SUNDSVALL-HÄRNOSAND STATION!

SUNDSVALL-HÄRNOSAND STATION! por Victor Spanish, followed by Aisha English

La larga marcha hacia el norte comenzo, como siempre, en Malmö.
O mas bien en Lila Bedinge, punto de entrada a Suecia, despues de la movida por Holanda. Desde alli, desde nuestro cuartel general para Escandinavia, que es en realidad la casa de Inger,nuestra agente, muy cerca del punto mas austral de Suecia, la primer escala era Sundsvall, y hacia alla fuimos.
Otra vez los trenes suecos Malmö-Estocolmo y Estocolmo –Sundsvall, pero, por muy suecos que sean, la naturaleza esta vez los jodio: Habia llovido tanto en la zona central de lagos que se desbordaron y se taparon parte de las vias. O sea que a mitad de camino, debimos abandonar el tren, hacer 100 km. en autobus, y volver al tren. Claro que a problemas suecos soluciones suecas. Los autobuses eran de primera, ordenadamente en fila esperando el tren, empleados que te subian los equipajes amable y eficazmente, y la verdad que la molestia fue minima. Como esto demoro el arribo a Estocolmo, perdimos el segundo tren, y nos lo cambiaron por otro mas tarde, y nos dieron unos modestos ( pero salvadores) vouchers para comer algo en la estacion mientras esperamos. Buena ocasion para comprar "El Pais".
Finalmente arribamos a Sunsvall, luego de 9 horas de tren.

Sundsvall es una ciudad del centro- este de Suecia, en el condado de Västernorrland, en un entrante del golfo de Botnia, próximo a la desembocadura del río Ljungan.Es puerto marítimo, así como un próspero centro industrial. Su actividad económica se centra en la fabricación de celulosa, aluminio y productos metalúrgicos, pero el eje de la movida industrial es el papel, o mejor dicho la pasta base de celulosa. ( otra vez me viene a la memoria Gualeguaychu y todos los quilombos ) Aca vuelvo a insistir: El agua alrededor de las plantas de pasta base de celulosa esta impecable, pero debo reconocer que algunos dias hay baranda a podrido cerca de las plantas.
Ya me imagino el quilombo que se va a armar en Gualeguaychu el primer dia que haya ese olor.Este asentamiento quedó legalmente constituido en 1621. Más tarde, a finales del siglo XIX, creció como eje de una importante industria maderera. En 1888 la mayor parte del centro de la ciudad quedó destruida a consecuencia de un incendio, aunque se reconstruyó durante la década de 1890. En la actualidad, Sundsvall es una ciudad moderna con una gran proporción de empresas de alta tecnología. Las escuelas de Sundsvall se están reconvirtiendo rápidamente. La educación superior ofrece una amplia gama de estudios en una variedad de disciplinas, mientras que la universidad de MidSweden es una de las universidades con mayor crecimiento de Escandinavia.

En realidad, mas que toda esta charlanga geografica, nos interesaba que aca funciona una asociacion tanguera, y nos contrataron para dar unas clases grupales, el viernes por la noche, que fue muy exitoso. Luego de ella, nos alojaron en una casa en la ladera de la montana, desde la cual se domina todo el valle y la ciudad. Espectacular. La casa ha sido disenada y construida por Kurt Åke, nuestro anfitrion, y su mujer Anika, una bella sueca que vivio muchos anos en Uruguay, por lo que habla perfecto espanol. ( zafe)
Al dia siguiente, ellos nos llevaron en su auto a Härnösand, a 50 km. de alli, nuestro proximo destino. Cada una de estas movidas en en direccion sur-norte, por lo que cada vez mas nos acercamos al polo norte, o mejor dicho al circulo polar artico.
La zona de Härnösand es otra maravilla de la naturaleza, al punto que la Unesco la declaro patrimonio de la humanidad y zona protegida. Y el motivo es geologico. Resulta que en la ultima glaciacion, esta zona estuvo cubierta por una capa de hielo de 3 km. de espesor, ( si, tres Km. !) Ese monstruoso peso comprimio y hundio el terreno casi 800 metros. Al derretirse todo ese hielo, la tierra se libero del peso y empezo a subir de vuelta, al principio mas rapidamente, y hoy, miles de anos despues, mas lentamente, pero sigue subiendo. Eso modifica poco a poco el paisaje, de islas, fiordos, valles, etc. Asi me la contaron. Lo cierto es que la zona es bellisima, y uno de los inmensos rios que llegan al mar, es cruzado por un Puente colgante muy similar al Golden Gate de San Francisco.

Pues bien, aqui en Härnösand hemos dado dos clases muy concurridas, y al noche gran milonga gran con show incluido. Buen trabajo y buena plata, asi da gusto. Nos alojaron aqui en casa de otro Åke, esta vez Erikson de apellido, mas sueco imposible, que vive en las afueras, en un pueblito que se llama ( en sueco) literalmente " Al lado del Lago" y que esta a orillas de un enorme y maravilloso lago, obviamente.

La hermosura de la casa y su emplazamiento es de tarjeta postal. Muy parecido a algunos lagos de la Patagonia, increiblemente sereno, frio y profundo. La tentacion de banarse es enorme, y la casa esta a la orilla, asi que alla fui. Metes una gamba en el agua y la sacas azul, de lo frio que es. Seis meses por ano esta congelado, y la gente patina, pesca a traves de agujeros, cruza en auto por el lago, cubierto por una capa de hielo de 50 cm. de espesor. Pero ahora en verano, te podes meter, si sos macho!, es para cagarse de frio! Mi sesion de natacion duro 30 segundos.
La region tuvo un increible golpe de mala leche hace 20 anos. Resulta que la catastrofe nuclear de Chernobyl, ocurrida en Ucrania, a miles de km. de distancia, los jodio. Ocurrio que en los dias del desastre, el viento llevo gran parte de la nube radioactive hacia aqui, y una inoportuna lluvia derramo sobre este tierra encantada, ese veneno atomico. Las consecuencias en ese momento fueron graves: peces, mamiferos y vegetales mostraban indices de contaminacion radioactive 500 veces superiores a las tolerables. La paranoia fue inmediata y general, se tiraron miles de litros de leche, nadie pesco nada por anos, y ni una lechuga de la zona se podia vender o comer. La situacion se agravo con el paso del tiempo durante 5 anos, los indices seguian subiendo. Finalmente se estabilizo y empezo a bajar. Hoy ya no queda nada de esa historia, pero la gente sigue con resistencia a comer peces de aca, por eso los traen de otras partes de Suecia.

De a poco la naturaleza va reparando las cagadas que hacen los hombres. Por suerte esa zona afectada fue pequena, pero es justamente donde estamos ahora. Nuestro anfitrion Åke es proyectista de molinos de viento y experto en parques eolicos, y me dio algunos datos sorprendentes, cuando no increibles.
Cualquiera que haya viajado por rutas de Europa ha visto el paisje decorado con los modernos molinos de viento. De tres palas, blancos, y arriba de una columna metalica que lo sostiene.Parecen un molinito de juguete. Pues bien: los disenos de ultima generacion tienen estas increibles cifras:

-La torre tiene 100 metros de altura, es conica.

-En la base mide 4 metros de diametro y en la cima 2.
Esta hecha de chapa de acero de 50 mm. De espesor ( dos pulgadas) y pesa 400 toneladas!

-Las palas miden cada una 45 metros de largo, son de fibra de vidrio reforzada, o sea que el diametro del rotor es de 90 metros!

-Cada pala se regula automaticamente , controlada por computadora, de acuerdo a la fuerza del viento, y por supuesto todo el sistema gira para ponerse siempre de frente al viento. La velocidad a la que gira tambien esta controlada. Semejante descontrol tecnologico y material tiene un costo enorme: tres millones de euros cada uno.
Y aca viene lo increible: la empresa que los construye, y los paga, necesita 14 anos con el Molino generando energia electrica para recuperar la inversion, y recien despues empieza a ganar guita. Se supone que la vida util del Molino es de 25 anos, por lo que quedan 11 anos para encanutar. Yo no pondria guita en un negocio que dentro de 14 anos empezara a darme beneficios, pero parece que los empresarios suecos si.

