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Published: March 2nd 2010
My boat finally docked in Buenos Aires after a particularly turbulent journey from Colonia. I opted to walk to the nearest metro station to get to the hostel I had booked, which was located in an area of Buenos Aires called San Telmo. I had it all worked out - where I was, which directions and roads to take, which metro stop, which metro line and directions when arriving in San Telmo. What could go wrong? Arriving at the complete wrong dock to start with. I ended up wandering through La Boca - a dodgy neighbourhood in southern Buenos Aires. After waalking through some deserted, rubbish strewn streets, skirting past broken glass and a few shady alleys I managed to hail a cab, which took me directly to San Telmo and safety.
Buenos Aires consists of a variety of differing neighbourhoods which merge into one another to create a fusion of European and South American food, culture and architecture. This mix was fuelled by mass immigration by Europeans from Italy and Spain who give the city a very unique vibe making it a very different city by South American standards. There is no real 'big' attraction in the city and
Argentine Flag
Flying Over Plaza Republicano real 'must-see' sights to check off. The beauty of the city is absorbed on foot, strolling around the neighbourhoods and soaking in their wonderful ambiance and elegance.
My hostel was located in San Telmo - a very beautiful part of the city which comprises of many cobbled lanes lined with some incredible, albeit crumbling buildings. The area is riddled with lovely cafes, trendy boutique clothes and antique shops and some amazing restaurants. The buildings are wonderfully traditional and are crumbling but not to the state that they look derelict - it almost adds to their beauty. Houses are painted pastel colours and sit right on the street with shuttered windows and ornate cast-iron balconies overlooking the bustling cobble-stone streets below.
On Sundays San Telmo is very busy as a result of the antiques market that is located in the central square. I had a delightful amble down the main stretch which takes in first the antiques market. Here one can find a dizzying array of dusty old crap that I'm sure is worth much more than it looks. Everything from spoons and bottles to ancient tri-pods and plates. The popularity of the antiques market has led to
scores of other vendors setting up stalls selling a whole variety of tourist tat. The enjoyable thing about this is that it also attracts street entertainers to the area who ignite the the streets of San Telmo with tango dancers, musicians and puppeteers which is thoroughly entertaining to watch between vendors.
It was in San Telmo that I also had the best steak dinner ever. Argentina is legendary for the steak that it produces in the surrounding region called the Pampas. It is one of its main exports and the Argentineans love to eat it consuming around 70kg per capita per year. Argentinean beef sells abroad for an incredible cost because of its prime quality. In Buenos Aires it´s ridiculously cheap and the steaks I had at El Federal in San Telmo were amazing. I mainly eat the rump which was cooked to perfection and tasted so mouth wateringly good. The steaks are not generally served with sauces to dress them up - they are just slightly seasoned with salt then slapped on the grill. The cost? A whopping 300 gram rump steak for £4. El Federal also made some delectable platters which consisted of cheeses, olives, chorizo, salami
amongst things which were simply divine.
The other parts of the city I reached by the metro system. This is quite a sight in itself as it is a very ancient system that appears, in parts, to have not even been updated. The stations that I went to appeared dusty and in a state of disrepair but with certain modern refinements such as ticket barriers and TV screens. Some of the turnstiles however are still wooden as are even the escalators. Some of the trains feel like ancient wooden trams with 60 watt bulbs hanging from the ceiling. As the train clunks over its rails the lights swing in their ornate lampshades as the filament throbs a dull yellow giving the carriage an ethereal glow casting shadows as they move.
The system is very convenient for reaching some of the major areas of the city. The first of these I decided to explore was the Microcentre - making my way first to Plaza de Mayo. Plaza de Mayo is a truly stunning area of colonial goodness. The central square is framed on all sides by glorious grand colonial stone buildings that enhance the city's reputation for emanating an
European flavour. The buildings here are large and grand - the highlight being the Casa Rosada - an ornate stone pink painted palace. It was here that Madonna sung her heart out as Evita - an iconic figure in Argentinean history. The real-life Evita and her husband actually did command large audiences from here, giving emotive speeches to rapturous applause.
