At the end of my magical Antarctic expedition, I spent four days in the lovely city of Buenos Aires. The day I arrived it was a balmy 80º with full sun, the jacarandas were in bloom and there was an empanada festival in full swing. What could be better?
Background
The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South America’s southeastern coast. Since the 19th century, the city, and Argentina, in general, has received millions of immigrants from all over the world. The ensuing melting pot has earned Buenos Aires the title “one of the most diverse cities of the Americas.” An estimated 15,370,00 people call the city home.
Strongly influenced by European culture, the city is sometimes referred to as the “Paris of South America”. There are scores of theaters and productions all over the city. Think: Tango!
The Highlights
After being on the rough seas surrounding the Antarctic peninsula for 20 days, it felt good to be back on terra firma. I walked the city down by first day and took in a tango show at Tango Porteno that night.
Over the next few days, I strolled along the streets taking in the sights and sounds. I also resurrected my high school Spanish. Each trip I take, I learn a bit more about myself. In Buenos Aires I learned from the locals that my Spanish is “GOOOD”. LOL!
I took full advantage of the Hop-On, Hop-Off buses to tour the city. En route to my tour, I couldn’t help but notice the large obelisk at the end of the street that housed my hotel.
The Obelisk
Designed by architect Alberto Prebisch, one of the main exponents of Argentine modernism, the obelisk was inaugurated on May 23, 1936. The location of the obelisk marks the spot where the national flag was raised for the first time. Measuring 221 feet high with a base of 22 feet per side, the obelisk is the greatest emblem of the City of Buenos Aires and its inhabitants, similar to the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The standouts of the bus tour were:
The Plaza de Mayo
The oldest public square in the city and the scene of many important events. The square is named after the Argentine revolution, which began on May 25, 1810. Around the square are several important buildings: the Cabildo, the Metropolitan Cathedral, where Pope Francis conducted mass for 20 years, the Casa Rosada, the seat of the national government, the national bank, and the intelligence secretariat.
As well as being the site of the May revolution, the square was also the location for Argentina’s first political rally in 1890. It has remained the focal point for public gatherings, either in support of or against successive governments ever since. This tradition reached its apex with Evita Perón’s speech from the balcony of the Casa Rosada in the late 1940s.
Argentina suffered a coup d’etat that overthrew its first female President, Isabel Peron on March 24, 1976. A military junta headed by Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla was installed to replace her. The political process took the official name of “National Reorganization Process” with the junta remaining in power until the return of democracy in December of 1983.
The junta called this period of state terrorism the “Dirty War”. Their activities were backed by the U.S. government under code name “Operation Condor”. As part of the operation, military and security forces and right-wing death squads in the form of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (AAA, or Triple A) hunted down all political dissidents.
Los Desaparecidos
Human rights activists state that in the aftermath of the coup and ensuing occupation, some 30,000 people went missing. Primarily young opponents of the military regime, they all “disappeared” or were killed by Videla’s regime. These young people were simply called the “Desaparecidos”. Military men responsible for the killings often spared pregnant women for a time. They were kept in custody until they gave birth. Once the children were born, they killed them and “gifted” their infants to childless military families.
In 1977, the mothers of the “Desaparecidos” began meeting in the square to demand information about the disappearance of their children. Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) continue to meet in the square. Each mother wears a white headscarf as a symbol of their cause. Every Thursday at 3:30 PM, they march around the May Pyramid. Images of white headscarves are installed in the stonework of the courtyard in front of the Casa Rosada.
The Ministry of Public Works Building
The building at the intersection of 9 de Julio Avenue and Belgrano Avenue in the Monserrat district features large steel images of Maria Eva Duarte de Peron better known as Evita Peron. Evita Peron was a politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist. She married President Juan Domingo Peron and served as First Lady from June 1946 until her death in July 1952. Her official portrait faces the South while the image to the North depicts her giving a passionate speech. The installations were created in 2011 by Argentinian artist Alejandro Marmo (known mononymously as Marmo). There is also a sculpture of Evita in a small square, which also bears her name, in the Recoleta district.
La Bombonera
Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in the La Boca region. Widely known as “La Bombonera” (the chocolate box) due to its shape, the stadium features a “flat” stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands round the rest of the stadium.
Boca neighborhood
My favorite neighborhood in Buenos. The neighborhood may derive its name from its location at ‘La Boca’ (the mouth) of the Riochuelo, as the Mantanza River is usually called. The port-side barrio is an obvious point for boats to come ashore. Historians believe the Spanish first landed in La Boca as early as 1536.
During their early colonial expansion, the colonizers housed African slaves in this area. After Argentina gained independence in 1816, many of the newly freed slaves remained. With the arrival of the industrial revolution in the late 19th century, La Boca grew into a gritty shipyard area featuring meat curing plants and tanneries.
Immigrant Influx
Mass settlement in the area began in 1830, with an influx of immigrants from Genoa, Italy. Coming from a port city, it was quite natural for the Genoese to settle along the waterfront. There were so many Genoese in La Boca at that time that some say the name is a spin-off of the name Boccadasse, a neighborhood in Genoa. The new arrivals constructed tenements made of scrap metal and painted the shacks with brightly colored leftover marine paint to liven up the one-time wasteland.
Soon thereafter the Italians were joined by immigrants from Spain, France, England, Ireland, Eastern Europe, and Greece. The cross-cultural mix gave birth to a new dance form – the tango.
Home of the Tango
Originating in Spain or Morocco, the Tango was introduced to the New World by the Spanish settlers. The dance form eventually returned to Spain in a modified version with Black and Creole influences. The ballroom version, which is popular in Buenos Aires, originated in the “Barrio de las Ranas” section of the city and Montevideo, Uruguay in the 19th century. The “Barrio” was home to European immigrants, former slaves and the working and lower class who further influenced and finessed the Argentinian style by introducing elements of African candombe, Cuban habanera, waltzes, and polkas.
The term “tango” wouldn’t officially be coined until the end of the 1890s. The Boca neighborhood is commonly called the home of the tango as it was wildly popular with the factory and port workers. The men would gather to dance in the central halls of the tenements and vie for the attention of the ladies.
Caminito
The area of Boca known as Caminito was particularly vibrant. Caminito was initially a bridge over a tiny stream but when that dried up it was filled in. The area later housed railways which soon ended up abandoned. The area eventually became a prime place to dump garbage. Caminito owes its restoration to artist Benito Quinquela Martín, known for painting the rough port life around La Boca. In the 1950s, Quinquela Martín began urging the residents to paint the buildings of Caminito vibrant colors again, emulating the practices of the early immigrants. Eventually, Martín built a small stage at the end of the walk where artists would host outdoor events. His tenacity established the path as an artists’ community, and in combination with its tango fame, Caminito became a Buenos Aires landmark. I found that I fit into this neighborhood very well…the colors are so vibrant.
Recoleta Cemetery
Forming a labyrinthine city of the dead, the cemetery houses over 6,400 statues, sarcophagi, coffins, and crypts commemorating some of Argentina’s most celebrated sons and daughters. Dating back to 1822, Recoleta, the city’s first public cemetery, was designed by French engineer Próspero Catelin. It is an eerily beautiful place, with shadowed walkways and towering marble mausoleums in Art Deco, Art Nouveau, baroque, and neo-gothic architectural styles with Masonic symbols and religious iconography throughout. The most visited tomb is inarguably that of Eva Perón – several people stopped me to inquire about its location while I was there.
There is only so much you can see and do in four days, so, needless to say, Buenos has made my “repeat visit” list.
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