Bueno, despues de Harnosand, donde ganamos buena guita, tuvimos una fiesta de despedida, comimos el major salmon y bajamos una birras de lujo, tomamos un bus hacia el proximo destino, siempre hacia el norte: Piteä

AISHA's VISION

Sundsvall was just a mysterious big spot on the map, in the remote northern area of Sweden, before it materialized one sunny afternoon. I still do not know why the southerners, Sköne people talk about the north in terms of cold, mosquitoes, schnapslieder and drinking. We were to find your ourselves about the Norrlandiger and it was the most exiting exploration! At the same time being tango missionaries we were ready for anything: even teach tango to a moose!
When we arrive to Sundvall on a beautiful Thursday afternoon and a very comfortable train journey ( omitting the fact of the floods which inundated railways too and we were obliged to descent from the train, take a bus and back to train again: everything done with Swedish perfect organisation)
We have only heard about Sundvall from the mouth of our Sköne tango student, who did not talk very highly neither about the place, nor its inhabitants. He called them ‘ yu’ people, for the only sound they utter as an answer when you are talking to them. Apart from that we heard from this very person complains about the high taxes southern Swedish pay in order to construct endless roads and highways in the wilderness of the north… He also mentioned mosquitoes, the very nasty kind of them, called ‘ knots’. But when asked how frequently he visits Sundvall and Norrland, he answered ‘ I have never been there’ ! This explains everything. Most southerners HAVE NEVER BEEN THAT UP NORTH AS WE WERE GOING TO BE! The Sköne people were envious of our itinerary and the desire to explore Sweden. The magical, mysterious part of Sweden. And imagine how excited we were! Midnightsun and wild animals, nature and few inhabitants, land of lakes and rivers…

When we arrived to Sundsvall on this lazy Thursday afternoon, the day seemed to slow down even more… The sun was shining – in contrast to Malmö, which we have left with rain and heavy clouds, and there arrived, all shiny happy our dearest students we knew from SOLLEFTEA: Kurt Åke and Anike! Both of them deserve a good chapter on its own, being one of those special characters we meet on our tango road. He is Swedish, but loves dancing and singing in a latin way, he only needs a bit of time and wine to be the jolly center of the social gathering. He constructed on his own a house on the hill, the house an architect would not be ashamed of ( Victor kept doubting whether a professional architect was not giving a helping hand, but Åke denied) From the very house- our short residence, we had Sundsvall at our feet: we loved our house on the hill! I was especially fond of interior design.

Going to the bathroom was like entering a temple. It was an aesthetical pleasure to spend time there ( bathing time, nail polishing time, make up time, meditation time).

I especially like one Swedish Pagan God ( a Faun?) keeping an eye on the candle and blowing it off when the time was right...

The weather made it possible to have my yoga on the terrace outside and the breakfasts and lunches with the view of Sundsvall as well.
Anika is a good spirit of the place. She is a real queen of this castle, BUT SHE DOES NOT LIVE THERE, she is like a muse-comes and inspires. Apart from that, she is a good Spanish speaker, having lived for years in Uruguay, her Latin chapter of live.Åke and Anika kidnapped us straight from the railway station to the WELCOME PARTY! Of course, it was a garden party as the weather was so favourable. There we could meet some more Norrlandiger, eat and drink wines and liquors, sing schapslider and listen to Norrland stories. There was even a Havana cigar for me!

THEY ARE VERY CIVILISED, THE NORRLANDIGER! Most of them have already heard about our great deed of eating surströming, by which we evoke a lot of admiration. And we are welcome to Norrland immediately!

And then we learnt what it means to be in a midnightsun period: we arrived home after midnight, very bright indeed, and Åke offered his sauna. The procedure was like that: spending 10 -15 minutes in a hot sauna-a little wooden house beside ‘ the castle’ and going out to sit outside, on the terrace admiring views of Sudnsval down below, sipping juices, some men I will not mention here, even beer, and then back to sauna again. The session ended after 2 a.m. still very bright, and one would never guess it was a bedtime! ONLY a voice of reason sent us to bed: we were to wake up early to be driven to our next destination: Härnosand!

Our entrance to Härnosand was a triumphal one. I belive Åke and Anika wanted us to feel like the kings entering the beloved city. They did not reveal us anything, apart from having to get up and leave the house 1 hour earlier that planned. They drove us to a beautiful spot by the river- or the sea? ( it is always a game we play ‘ is it a river, a sea, a vijk, a fjord? When we see the water) a Hansel and Gretel house of Anika’s father. We supposed we were to be presented and I was quite surprised to have Anika’s dad

putting a saftly jacket on me. Was it suppose to be a joke? Then I noticed a yacht and a couple of boats by the river and we were both pushed in the direction. Me, Victor, Åke and Anika found ourselves in a boat. Where are we going? I asked? TO dance tango! To your workshops!they answered laughing. But all my stuff, the shoes etc were in the car! However they made us trust and I thought maybe we had time for a little trip round the river. But it was not a trip- we passed the wilde shore with some charming houses situated on both banks and soon after 10 minutes the landscape got more and more civilised and we found ourselves in a city! Passed some bridges and disembarked in a nice promenade-restaurant area. We wanted you to see some of Härnosand! You will be so busy during those days, that we suppose you might leave without any sightseeing! We wanted to give you surprise boat entrance to Hårnosand- your workhops are a couple of minutes from here! they were explaining. I still did not understand how the hell will I give the workshops without my dancing shoes, but there I see.. our car with the stuff! They had it perfectly and secretly organized! Anika’s dad drove the car to meet us in the city and he would go home by boat himself! I love this sort of surprises!
The workshops were fun: our new students were joined by those who are already a family: Solleftea and Sundsvall students came as well!

The tango mayor domo of Härnosand is Åke ( Eriksson). He is perfectly Swedish ( perfect organisation, planning, punctuality and reception of the guests and even weather!) but when it comes to dance he becomes a Latino at least! It is absolutely amazing how this serious respectable gentelment becomes ' dance crazy'! I can testify myself, I have had an honour to be asked to dance foxtrot with him! That

was unforgettable! And I think we must have made quite a spectacle, another one, after my tango show with Victor! Now I am becoming a Swedish folk dancer myself!

I can name the following Swedish folk dances:

foxtrot ( which I tried with Åke)

bugg ( which was performed for us by our Härnösand tango students)

Hambo, Schottis, Polska

and.. Åke's dance!He is famous for it in Norrland!

Another surprise was our new residence while in Härnosand. We were not suppose to stay in town itself, but inUtansjö, which means ' a place by the river', in a wanderful lake house of Åke! If I was to choose a honeymoon destination, or a retreat spot to meditate, I would definitely choose that house! Spacious wooden house with the terrace just on the river. Private beach, no neighbours or houses in view, only the nature with the gentle GOLDEN LIGHT OF THE NEVERSETTING SUN! If I was to compare, only a glorious word of PATAGONIA comes to my mind...When Åke brought us there for a short shower-nibble-swimm and getting ready for the show&milonga, I felt I could not move out of there at all! I was glued to the stone I was sitting on!
Maybe the magic...

The magic was broken by the surströmming smell! But there was no surströmming around at all! This time Åke played a trick on us and offered us the cheese, but not a normal cheese, but SURSTRÖMMINGSOST!Anybody in Sweden had this cheese before? NO? I think we must be one of the first guinea pigs for the SURSTRÖMMING ACADEMY, founded up there in Norrland. Åke told us about it; now they produce the cheese and want to develop other surströmming products... WE HAVE EATEN THE CHEESE!

