on your face?) felt I could enjoy the dance perhaps more than ever before. Obviously, being able to dance with good leaders also helped!

Enjoying a good chest ;-)

Last night was a first for me in one other aspect: for the first time in my (admittedly short) tango 'career', I got to dance with somebody who not only was the right height and knew enough to be able to lead me confidently, but most importantly, who really used his chest well while dancing. All of a sudden, a new horizon opened to me: now I could see why it is always emphasised that one should dance with the chest forward, and that the contact between the two dancers' chests is essential for tango. This revelation was due to dancing with Gerardo, a German born in Argentina (interesting, that once again I had this experience with someone who was not, strictly speaking, a born-and-bread German, although definitely not an immigrant either!) and I am truly and utterly grateful for it. To my delight, he seemed to enjoy dancing with me too.

Having found such a pleasant dancing partner, I spent the final hour or so dancing with Gerardo, and only left after they had played the last tango (La Cumparsita once again!). By then it was well past three am, and I still had to find my way across town to the hotel. Must admit right there and then I would have much preferred to hop in a taxi instead!

Now, you must be wondering about the heading for today's entry. Here's the reason: This morning, while traversing the city to get to the hostel, I came across something that really made my day: a dog show, with literally hundreds of dogs all over the place, all in happy coexistence. I was astonished at their behaviour, as there was hardly any barking, and most were on a very loose leash too. The reason there were so many different races was that they were trying for a new 'World Record' in something previously never tried: the idea was to get as many dogs together, giving the paw at the same time! The catch was that they were also collecting money for animal welfare organisations, as a company had promised to donate 10 EUR per participant. You can imagine (at least those of you who have ever seen me around dogs can) my delight at the sight before my eyes: in the end, there were well over 500 dogs of different descriptions on the field in front of me! In short, I was exstatic! :-)

A new world record: over 500 paws offered at the same time!

Right now I really should be getting down to work, as (is anybody surprised?) the chapter for the travel guide has not moved one inch since yesterday. It looks like I will be spending the whole evening glued to the screen. But then again, with the money they will be paying me, I can carry on tangoing for a couple of more weeks!