In December 2004, Debbie and Steve Morrall took a month's holiday in Buenos Aires. Here is a short summary of their experience, with a few tips for tangueros planning a visit to the home of tango. If you want to see a picture in more detail, click on the caption. It will open in a new window on top of this story.

We stayed in a self-catering apartment, complete with its own dance studio, in Belgrano, a suburb (barrio) about 25 minutes by taxi from the centre of BsAs. It was great to have the option of staying in and cooking for ourselves but eating out was cheap and we always had good food and excellent service.

Getting about by taxi was quick and (for us in the UK, very reasonably priced). Buenos Aires is a huge city, but we only once had a taxi driver get lost. When he realised he was in trouble, he reset the meter and was very apologetic.

To clearly inform a taxi driver of your destination, tell him (a) the barrio and (b) the nearest intersection to where you want to go. For instance, for our apartment, we asked for "Belgrano, 3 de Febrero y Monroe" (where the roads '3 de Febrero' and 'Monroe' cross in the barrio of Belgrano).

We have read stories about rogue taxi drivers, and suggest that you always take care where ever you travel, but we never felt unsafe or threatened, unless you include the actual driving experience in a 6 lane highway with no lane rules.

We also rode by bus and metro. On buses you pay when you get on and use a route guide which clearly shows you how to plan your route. Metro is quick and clean, although at the height of summer (January) in the rush hour it can be very hot. Buy a "diez" a ticket good for ten journeys for good value.

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Getting about the city to tango events is well facilitated. There is a tango map showing all the milongas and the nights they run on. The city never stops. We went dancing 'til 2am and then had steak and chips in a busy Parilla (grill). Mmmmm.

Dancing was severely reduced while we were in the city because of the discotheque fire that caused all clubs and milongas to be shut pending fire inspections. Luckily, we had a dance floor at the apartment and held a couple of mini milongas.

We loved the open, generous nature of the porteños we met. However, be prepared to experience a high level of prejudice at milongas. You are clearly judged on your ability to dance. It doesn't matter how good a dancer you are, if you are a stranger with no 'track record', you will find it difficult to get a dance (with a porteño). [Tip] Take a few lessons with a local maestro, and he or she will introduce you to friends at a milonga with a 'seal of approval' for dancing (if you are good enough) and help break the ice.

At its extreme, like the milonga at Club Español, where men and women have to sit on different sides of the dance floor, it can be intimidating. The 'cabeceo' is the expected way to request a dance at these formal milongas. The man catches the eye of a lady from across the floor and invites her to dance with a raising of the eyebrow. If she doesn't accept, she will turn her head away.

Not all milongas are so formal. There is a wacky place to dance called 'La Catedral' where nuevo-tango dance and music is the norm and you just ask people to dance in the usual way. Also, don't forget to go to the Confiteria Ideal, where, despite its fading glory and octogenarian waiters, it is still a spectacle and reminder of how big tango once was here. The afternoon tea dances are much more relaxed and not as crowded as the evening functions.

Not all milongas are as fabulous as the Club Español. The Sunderland Club (picture left) is a basketball court, but still a vibrant community centre for tango dance and music.

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Not everyone dances tango in Buenos Aires and we often encountered comments that 'tango is for tourists' and reminded that there are other sorts of music and dance folklore in Argentina. I guess we would do the same if the roles were reversed and the subject was Morris Dancing or Bingo...

While we were there, we found a shoe factory in the suburbs and had several pairs made for just over £20 each. It was an £8 taxi drive on two occasions but worth the trip to see shoes being made and meeting the craftsmen.

A highlight for Steve was meeting and playing with two maestros who played in the orquestas of the 50s and 60s. Eduardo Valle (guitar) and Pedro Major (bandoneón) invited Steve to play bandoneón with them at a party.

There is an amazing buzz in this huge city. We made the smallest scratch on its surface and missed it as soon as we left. However, it is relentless and for a break we took a two day trip to Colonia, just across the River Plate. It was like going from the bussle of London to a quiet Pembrokeshire coastal village.

We made lots of new friends - everyone is so friendly and generous except on the dance floor where, I suggest, Porteños are driven by the need to look their best while dancing. We saw the best and the worst dancing and dance etiquette in BsAs, and, now we can make a direct comparison, are proud of our tango community here in the UK.

It is clear to me that here in the UK, we dance for different reasons to the Argentinians. There is a common link - the best dancing in both cultures is done from the heart.

A good friend of ours has bought an amazing flat in Buenos Aires which is available to rent. Maggie Cowan-Hughes is a tanguera - you may have met her at one of our Bramshaw milongas. If you would like to find our more about this elegant and comfortable accommodation, only staggering distance from some excellent milongas, we can wholeheartedly recommend Maggie's service. Check out Maggie's website.

Ciao, Steve