But the show must go on and it went on...There was not only Aisha & Victor tango show, but the Norrland beauties converted into the models displayed the Argentinean tango fashion. They added a lot of colour to the Swedish landscape! It is more: Norrland ladies are not afraid of high heels, neither they are of sensual cloth! They are real tango queens! First Schaps on their health and beauty! Helan går!

Another great experience in Härnösand was a tango day in FÄBOD, of the village Ramsås. Fäbod was orginally where the cattle from the village was taken for the summer, together with a caretaker. Full of huts, it is like ' little people' s dwelling place! All in miniature! And of course, all situated round the lake! Even the weather was specially ordered! LONG LIVE SVERIGE!

There was eating and drinking and guided tour round fäbod, and it even went to singing and more drinking and more singing. That was the time when we fell in love with the Taube's Carmencita... Imagine the scene: a group of great swedish singers singing it outside, in the forest, with the lake witnessing, the singing going from the hearts and in a good company...

We even had our good old siesta, lying on the soft forest moss, with a lullaby of the sad tunes of old swedish folk songs...

And who has ever seen tango in fäbod without tango?!

Needless to say, after all the eating, drinking, siesting and singing we went to dance tango! There was a special spot by the lake, built for this very purpose, because the owners of this fäbod are tangueros.

They have explained the are constantly improving the floor and next year it is going to be much bigger and better quality dance floor!Here we are- the surviver couples dancing tango just over the lake! The Sundsval-Härnösand people never get enough! It was Victor who said finally: enough of tango- legions retreat home!

Härnösand area would not be in the WORLD HERITAGE PLACE LIST if it was not for the ice age. An enormous block of ice ( 3 km thickness) pushed the land way down to 800m below! But when it melted, the land started to increase and it keeps rising even now, 1 cm every year! It means- ever changing landscapes, hills and cliffs, rocks erasing from the sea, labirynth of rivers, fjors and lakes. In one word: landscape of the enourmous beauty, the HÖGA KUSTEN ( high coast literary)

And this beauty was offered for us on a plate, by our guide Åke, who took us for the magic ride in his car: Victor could see and explore the works of wind mills, of which ÅKe is an expert, and both of us could look down on the impressive bridge, reminding Golden Gate, ruling over the landscape of river, islands and hills...This postcard -like photo was taken after midnight..

EINDHOVEN
Even though our chapter in Eindhoven was very brief, it left us a pleasurable aftertaste:
First it was a nice surprise that Pascuale, I have been corresponding with intensively during the last months has materialised NOT into a tall blond Dutch girl I have imagined, but into a handsome Italian of 40! It only proved how deceptive the imagination and sometimes intuition could be. His being linguistically impeccable,















I could not even THINK it was a man writing e-mails with this meticulous choice of words,openness and warmth that revealed a female. A name itself was to blame for a double interpretation.
Another nice surprise- the mattress on the floor he ( in that time and in my head ‘ she’ ) was pointing out as an emergency solution for an accommodation for us turned out to be a romantic attic loft, on the third floor of the house. There was, in fact, a mattress on the floor, completing the entire rustic decor, but not in a way I imagined the Spartan conditions expecting us in Eindhoven…As I have accepted the minimum it was only too nice to receive the maximum!
A third surprise due to my misinterpretation or maybe due to Pascuale’s poetic or humble way of writing- was a culinary aspect of our stay. A pasta we had been promised by mail to provide our bodies with indispensable carbohydrates, and which I envisaged an independent young Dutch girl being able to prepare as the only dish she can hardly make ( as she is definitely not a housewife, oh no!) turned out to be THE REAL ITALIAN PASTA PREPARED BY AN ITALIAN! Not only pasta- and not only delicious aglio, olio & pepperoncino, but the best choices of Italian wine, some from Bari, the origins of our host, followed by Argentinean and Chilean ones, the most beautiful salads ( smoked chicken, rucula, cherry tomatoes, cheese, nuts), tomatoes stuffed with mozzarella, baked paprika, choice of olives, prosciutto ( del mezzo, of course) accompanied by Italian bread were our share. Probably if we had asked for a specific kind of focaccia we would have got it as well!
As a special treat for us, being intrepid NOVELTY hunters, definitely in the culinary domain, we got first a warning and then an invitation to try FRIKANDEL. The mysterious word was hunting us for days with roundabout descriptions of it like ‘ a food from the wall ‘ or ‘ you never knows what you ‘ re gonna get’. As we have passed the ordeal, on the last workshop day, after a milonga, we were invited to celebrated our bravery (to try unknown, unrecognisable, unidentified food) eating in a nice restaurant in a pedestrian centre of the city. When entered, we were crushed by the Dutch REALITY: THERE IS NO FOOD SERVED IN RESTAURANT IN HOLLAND AFTER 11 p.m.! To our profound joy, our previous wish to have our kebabs could be fulfilled. The Europeans cannot understand our attraction to this basic ( for them) everyday ( maybe for them) Turkish food. The reason is simple: they do not exist in Buenos Aires. And another: it makes us feel like real travellers. And a contrast to the luxurious treatment by Pascuale and Ineke.
The three storey old house in the heart of the city is normally inhabited by Pascuale, his GENUINE DUTCH GIRLFRIEND INEKE ( the way to remember her name was quickly invented by Pascuale: think about Haineken, drop a ‘ H’ and final ‘ n’ )- and she was indeed TALL, BLOND and with HUGE BLUE EYES and a cat called FRITZ. I swear I thought at least one of them was an artist, or interior decorator, but it seems that Fritz is the only real artist, living from his art ( of being a cat) in a house.
The house possesses a beautiful garden, a small jungle with mosaic of cobbled stones with moss growing among them, tall trees, wooden table and benches, lots of flowers in clay pots. VERY INVITING to have a quiet breakfast or dinner on a summer day. But alas! This was impossible to fulfil! During the summer there are not many real summer days, and there were not our part. Therefore, the breakfast photo we took was only a quick choreography between a shower, a drizzle and a rain. We were enjoying looking into this garden through big glazed doors from the dining room. This is actually the reason we have to reject Holland as one of the possible residence places (the game we play all the time when visiting a country, or a city, a town for the first time: ‘ would we live there?’ ) It is however, of enormous pleasure to be in a cosy house observing the rain falling down, sipping coffee ( or good wine), having a cat walking around and a good background music. Pascuale was an expert for a perfect sound track for any occasion. We had thus- breakfast music or evening tunes accordingly. As a memory of our stay in Eindhoven we carry a double Cd of Paolo Conte. Thanks a lot, Pascuale!
Pascuale is an unusual mix of Italian and Dutch, of which he has the best features. His looks are inconfusable Italian, thanks God. Good for tango. But in his attitude he reveals all the Germanic features that the Latinos could only dream of. Including his impeccable English- without even a slightest hint of an Italian accent.
Therefore, we can congratulate TipoTango alma mater- Marianne and Leo, for offering him the opportunity to organise our workshops and be our guardian angel while in Eindhoven. He really did the job brilliantly!
Marianne and Leo, a beautiful couple of eternally young, I would dare to say- because of the tango elixir of youth, are ALREADY CONVINCED TO INVITED US BACK FOR THE MAY TANGO FESTIVAL NEXT YEAR. It is a real honour, we said ‘ yes’ of course. There will be enough time to discuss the practical and less practical issues sipping limoncello under our lemon tree, back home, in Buenos Aires. Marianne and Leo are going to venture to the Buenos Aires jungle in November and WE ARE GOING TO BE THEIR GUARDIAN ANGELS there!
Milonga and workshop place was my dream location: A CHURCH! I have always thought the churches, especially gothic, are perfect to dance tango- spacious, good dancing floor, ambience of red brick walls and stained-glass windows.. But Eindhoven Tango ( TIPOTANGO!) made it reality! It was like going to a TANGO TEMPLE! And definitely we felt that on Sunday morning… The last prayers and songs of the service were still heard, when tango students were arriving…
It seems that Eindhoven is a good location for tango events: it attracts not only its own inhabitants, but from the towns around and even from Belgium! No doubt, you cannot dance in a church in any place..
Eindhoven is not a beautiful city, we were warned by Pascuale and Ineke the moment we have arrived. Maybe not, if it has to live in the shadow of beauty monsters like Amsterdam or Alkmaar. But it definitely has its charm. The city was heavily bombed during the 2nd world war and rebuilt afterwards. Therefore its architecture is new. It is strongly marked by PHILIPS, as Eindhoven is its town of origin. Starting from the architecture of a train station: it is an enormous old PHILIPS RADIO! Another building has a shape of a humangous space ship. Just outside of the pedestrian area, contrasting with some old and low buildings, there is a skyscraper of the newest technology and architecture- the price winner of Holland! And beside- and old Church, the survivor…
The rest we have seen was a night walk in the pedestrian central area, in order to look for an open restaurant after milonga. There are a couple of streets vibrant with life in pubs, bars and restaurants. The spectrum of restaurants and music suggest the nationality mix. We have noticed it in Amsterdam first- Holland has had its door open for all the immigration waves, sometimes uncontrollable. Nowadays, it ads charm and colour (definitely colour) to its life. And a nightlife!
But our stay in Endhoven was marked by tango in the Church and our comfortable stay in the house. The weather has not even permitted Victor to have his regular run along the canals! The sun-rain-clouds intervals, changing every couple of minutes can drive anybody who wants to plan a day out, completely crazy. Then, you should not plan anything, you should not depend on the weather- Pascuale explains. ‘ Even if the sun appears and all the Dutch run out like crazy to sip this gift from heaven, I stay home and keep doing what I was doing’ . Is he a REAL ITALIAN? -we have questioned. Definitely an intelligent one.
Therefore our last chapter ( this year and maybe not EVEN) in Holland was more about human bonds reinforced by good food, wine and endless chats listening to all the varieties of DUTCH RAINS….WE WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK!