The central plaza area is surrounded by Argentinean flags fluttering proudly in the wind from most of the buildings around the square. The largest flag pole is located on one side of the square near the Casa Rosada beside an enormous statue. Further into the square are various manicured gardens and fountains. The square is a constant hive of activity with camera toting tourists wandering past the city's financial workers in slick suits. Various other vendors, touts and protestors also make up the remainder of the plaza's inhabitants. The latter of which were protesting about something to do with Isla Malvinas - otherwise known as the Falkland Islands. This whole area has seen many demonstrations over the years - some peaceful and some infamously violent.
I ambled on up Avenida de Mayo which enhanced Buenos Aires' European credentials.
Av de Julio
The most enormous road! This delightful stroll revealed many elegant colonial facades set within a wide tree-lined boulevard busting with wonderful cafe's spilling out onto the pavements. The cafe culture is booming in Buenos Aires and it was great to just wander up the bustling street stopping at the occasional cafe to sit outside in the sun and people watch. I supplemented my cafe con leche (coffee with milk - my Spanish is really improving!) with watching the shoe shiners buff, the office workers stride whilst barking into mobile phones and the surrounding tables talk passionately and animately about god knows what.
Avenida de Mayo leads into Av 9 de Julio which is a sight in itself. It is possibly one of the widest roads in the world - certainly in a city anyway - and in some parts is a whopping 16 lanes and takes several minutes to get across! The crowning centre piece of the road, located in Plaza Republica is an enormous obelisk, referred to as El Obelisko. The monument was built to celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the founding of the city and looks quite odd in its surroundings. Av 9 de Julio is flanked on either side
by a mixture of hotels, shops and fast food restaurants which give the pavements a similar bustle to the roads. Despite its oddities the obelisk is an icon of the city and was even wrapped in a 220 foot pink condom a few years ago to commemorate World Aids Day.
I wandered up the impressive Av 9 de Julio, crossing the crazy lanes of traffic to reach the other side and make my way further north into an area called Recoletta. Recoletta is a much more affluent residential area with a particularly French flavour. Plaza cafes shaded by large beech trees and boutique shops line the streets which eventually lead to the highlight of this neighbourhood - La Recoleta Cemetary. As cemetaries go - it´s definitely the most impressive one I have seen.
A large white stone edifice marks the entrance to the cemetary - a building that would not look out of place in ancient Rome. The cemetary includes the graves and tombs of some of Argentina's most prominent families and politicians. The cemetary is not made up of mere gravestones but the entire area is packed with elaborate tombs wedged together in organised rows that roll
on forever. From the entrance the tomb-clad lanes flow out in all directions with each one varying in design dramatically. The tombs are all at least 10 feet tall and vary from traditional stone to marble and dark granite. Some look remarkably drab and in a state of disrepair with weeds sprouting between the masonary whilst some look buffed as if they had just been built.
The whole area has quite an eerie air to it as large gargoyles, angels and assorted other statues hang off monuments with serene expressions. Each tomb seems to try and out do the other in elaborate decadence with literally scores of rows containing hundreds of tombs ensuring hours of exploration. The most important tomb in the whole area is that of the Duarte family, of which Evita was a member. Commemoratory plaques and fresh flowers are scattered around the tomb, which is surprisingly low key for such an important figure in Argentinean history.
So far Buenos Aires has been architecturally fabulous but the one of the most impressive buildings I saw was the Congreso Building. The best way to describe it is Buckingham Palace with a large dome. The building houses the
country´s parliament and was actually modelled on the Congress building located in Washing DC, USA. It is a truly remarkable sight with large gardens and a huge elaborate statue and fountains area set out in front. The city is littered with these grand buildings - some of which I only saw from the back seat of taxi´s. They each vary in design and colour but seem to be strewn plentifully around the city giving it a very historical feel.
The delightful neighbourhood of Palermo is next, which is split into two areas - Soho and Hollywood. Palermo is at the very heart of Buenos Aires´ nightlife scene as well as expensive boutique designer shops and some awesome restaurants. Each street is tree-lined to shade the strollers and the cobble stone roads combine delightfully with the pastel coloured shop fronts to create a wonderfully relaxed ambience across the entire area. Restaurant cafe´s spill out onto the cobblestones and the area is littered with gorgeous parks, quaint plaza´s and decadent statues.
Buenos Aires is famous for being the birthplace of the legendary dance - the Tango. I could not come to Buenos Aires and not try it. So I did.
