January 12, 2024
“Buenos Aires has been graced with superlatives during its reign as South America’s leading city: ‘the Paris of the South,’ ‘the most European city in South America,’ ‘Manhattan in the southern hemisphere.’ All of these are justified. But I prefer to interpret its great author and native son Jorge Luis Borges – Buenos Aires itself is a superlative.”- Travel with Pen and Palate Blog“
In any place we have been the first walk is always the best. The stroll is both disorienting and wonderful at the same time. You find yourself lost and looking everywhere for some point of reference that is familiar and comforting. You are gazing around everywhere at the new sites and trying not to trip on the sidewalk. It is easy to spot travelers like us. They are the ones whose heads are on a swivel and always stopping suddenly to look at a new building or take a picture. It must be maddening to the commuters trying to get around you to be on their way.
Buenos Aires has been called “The Paris of the continent”.
On first glance it is definitely not Paris. While some buildings show the Haussmannian architecture characteristic of Paris, they are mixed in with older working class buildings much more reminiscent of Mexico City except with better infrastructure.
Buenos Aires in the late 19th, early 20th century enjoyed a gilded age. It exported huge amounts of agricultural products and the city was among the 10 richest in the world. They experienced enormous immigration form Europe, mostly Italian, seeking new fortune. THe fashion was to reject indigenous culture and embrace European values. During this time, great mansions, parks, and monuments were built to rival European capitals. The result of all of this social change is today the city is overwhelmingly white - 96.5%.
The economic boom didn’t last. With World War I, the export business dropped drastically. Successive governments collapsed and despite having a large country with considerable national resources, economies collapsed mostly due to mismanagement and endemic corruption. Today, the country is perched on the edge of a cliff. With inflation just South of 200%, local people struggle to make ends meet.
Despite all of this in the background our walk today showed a busy main street with shops open eager to sell you anything. The American dollar is very strong here compared to the peso. . As a result, we can get great prices on meals, Uber, and such.
Our walk took us along the huge central boulevard that runs through the city. You can get an idea of some of the buildings in the shots.
We proceeded to the Caminito district and the La Boca neighborhood. Boca literally means “mouth”. The neighborhood is located at the side of the river harbor that emptied into the city. In the past these ramshackle buildings were humble houses that worked the harbor. It was so poor that locals would get left over paint from the ships to paint their homes and shops. The result was a dizzying montage of colors. The area became the home for a large amount of Italians, mostly from Genoa, who even briefly tried to form their own independent state here before being put down by the army.
The neighborhood declined until the artist Benito Quinquela Martín took an interest here. His works revitalized the area. Today it is a major tour spot. The old homes and shops have been replaced by restaurants and gift stores selling an endless number of soccer jerseys. It was crazy, messy, and wonderful all at the same time.
The other site here is the 57,000 seat capacity Boca Football Club stadium. This is the premier club in a soccer crazed country. Attending a game here can be hazardous. This is not because of the usual hooliganism. For home games, which are massively popular, they routinely let 10-20,000 additional people in beyond capacity.
We finished the evening at Puerto Medero. This neighborhood is another revitalization of old warehouses from the harbor. It is relatively new being completed in the 1990’s.
A central feature here is “The Women’s Bridge”. It was filled with street performers. You could find everything here from Tango dancers to Spider-man.
Tomorrow - who doesn’t like a good cemetery?
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