EINDHOVEN!
por Victor


Un par de dias despues, nos fuimos en los magnificos trenes holandeses a Eindhoven, otra de las ciudades importantes de Holanda.
Los fanaticos del futbol, que los hay en todas las latitudes, estan de parabienes en esta ciudad. Ocurre que el ultimo campeon, superando a los miticos Ajax y Fejenord, es el PSV Eindhoven, el club local, y la euforia es grande.
Este club, asi como otros de Europa, tiene una barra brava que te la voglio dire!
No son muchos, y estan super controlados por la policia, pero son unos nenes que dan miedo. En camisetas musculosas, panzones de birra, ultranacionalistas, medio fachos, cabezas rapadas y algun neonazi, tienen una aspecto al lado de los cuales el Rafa di Zeo parece Florencia de la V con la regla. Pero estan circunscriptos a un reducido tiempo y espacio, la ciudad es tranquila.

Lo que no es tan tranquilo es el animo que los holandeses tienen hacia la tan cacareada union de Europa. Los 27 paises que integran la UE, necesitan, para funcionar institucionalmente, una carta magna, al igual que la constitucion de cualquier pais. Esa constitucion, que costo anos de dicusion y elaboracion, fue finalmente sometida a la aprobacion de cada pais miembro a traves de distintos mecanismos: desde el parlamentario hasta el plesbicito popular. Y asi se aprobo en la enorme mayoria de los casos. Pero hubo dos que patearon el tablero: Francia y Holanda, que dijeron No!, rechazo a la constitucion, y alpiste.
Asi que ahora estan redisenando una nueva, con todo el quilombo que eso significa, y el ambiente popular, lo que se dice en la calle, es que volveran a rechazarlo.
Como se zafa? No se.
Es obvio que un consorcio de 27 es un drama. Desde la poderosa Alemania, a las subdesarrolladas Rumania y Bulgaria, la recontra conservadora Polonia, la indiferente Inglaterra, la nacionalista Holanda, la siempre contestataria Francia, etc,etc,etc, cada paso es un parto para ponerse de acuerdo.
Me imagino que finalmente se acordara, pero el proceso es largo, y complicado.

Nosotros estamos alojados aqui en casa de Pasquale, un italo-holandes macanudo, aficionado al tango, ingeniero, que ademas nos cocina la vera pasta italiana con tintos tambien italianos ( ayer de Bari), por supuesto. Ademas, vive en una bonita casa, en el centro, con un atico-loft super romantico donde estamos alojados.
A un par de cuadras esta la milonga y el lugar donde damos las clases, por lo que todo es comodo y no gastamos un euro en nada, cosa muy importante pues aqui todo es caro. La milonga esta en una vieja iglesia- siempre pensamos que era una buena idea, pero aca lo hicieron realidad: espacio abundante y ladrillo rojo alrededor, ventanales con vitreaux. Un templo de tango!

La Fiesta del Sol no tuvo sol- el clima holandes se burlo de la perfecta organizacion! Menos mal que para el tango no molesta la lluvia. Y en nuestro atico se duerme unas siestas barbaras con el ruido de la lluvia...

Asi paso este viernes, sabado, domingo y lunes en la quinta ciudad holandesa, y el martes temprano, orta vez tren a Amsterdam, al aeropuerto, de ahi una hora de avion a Copenhague, otro tren de 15 minutos a Malmo, Suecia, donde nos espera Inger, la agente sueca que nos preparo la proxima movida: una recorrida por Suecia, siempre hacia el norte, al norte de los nortes...

Proxima etapa: Laponia – Circulo Polar Artico

ARGENTINO INSPIRADO POR NUESTROS CAMINOS EN AMSTERDAM:
*lyrics by a payador porteno Carlos Casellas /spontaneous translation in English

Holanda y sus Amsterdanes
prolongan el manso viaje
y sigue siendo el paisaje,
de polders y tulipanes;
de mares en celofanes,
de medievales caminos
,de panes, quesos y vino
sque adelgazan la tristeza
y de argentinas princesas
en medio de los molinos.

De anaranjado sustento
y de cortes de justicia,
de Peter Panes y Alicia
sen una tierra de cuentos.
De luz, de plazas, de vientos
que doblan cualquier esquina,
con su Máxima, argentina,
y el principito consorte,
al norte de todo norte,
donde la tierra termina.

Con un gotán de equipaje,
nuestro galán suburbano,
lleva sujeto en sus manos
un “ corazón” con encajes.
Hablan el mismo lenguaje
y sueñan las mismas cosas,
polaquita, mariposa,
volando en cielos ajenos,
ni Gardel siendo tan bueno,
tuvo a su lado una rosa.

Holland and its Amsterdams
are prolonging a docile travel
and here come the landscapes
of polders and tulips
of seas in cellophanes
of medieval tracks
of bread, cheese and wine
which make sadness loose weight
and of the Argentinean princesses
among the windmills

Of orange-colored supports
and of the courts of justice
of Peter Pans and Alices
in the fairy tale land.

Of light, of squares and winds
which turn in any corner
with Maxima, Argentina
and a little prince consort
in the north of all the north
where the land terminates.

With gotan as a luggage
our suburban gallant
carries in his hands
a lace heart
they speak the same language
and dream the same dreams
Polaquita, the butterfly
flying over foreign skies
not even Gardel, being so good
had such a rose by his side...

AMSTERDAM! por Victor

El viaje desde Alkmaar hasta Amsterdam es un breve paseo en los magnificos trenes holandeses de dos pisos. Llegamos a la estacion de Amstel, a unas cuadras de nuestro alojamiento aqui, la casa de Maryam, una holandesa escritora y docente, aficionada al tango, a la que le damos clases privadas cada dia.