Tomb of Duarte Family
Famous member of which is Evita. The dance is born out of the brothels of the city in the early 20th century and was considered horribly vulgar by Buenos Aires´ upper class citizens. Its popularity spread however and the dance developed. It is a very sexual, provocative dance that is very complex to learn - especially for someone who can only really dance after plenty of social lubrication. Notice I said dance and not dance well.
There are hundreds of options to choose from when it comes to Tango. I opted for a class at a famous location called Cafe Confeiteria - which is located in the Microcentro area of the city. From the outside the building does not look like much - a soot stained stone colonial building masks the decadent interior. The lower level is a cafe and the upper level a wonderful ball room-like dance floor. The dance floor is located in the centre of the room with a wonderfully colourful glass-domed ceiling above. Pillars are dotted around the room and the lamps omit a dull glow contributing to the rooms moody ambience. Tables line the outside of the dance floor, which were empty when I arrived.
The instructor introduced himself,
glancing disapprovingly at my flip flops. He was a little man (yes, smaller even than me) with a completely bald shiney head and the curliest, longest and thinnest handlebar moustache I have ever seen. I´m convinced he gel´s it into position. The lesson lasted for 3 hours - hopefully more than enough time to pick at least something up. The essence of Tango is just walking to a steady rhythm. I must admit I suprised myself with how easily I picked it up. I learnt the first 8 steps of the Tango with one variation. The variation leading my partner to execute the otcho, a figure of 8 skip. It was quite difficult to coordinate the steps in various directions, whilst trying to turn, lead my partner and not step all over them. After 2 hours I had just about got the hang of it and had loosened up sufficiently enough to be let loose on the main dance area.
As the main lesson was ending a Milonga was starting. Various men and women were gathering around and sitting down on the vacant tables that were filling up fast. Partners were dancing with one another, many of whom looked
very impressive. A Milonga is a dancing session where dancers can partner with different people for the whole day and night or however long the Milonga is in session. It is the gentlemans role to choose a partner - a knowing glance from the woman either confirms of denies his request. This was great fun to watch but I was utterly horrified when the instructor said I had to go and pick someone to dance with. I had to take my amateur clumsyness and dance with one of these incredibly elegant dancers. To make matters worse many of them looked like they collected their pensions.
I sat and watched the room for ages, waiting and hoping for time to go quickly so I could sneak out. Going to ask a woman to dance felt very uncomfortable and so for a while I slunk into my chair, hoping to make myself invisible. I was spotted by the instructor though - I wasn´t going anywhere without trying at least. So I plucked up the courage, knowing full well that the consquences would be a dramatic crash and burn, and asked a lady to dance. I wasn´t as clumsy as I thought
I would be and she was very good at helping me along. After I´d bagged my first dance it became easier and I got more and more used to the steps, the rhythm and the general etiquette of the Milonga.
With my Tango moves mastered it was time to impress, heading back to Palermo for the evening. At night the whole place comes alive as the quiet cafes erupt into a mesmerising mix of music and people. Buenos Aires´s trendiest strutt their stuff in the bars and clubs in Palermo and so I decided to join them for a couple of nights. Again, the night does not really get going until 2am which means a siesta at around 5pm until 8pm is necessary to ensure energy levels stay high enough to see the night through to the end. The end being drinking tea in one of the nearby cafe´s with a mixture of Argentineans and Brazilians until 7am in the morning. The next day was not particularly productive.
Thankfully the next day didn´t really need to be productive. A night bus was booked to whisk me away to Mendoza, which is located in the far west of the
Famous Pink Palace
Where Madonna sung in Evita. country, near the Andes. The bus ride is about 15 hours and I´m quite sure I could sleep the whole way. Buenos Aires has been a fabulous destination though and has really suprised me with its European feel. The architecture has been wonderous, the nightlife rather crazy and the people jolly friendly. A great start to my time in Argentina.
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Mum, Dad and boys
non-member comment
Stunning architecture
You are right Michael (or should I say Charlie) the architecture in Buenos Aires is stunning - a very beautiful place. The Congress building looked superb as did the Pink Palace (I did not realise Madonna sang (when playing Evita) here although I did see the film) and even the cafe's architecture looked intricate and attractive. I always expect churches to have great architecture but once again very pretty. Your tango lessons sounded interesting as did the Milonga however I think the dance teacher was right to look disapprovingly at your flip flops - his description reminded me of Poirot atlhough yes I know - different nationality. Speak to you soon. Take Care but enjoy xxx