Amstel es un barrio de Amsterdam, y tambien un rio, que pasa por aqui, por el barrio, y tambien una de las marcas muy famosas de cerveza.
La belleza de Amsterdam corta el aliento : cruzada en todos los sentidos por rios y canales, cientos de puentes vinculan las partes de la ciudad, recorrida por nubes de ciclistas. El automovil esta bastante restringido, siendo una ciudad ideal para pedalear, caminar o navegar.
La arquitectura es otra de la maravillas que no se puede dejar de admirar. Todo tipo de palacios, hoteles, o simplemente edificios de apartamentos, casi nunca superiores a los 4 o 5 pisos, muestran el esplendor de esta ciudad en los ultimos 500 anos.
Nunca estuve en Venecia, pero sospecho, por muchas fotos y videos que vi, que Amsterdam es mas bonita, creo, quizas me equivoco.
En realidad hasta ahora, junto con Praga, Estocolmo y Sevilla, es de lo mas hermoso que he visto en materia de ciudades.
Como la ciudad esta llena de rios, se ha difundido una modalidad de vivienda para yuppies conchetos, que la van de bohemios. Consiste en comprarse un barco viejo, carguero por ejemplo, de 20 metros o mas de eslora, y adaptarlo para vivir en el. Lo amarran a una costa, dentro de la ciudad, y viven ahi. Hasta ahi todo bien, pero luego aparecio una movida en la cual se construyen plataformas de hormigon armado, flotantes, obviamente huecas, como si fuera una bandeja gigante, sobre la cual construyen ya no un barco, sino una casa. A veces directamente de ladrillos, otras de madera, de chapa, con ventanas de aluminio remodernas, sistemas de calefaccion, equipamientos modernos, etc.
Estas casas flotantes, o barcos casa, estan conectados a la red urbana de cloacas, agua, telefono, television por cable, y pagan impuestos, mas aun que una casa comun, que de por si son bastante altos. En una de esas casas flotantes, habia un tipo haciendo reparaciones en el muelle, con taladro, serrucho, martillo, etc. Trabajaba como un carpintero habil y fuerte. Un holandes de casi 2 metros, musculoso, que muy amablemente nos comentaba acerca de las caracteristicas de la casa, y de lo caro que era su mantenimiento. A la pregunta de si vivia alli con su familia, contesto : No, vivo aqui con mi novio... ( ??) Ya no se puede creer en nadie, che !!
Otro de los mitos que se me derrumbaron : el barrio rojo de Amsterdam. Conocido internacionalmente como el centro del puterio, dimos una vuelta por alli para conocer. Mama mia ! Las famosas prostitutas en las vidrieras estaban, si, pero son unas gordas caribenas o bosnias o que se yo de donde, celuliticas y mas feas que pisar mierda descalzo ! Un desastre !
Ni con 14 viagras podes entusiasmarte con eso. Al menos las que yo vi, a lo largo de 2 o 3 cuadras. Fue suficiente con eso, y salimos del barrio rojo, a seguir caminando por la bellisima Amsterdam.
El rio Amstel, aparte del aporte que hace al paisaje urbano, es un lugar espectacular para los deportes. Cada tarde pasan muchos botes con hombres y mujeres remando, otros corriendo por sus arboladas orillas, ( yo era uno de ellos) y son muchos los bares y restaurantes que atienden a a sus parroquianos en terrazas sobre el rio, ideales para clavarse una birra holandesa mirando el rio. Desde ya que toda Amsterdam esta recorrida por botes, lanchas, barcos de todo tipo y color, dandole al paisaje un complemento muy agradable.
Otro de los puntos historicos de Amsterdam es la casa de Ana Frank, una chica judia que se oculto, mientras pudo, de los nazis. Finalmente fue delatada, deportada y asesinada en los campos de concentracion, pero su diario intimo sobrevivio a la guerra y fue publicado en la posguerra con el nombre ´´ El diario de ana Frank´´ transformandose en un manifiesto antibelico. Vivio de 1929 a 1945. Pobrecita, con 16 anos la boletearon los nazis.


La poblacion de Amsterdam es heterogenea y multicultural. Para mi gusto, demasiado. Me gustaria ver un ambiente mas holandes, pero esta lleno de arabes, negros, latinos, serbo-bosnios, rusos, etc.etc.etc. Y por supuesto ya empieza a haber quilombitos. Hay grupos nacionalistas que no ven con buenos ojos este aluvion, y quieren combatir la inmigracion, sobre todo la ilegal, de cualquier manera. La politica super permisiva que el gobierno tuvo durante anos, prohijo toda clase de abusos, sobre todo con el seguro social, que por suerte en los ultimos anos se esta revirtiendo. Yo opino que si no se hace nada ya para frenar la avalancha ( aca y en toda Europa) tarde o temprano va a haber un rebrote facho y las consecuencias seran devastadoras. Estan incubando el huevo de la serpiente. Ya hay partidos politicos que hablan claramente de esto, y nadie se horroriza. No hace mas de 5 anos, casi linchan a un diputado porque se atrevio a hablar de ´´ inmigracion elegida y controlada´´, y hoy es moneda corriente.
En fin, Europa debera tomar este asunto tarde o temprano ( mas bien temprano) antes de que se pudra todo. Como dirian en Espana, ´´coger el toro por los cuernos´´.

Nos despedimos de la muy amable Maryam, y valijas a la rastra, caminamos las 6 cuadras hasta la estacion de Amstel, donde otro tren hiperconcheto nos llevo hasta nuestro proximo destino : Eindhoven.

AMSTERDAM!

* the photos will be here when we develop the film (we got so old - fashioned after the accident with our digital camera in Sweden)

Dans le port d'Amsterdam

Y a des marins qui chantent

Les rêves qui les hantent

Au large d'Amsterdam

Dans le port d'Amsterdam

Y a des marins qui dorment

Comme des oriflammes

Le long des berges mornes

Dans le port d'Amsterdam

Y a des marins qui meurent

Pleins de bière et de drames

Aux premières lueurs

Mais dans le port d'Amsterdam

Y a des marins qui naissent

Dans la chaleur épaisse

Des langueurs océanes

Till now Amsterdam was a blend of Jacque Brel’s songs images and blurred memories of my short stay here when I was probably 17.
But here I am, in a very unusual apartment- and not only because it has been designed, like the whole quarter by a famous Amsterdam School’s arquitect- H.P. Berlage ( 1856-1934). The apartment, in which you can get lost, is like a sanctuary- full of books,exotic objects and photos from travelling around the world. We are in a real sanctuary of a SUFI (words like mureed, meanig student, or cheraga - leader of a ceremony, were totally new for me), the teachers’ trainer- teacher of the teachers in a world, a writer and a poet. Her lifetime work for the world peace and education made her too busy to allow her to dedicate time to her secret passion: TANGO. It is never too late, though...
Now, we are here, with our mission to teach her tango. And at the same time she is sharing her Amsterdam with us. She is the best guide we could ever had: somebody who loves and knows her own city. And she is a real Amsterdamer! One more time, we escape from the tourist pattern and tourist circle- our first day MARYAM takes us for one of her favourite walks from Amstel to the Center of Amsterdam.
Tuesday, an absolutely perfect sunny afternoon that NO DUTCH TAKES FOR GRANTED- you never know how long it is going to last! Once the sun is shining, out you are taking all the adventages of this gift. Thus we submerged in THIS MAGIC CITY.
AMSTERDAM is the city of subtle noices- the river, the bicycles, the birds, the church bells, the beer glasses in the ubiquitos tables outside the cafes- sing a joyful summer song. And it is not a cacophony of city noises at all- THE TRAFFIC NOISES ARE MISSING! The car traffic is restricted to such an extend, that you forget it exist!
Our walk started at the Amstel right river bank, where we admired the boat-houses of all the forms, colours and sizes, then we passed a former TOWN HALL, now Archives, a posh AMSTEL HOTEL, where our guardian angel Maryam is going to have her good bye party ( by her editorial), a second hand market, a Jewish District, where, in a most charming spot by the Water House- Sluiswachtershuisje( that means small house of the care taker of the lock) we had our beers, and then Maryam showed us Rembrandt’s house, in the moment of his financial peak, to finally get to Red Light District ( where are the legendary infernal beauties? Victor was asking- all those overweight middle aged African mummies are the famous Amsterdam hookers? Another myth dissipates, he admits. The Swedish myth was nr one to disappear...) and to the Center- tourist Center, with its Queens Palace and Mdme Tussaud’s vax museum. As soon as we reached the tourist Amsterdam, we got the noise and the traffic and the crowds- and we appreciated OUR GENUINE AMSTERDAM we have just descovered and rushed back to it!
As Maryam left us in the Center to explore, we have decided to have a slow way back home along the left Amster river bank. This is what we liked the most- canal after canal crossing the river, floating houses on both sides of a river and canals, tipical Dutch arquitecture on both sides, thousands of bicycles passing by ( and alas! Shall we always be walking on the bicycle path?!) people smiling to us from their boat-houses...And the timelessness! Is it a sunny weather slowing down the life of a city? Or Dutch life style? Nobody seems to be in a hurry, even the cyclers seem to be riding the bicycle without a proper destination.

Back in the Berlage designed building, in our quiet appartment- sanctuary. But even in this sanctuary there is wine. And two beautiful black cats named Zippora and Hiawatha.
This makes us feel really at home, but at the same time we think about our Malena, left in Buenos Aires. She is not easily forgiving us those half a year absences in Buenos Aires! The rooms are big enough to dance tango, you hardly need to move the chairs- and not only just for one couple!

A night walk along the Amstel river was a desert....

Wednesday
Next day was a MARKET DAY, that means, we had our first experience of the biggest and most famous market- and it happens to be just round the house! It is Albert Cuypstraat
Maryam also wanted to shop for the tango shoes on the way ( maybe we will find good high heels for her) Unfortunately our tango shoe collection does not have anything fitting her feet. This was also the day to explore the wanderful urbanistic planning of Amsterdam' school arquitects: AMSTEL district.

Maryam’s background is as colorful and cosmopolitan as she is ( and radiates) herself: Indonesian mother, Eastern European Jew father. She married a Hindustani from Suriname and lived there for a long time before coming back to Amsterdam - she explained us this unusual family connections as we walked along Amstel river. Nevertheless she loves her Amsterdam where she was born and is at home. Her life was a neverending travel, because of her work- she worked in India, Vietnam, Russia Eastern Europe, Carribean.. In her apartement’s library you can find Russian, Portugese, Rumanian and Indian dictionaries. She dominates not only verbal languages- sign language and Braille are also part of her communicational system. Once, she use to one of the commitee advicing the Dutch government about the legistation of the language for the deaf, other times- the immigrants’ education in Holland.A responsibility to live in a rich western European country- as we talked about yesterday...
Now, she explores another NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION, universal communication- TANGO... And we have the responsability to transmit...
Thursday
It started all right with our morning tango class. But this day we had to experience a tipical Dutch weather- it has been raining most of the day... We have started our exploring of Amsterdam still dry. Our idea of that day’s walk was:
-localizing Holenderechtstraat 5, where our dear Nico ( look chapter Alkmaar) was born and spent most of his life, till he moved to Alkmaar
- follow Amstelkkannal up to RIJKSMUSEUM, have a walk around this museum complex, relfex whether go give some time and attention to van Gogh or go to see other big masters, take a tourist photo in front of the I AMSTERDAM
- follow the Singelgracht canal, go to LEIDSEgracht and square up to Princengracht
- follow the Prinsengracht up to where Anne Frank’s house
- explore Jordaan
- time permitting take a boat trip from Central station down Amstel

Unfortunately we underestimated the weather... not all the days in Holland are like Tuesaday or Wednesday! Only a part of this ambitious day’s plan was fullfilled. No sooner we got to Rijksmuseum and took a photo ( the last one!) of I AMSTERDAM, the drizzle started. As we reached Leidse square, the drizzed converted into a shower. After a coffe with Prince Canal’s view, we lost hope the shower would end, and we continued Prince Canal but towards the Amstel. Another coffe, but no hope for change. Finally, our Amstel river took us back home, totally drained we feeling lucky that Amsterdam’s reality is not our normal reality, and this weather was just the last half a day... We felt so happy to possess a pair of keys to get to our cosy, warm Berlage apartment, open a bottle of wine and plan pasta dinner. At least our Amsterdam’s experience was complete!

Friday

The last day’s walk to the market ( Victor wants to buy an orange pullover with HOLLAND written on the back):
From the house to Victorie Plein, and then van Woustraat if we want the most direct way to hit a Cuypstraat, but we will probably take small streets – Pieter Loodewijk, then Keijserstraat to van Ostadestaat, up to the Ostade Theater and up Saarphatipark and Sweelinckstraat to Albert C. Market. Coming by our preferred way- JUST FOLLOWING THE CANALS!
Late in the afternoon we will take one of those splendid double- decker trains for 1, 5 hour travel to EINDHOVEN.Amsterdam- WE WILL BE BACK!

So far we had a pleasure of desgustation of following Dutch specialities:
- Dutch EIER BRANDY- simply delicious! Added to Aisha ‘s favourite liquors ‘list. Introduced by Nico in Alkmaar. Wanderful addition to any ice cream. Described by Nico as ‘ladies’drink’. Taken as a good bye present. But the bottle was finished a day after, in Amsterdam. To your health, Nico & Ans!
- Stroopwafels. Offered by Ans with a morning coffe. Love at first bite! Victor simply could not stop eating till the last one disappeared in his mouth. During the stroll on Albert Cuypstraat market he recognized and bought a package for immediately consumption ( sharing with Aisha)
- Dutch herring. Introduction by Maryam. No comparison with fermented herring of Sweden, or vinegary herrings of Eastern Europe. It is row, fresh, just with some salt. TASSSSSTY!

- Sweet onions. Experienced first at Enrique’s ( sorry, he is Dutch, just forgotten his original name) beer in Alkmaar’s square Sunday afternoon. Follow up in Amsterdam, by Maryam. The are to love or to hate ( we saw an Argentinean girl spitting it out, when tried, but I do not think Argentinean palate, IN GENERAL, is receptive for taste experiments)

ALKMAAR! THE FIRST STATION IN HOLLAND! by Aisha ( to be continued)


If you have a short time for Holland, do not go to Amsterdam- you will see Europe, go to ALKMAAR to see genuine Holland!
Those words written by NEWSWEEK, and quoted for us by Martin, the president of Tango a la carte, cannot be more true.
We are in the most prototypical, charming Dutch town. Only 100 inhabitants, very human size, but it has it all: intertwining channels with arched bridges, brick houses of different colours and shades, cobbled stone streets, mostly pedestrian and plenty of bicycles everywhere… not just bicycles in a still stand, but bicycles in action, because in Holland, once you are born, you climb a bicycle and you do not separate from it till you die!

An afternoon in Alkmaar. Sipping GOOD coffee or freshly squeezed orange juice ,because that is how they serve it to you, to our agreeable surprise, weather constantly changing- the spectacle can include a short shower and wonderful sunshine within 5 minutes. Weather is the most talked about subject-NICO, our Cicerone in Alkmaar, explains. We have warned him on our first day that we would bombard him with thousands of questions, since it is our first time in Holland, and we will explore it as deeply as we can. WE love our FIRST TIMES! With our fresh eyes and minds we embrace every aspect of life here…

On that Alkmaar afternoon the time seems to stop. Or rather, to transfer us to the other century, the times of GIRL OF THE PEARL, the times of Johannes VERMEER, which immediately comes as a very strong impression for me as I observe the images around. Strangely enough I read this book in Catalan, a language I dominated and used for every day life, in my chapter of life in Balearic Islands, Ibiza. I have imagined the town like Alkmaar, as a place where Vermeer could have met his Girl with a Pearl. Perfect Dutch town…

We are sitting in Grand Café de Vestibule with our guardian angel Nico, listening to the soft music of this town: seagulls around the cafe tables, clacking of the high hills in a pavement, church bell talling exactly every hour, and the noises of bicycles passing by. The sun is shining and illuminating the facades of red brick houses. Delightful! There is nothing modern in this 750 year old town or in disharmony with the past, every detail refers to the past or it is strongly related to it. Glorious past, by all means! As Victor writes in his Spanish chapter, a popular proverb has it:

God created the world
But Holland was made by the Dutch

Nico, who was born to be an actor, or definitely an artist of some kind, is a layer and … a politician! Thanks to that we can explore the inside of the TOWN HALL in Alkmaar- his working place! It is our excursion to the past.Just the exterior of the building evokes respect and awe- a jewel of architecture is 500 years old and is still shining with its powerful beauty.
We submerge in the ‘ guts ‘ of its interior. Nico shows us the debate room, reunion room and other special spaces, interconnected by the modern corridors and offices. The restoration of 1920 has preserved the original charm and discretely added the useful modern touches. We sit in a debate room, with grand pictures of Musqueteers- like guards of past times on the walls, wooden celling and stained glass in the windows. From the windows of a small charming baroque-like room, you can see the church and a main street. I feel like in a film! This is a big film set around us!
The church is not really a church. Enormous gothic space you can rent for a concert, an exhibition or… a milonga! ( Only 3000 Euros a day!)
On Saturday, on our way to ‘ work ‘ ( festival tango workshops) we saw an unusual procession: coffins carriers indicated a funeral, but they were walking to the music of the drums, and next images were directly intriguing: big wooden sculptures of tigers, brightly painted- precedence Indonesia maybe ….The strange procession was entering the church. Only afterwards, Nico had explained that it was a marketing question: on the exposition in the church you could admire and buy… a coffin! My beautiful Indonesian tiger was but a wooden box for the body! What an imagination! I think I like the Dutch sense of life and death!

We are staying in a romantic guest apartment in Lindenlaan.

Lientje LeerdeLotje Lopen

Langs de Lange Lindenlaan

Nico and Ans are in the organizing board of the Festival, but they are wanderful hosts as well. Full of energy and ageless. And fun to be with. In their youthfull spirit they have decided they are mature enough to get married ( after 25 years of experimenting life together!) As their wedding is going to be VERY UNUSUAL with a lot of IMAGINATION ( Nico revealed us some of the secrets) we can only regret we are going to be in Lappland on the 29th of June!

It does not feel like being in the center of the town, but it is! A little back garden, and a park prolonging it, makes us feel like ... in the jungle! The high trees seems to come up towards the garden and stop just to make enough place for the table.

Every day we walk to the town center- either to the Theatre or different venues of the Festival, or the famous ALKMAAR CHEESE MARKET ( Friday) or just a stroll around the cannals and bridges. On our way- we greet the symbol of Holland- a tipical windmill.

But the fun ceremony of Alkmaar in undoubtedly CHEESE MARKET. We found out about it by internet, before we have arrive and we had asked to be taken to that market. Our surprise was totall: thousands of suns shone on that rainy day. And I mean it: enormous market square was covered by thousands round yellow objects that only later I could identify as cheese...

We happened to be NOT ONLY THE VIEWERS but the ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS OF THE CHEESE ACTION. Victor was inmediatlely evaluated as a talentful cheese carrier and was put to WORK. Between him and the other carrier they had a load of 100 kg of cheese. Besides, he recalled afterwards, it is not a usual walking, it is a kind of run, when you have to sincronize the legs with your companion, otherwise you loose stability. Now we know, what for all those TANGO EXERCISES ARE. The tango dancers make EXCELLENT CHEESE CARRIERS! Besides, very handsome.

What we cannot imagine is winter here- therefore we found our Alkmaar mill in its winter robe. Not bad to have a look at!

Everything is withing a walking distance in Alkmaar. Or, withing a cycling distance.

Perfect, human size of a town.

We will definitely appreciate it more when we pass to Amsterdam, which, by the way, is not such a big city either, it has less than 1 mln inhabitants. Next time we are here we would wish our tango bicicles to explore Alkmaar and the area.

Our ideas about Holland are rather limited, as Victor wrote in his chapter: van Gogh, Rembrandt, Philips, Shell, beer Heineken, the Dutch cows, that is Dutch-Argentinean in the Argentinean Pampa, the magic futboll team of 74- with Cruyf, Neskens, Reep, Van der Kerkof ( that is Victor' s list, I was hardly born back then), Haya. And recently- princess Maxima. I hope after our tango travel Alkmaar- Amsterdam-Eindhoven we would add much more to this list.

ALKMAAR has it all. And it has tango - its festival has been organized 9 times already! Always in a best Dutch way ( best price for organisation, best location, best teatre, best attendence ( number allowing personalisation), best quality of dancers, of people, of enthusiasm and seriousness in a right proportion, and the best... weather! In ALKMAAR EVEN THE WEATHER IS A LA CARTE! I still wander how they maintained the sunny intervals for the open air events...

But there is a proof-a perfect Sunday afternoon, Hof van Alkmaar ( Hof van Sonoy) in its summer bloom, cabaret and milonga open air. That is what inspired Cees ( the name I got intrigued with when I first saw it written down, but its pronunciation turn out to be pure lyrics...) to FINALLY ask me for a tanda of di Sarli tangos... No more organisation pressure on his shoulders, he was softly embracing me and making me float around the dacing floor. What a bliss! MADE IN ALKMAAR, too!

The very proper and elegant tango board A la Carte, can get slightly crazy influenced by all the argentinity around and the perfect weather. It is, however, not unpleasant to be carried by handsome men dressed in white, especially with the hats on. This tango figuere requires 5 participants and it is called Argentinean Princess, after Maxima. We have heard the rumours, that she DOES dance tango after all...

The festival had a very original event: DINNER PARTY HOMAGE TO CARLOS GARDEL. The dinner was excellent- our dear old friend pink salmon, with great choice of argentinean or chilenean wines and Carlos Gardel s spirit was present in a ceremony of giving a fire to his cigarette, attached to his picture. A ritual was held by an Uruguayan poet, but I was the one chosen to lit Carlitos cigarette! All all the wine we have drunk to his honour!

El escenario y las cervezas con el quesito compartimos con otra pareja de argentina: Noelia y Pablo. Les conocemos de Buenos Aires, pero teniamos que hacer miles de quilometros para tomar la cerveza juntos. Para ellos era la ultima estacion en Europa antes de volver a casa, para nosotros quedan quasi 4 meses aun!

And here are some of our discoveries of DUTCH REALITY BITES:
- Monday morning, about 11 am. Going out to get el Pais, the Spanish newspaper we use to buy while in Europe. The whole town of Alkmaar looks pretty dead. All shops closed. We were wandering about the strange phenomena- maybe a national holiday? We stop a passer by and ask what kind of a day is today? Is it a holiday? He answers: No, it’s Monday! As it was still enigmatic for us, Victor asked straight forward: So what? Then he explained like to the school children, that on Mondays life starts later- all the shops open at 1 pm! People have to recover after a weekend! I think HOLLAND IS THE MOST CIVILISED place in Europe!
- Walking on the streets you can look directly into people’ s houses. The windows perfectly expose the house interior and its inhabitants in their daily routine. The curtains are or are not there, and nothing impedes the curious eyes from looking inside.Today, as discussing the issue looking into one of the houses, we had its inhabitants waving their hands to us, as if saying ‘ hallo, we are here!’ . Just like a reality show on TV!

*our own photos will appear on this page when we get them developed ( after a birthday accident in Sweden we are digitalless, turned old - fashioned and therefore need patience)

Holanda! por Victor ( c o n t i n u a r a . . . )

El que no salta es un holandes!
El que no salta es un holandes!

Todavia recuerdo aquella noche de junio de 1978, cuando mi viejo me presto el auto para ir con quien entonces era mi novia, luego mi esposa y ahora mi ex, a celebrar al obelisco el oscuro campeonato mundial que horas antes Argentina habia obtenido, venciendo en la final a Holanda. La multitud enardecida agradecia a los Dioses, a Menotti, a Kempes y a Rensenbrink ( un Holandes que estrello una pelota en el palo a minutos del final, perdiendose el 2-1 consagratorio). Termino 1 a 1, fueron al alargue y ahi los vacunamos.

Y digo oscuro porque aunque la final fue inobjetable, y Argentina realmente merecio el triunfo, el camino hacia esa final fue turbio. Basta recordar el episodio con Peru
( 6-0) y la abundante bibliografia y testimonios que hoy, 30 anos despues, existen.
Comentario aparte merece el hecho de que el 90 % de la gente no sabia, o no queria saber, de los horrores que nuestra patria vivia en esos anos, y como el futbol fue un excelente anestesico para ocultar esos hechos a nosotros mismos y al mundo.

El que no salta es un holandes!!
Pues parece que aca esta lleno de holandeses, porque ninguno salta. Recien llegados al aeropuerto de Amsterdam, procedentes de Riga, con escala en Oslo, Noruega, estoy por vez primera en este pais.

Nada mas llegar al aeropuerto internacional de Amsterdam, se puede ver el inmenso tamano del mismo, desproporcionado con el tamano de la capital holandesa, pues es una ciudad de menos de un millon de habitantes. Ocurre que ahi aterrizan y decolan miles de aviones por semana, procedentes de todos los destinos del mundo, y eso genera una montana de dinero para el gobierno local. Pero tambien genera una serie de protestas del partido verde, de Greenpeace, de los ecologistas, pues el infernal transito aereo se traduce en ruidos molestos para toda la poblacion, riesgos de accidentes, problemas de control de inmigracion, etc.
Por supuesto, ‘’ cuando el dinero habla, la verdad calla’’, asi que el aeropuerto sigue alli, y alli seguira.

Llegamos con una hora y media de demora, pues nuestro avion se quedo en Oslo esperando que las condiciones climaticas en Holanda permitieran volar. Se temia una tormenta que finalmente fue una lluvia maricona. Nos recibieron nuestros organizadores locales Carla y Cees, quines nos llevaron en auto hasta nuestro primer destino holandes: Alkmaar. Alli esperaban Ana y Nico, nuestros anfitriones, que por supuesto estaban en la milonga, asi que tuvimos que ir alli a buscar las llaves. Fue bueno pues aproveche para tomar la primera cerveza holandesa, buenisima, y saludar a Noelia y Pablo, la otra pareja de argentinos que participa en el festival de tango.
Finalmente nos instalamos el apartamento debajo en la casa de ellos, y luego de la obligatoria ducha, atacamos una pizza con un par de vinos chilenos mas que adecuados a la situacion.
A dormir.

La ciudad de ALKMAAR esta a 45 km. de Amsterdam y es mucho mas pequena, mas o menos de 100000 habitantes. Es bellisima, de unos 800 anos de antiguedad, con las caracteristicas propias de las ciudades de Holanda: muy cuidada, colorida, con una especial dedicacion al peaton y al ciclista. Si los suecos son proclives al uso urbano de la bicicleta, los holandeses directamente son fanaticos. Gran parte de la ciudad esta interdicta al auto, y es recorrida por miles de ciclistas de toda edad y condicion.

Una de las mas famosas caracteristicas de Alkmaar es su MERCADO DE QUESOS. Siendo el queso una de nuestras debilidades, sonaba muy interesante el ir el viernes, dia del mercado, a presenciarlo. La mano viene mas o menos asi:

Cada viernes, en la plaza seca frente a la municipalidad, se juntan todos los fabricantes de queso y exponen sus productos. Por supuesto se prueban, se pesan, se discuten precios y se cargan en unos carros con los cuales se los saca de la plaza hasta los camiones que esperan por alli, para llevarlos a los puntos de venta en toda Holanda. Mas o menos pasan cada viernes por alli una 26 toneladas de queso. Todo con una onda ceremonial, con ropa tipica y en estos tiempos asimilado a un espectaculo turistico, aunque este mercado tiene mas de 500 anos.

Holanda tiene una muy especial relacion con el mar. Gran parte de su territorio esta al mismo nivel que el mar, e incluso por debajo de este ultimo. Por lo cual inmensos paredones, realmente diques, contienen el mar para permitir el uso de tierras que de otra manera estarian cubiertas. Esta batalla de siglos contra el agua, ha hecho que se transformen en maestros de la ingenieria hidraulica, de la navegacion, de la explotacion off-shore de recursos, de los canales, y obviamente de una tenacidad laboral encomiable.
Como ademas de todo el territorio es muy pequeno, la densidad habitacional es alta, y la necesidad de tierras muy elevada. Y de donde pueden sacar mas tierra, si estan apretados como piojo en costura entre Alemania y Belgica? Pues del mar!!

Pensemos que la superficie de Holanda es de 41530 km. cuadrados, practicamente la misma que la provincia de Jujuy, y tiene 16 millones de habitantes.
Este apetito por mas tierras tiene un enorme costo en dinero y en esfuerzo: los POLDERS.
Un polder es una porcion del mar que se aisla, y luego se la vacia de agua para disponer del terreno, separando esta nueva tierra del mar, que esta un par de metros mas alto, con una pared. Suena sencillo al decirlo, pero el desafio es enorme.
Una de las formas tradicionales de extraer el agua, en volumenes de miles de millones de litros, es a traves de bombas accionadas por molinos, o sea usando la limpia y barata energia que el viento proporciona. De ahi vienen esas tan famosas imagenes de Holanda llenas de molinos. No estan haciendo harina ! ( aunque tambien hay de esos) Estan bombeando agua dia y noche.
Hoy naturalmente hay poderosas bombas electricas que optimizan el trabajo, aunque tambien se ven muchos molinos, ahora altisimos, de tres palas, cada una de ellas de 12 metros, y controlados por computadora, y todos los chiches.

Esta claro que trabajan duro. Un viejisimo dicho popular dice ‘’ Dios hizo el mundo, pero a Holanda la hicieron los holandeses’’.

Mis imagenes de Holanda antes de este viaje eran pocas y fragmentadas: Philips, Shell, las vacas holando-argentinas, el magico equipo de futbol del 74, con Cruyf, Neskens, Reep, Van der Kerkof, Han, van Gogh, Rembrandt, la Haya, y todos aquellos monstruos, y en los ultimos tiempos otra holando-argentina: la princesa Maxima, que me entero ahora la gente la adora, pues parece que la mina se comporta sencillamente y le bajo un poco el acartonamiento a la familia real holandesa, vamos Argentina todavia!
Dicho sea de paso el apellido de la familia real es Orange, y de ahi que el color nacional sea el naranja.
El viernes, segundo dia de nuestra presencia en Holanda, nos invitaron con una cena muy buena, que ellos llamaron ‘’ en homenaje a Carlos Gardel’’.No se que tenia que ver el Mudo en todo esto, pero la cena estuvo de primera.
Luego gran milonga. Mucha gente baila tango aqui.
El sabado nos toco laburar ( algun dia tenia que ser!) y empezamos con dos clases de tango para mas de trentena de personas por la tarde, y a la noche el show central, donde compartimos escenario con la orquesta argentina Fernandez Fierro, y otra pareja argentina, unos pendejos muy talentosos llamados Pablo y Noelia.
Todo fue un exito, y termino, como no podia ser de otra manera, en una milonga hasta las 3 de la matina, ( en Holanda- eso es mucho) con cervezas a rolete, confirmando la calidad de la cerveza holandesa.
El lunes los negocios abren a la una de la tarde, pues se considera que luego del sabado y domingo de joda, el lunes a la manana es para recomponerse, y el resto de la semana se labura normalmente.
Tuvimos dos dias de descanso y turismo, que usamos para la consabida logistica de la gira: lavar ropa, comprar alguna gilada, escribir mails, cobrar! ( muy importante) y el martes enfilamos para la capital Amsterdam.