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The Sights and Sounds of Buenos Aires

Palermo

Recoleta/Barrio Norte

La Boca

San Telmo

Plaza de Mayo

Colon Theatre

Tango

Estancias

Mate

Palermo
This is the most elegant residential neighbourhood and together with Recoleta is known as Barrio Norte. The houses are huge and the parks vast and avenues tree lined. This is where the embassies and private mansions and town houses are, along with some of the museums. The Decorative Arts Museum is housed in the Errazuriz Palace, one of the most beautiful residences in Buenos Aires. Built at the turn of the century by French architect Rene Sargent it houses paintings by El Greco and Lucas Cranach, sculptures by Rodin, baroque and rococo furniture, tapestries, ivory, silver and crystal. Then there is the Jose Hernandez Museum with an important collection of gaucho silverwork. As well as this there is also the MALBA (the Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art) which holds the Costantini Private Art Collection. Click to return to top of page

Recoleta/Barrio Norte
This is Buenos Aires' most elegant residential neighbourhood, which sometimes is referred to as Barrio Norte with beautiful parks and boulevards, fine restaurants, museums and shopping. The French architecture is what has given rise to the city being known as the 'Paris of the South'. This district began to grow at the end of the last century when rich families fled the south side of the city from the plagues of yellow fever. Here they built their palaces and country houses along Alvear Avenue. These buildings were soon mimicked by smaller ones belonging to merchants, doctors and lawyers which sprang up around the mansions of Barrio Norte. For the portenos (city people) who can afford it 'the' place to reside is along an axis parallel to the river with open views looking across to Uruguay.

One of the most well known landmarks is the Recoleta Cemetery. Not normally something you would consider putting at the top of your sightseeing list but it is extraordinary. It is a bit like a gothic city built in miniature. The styles of each mausoleum have been chosen by the patriarch of the family and master sculptors, mostly from Italy were commissioned to decorate the mausoleum. It is a cemetery for the rich and famous who can or could afford it, so the nation's great leaders, along with their foes are placed here. Eva Perons mausoleum is here, but she does not lie here with Peron as her sisters felt he treated her badly when she was so ill. She is buried here with other members of the Duarte family deep underground to stop enemies stealing her body as happened in 1955.

If you are a cat lover you will enjoy this place as there are around 70 of them here of varying shapes and sizes milling around the cemetery that are fed by people who come to pay their respects.

Nearby the cemetery is the famous El Gornero Tree, which is said to be the oldest tree in BA and is 800years old. Around this area are stands of pictures painted by local artists, many of the pictures are excellent, colourful, vibrant and good souvenirs. Alternatively wait until you are down at La Boca where there is also a good choice of street art work.

Whilst in the Recoleta area you should visit the National Museum of Fine Arts. This was converted from a water pumping station into a museum in 1931 and houses a wonderful collection of Argentine art, from the old masters to contemporary art, along with an impressive collection of European works.

This part of Buenos Aires offers something for everyone: street performers, the art exhibits, chic boutiques, bookshops, elegant deluxe hotels among them the fabulous Alvear Palace, the Park Hyatt and Caesar Park. There are restaurants galore and now to add to this Puerto Madero - the city's newest restaurant row perched along the waterways of the port.
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La Boca
Across to the south-eastern most point of Buenos Aires is La Boca, where the first settlers landed. La Boca means 'mouth' and is named for the point where a small stream, the Riachuelo, flows into the River Plate. This is a wonderfully colourful corner of the city, with houses built of rippled metal sheeting, originally appropriated from the abandoned hulks of boats. The vibrant colours that the houses are painted in were also the result of the resident's abilities to scavenge from the local shipyards to persuade the shipyards to give them leftovers of marine paint. As you can see from the pictures the colours are stunning - sea greens, reds, violets, yellows and blues.

Back in 1882 a group of Genovese immigrants tried to set up La Boca as an independent Republic and informed their king back in Italy of his new territory. General Julio Argentino Roca, seen as hero of the Western Campaigns against the Indians and at the time President of the Argentine Republic, rode into La Boca and removed the Genovese flag, reclaiming La Boca for Argentina. The next day the Genovese named a street in his honour! La Boca has always been the first stop for Italian immigrants and several years ago a large Argentine corporation with roots in Italy spearheaded a program to rehabilitate parts of the neighbourhood, so at last some money is coming into the area.

La Boca is where the tango began and as you walk the streets on weekends crowds gather to watch tango dancers go through their paces. It is danced on street corners during the day, sportily dressed in black, handsome couples dance beautifully staged shows outside elegant restaurant-cafes. At night time the sound of the bandoneon or concertina belts out from corner bars and neighbourhood clubs offer tango nights where couples and singles gather with the sole intention of tangoing the night away. Only one Boca tradition dwarfs this and that is the local soccer (football) team, Boca Juniors. The team won its first national championship in 1919 and the team with its blue and gold uniforms is legendary. The commission could not agree on the colours for the team, so it was decided to make them that of the flag of the next freighter to enter the port. It was Scandanavian, back when Sweden and Norway were under a single flag and the colours were blue and gold.
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San Telmo
This is the old district of the city with its picturesque narrow cobbled-stone streets. It has a very 'arty' bohemian feel to it and it is worth trying to coincide your visit with Sundays antiques Fair at the Plaza Dorrego. Here you can find wonderful old gramophones, old soda siphons, scales, medals and lace to mention a few things. It is very intriguing and you need to ensure you have cash on you! The Plaza Dorrego Bar is a good spot to lug your shopping into and relax afterwards! Also the El Viejo Almacen is housed in San Telemo. This is the most traditional Tango bar in Buenos Aires.
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Plaza de Mayo
Buenos Aires's main square Plaza de Mayo dates from 1580 when Juan de Garay picked the site to be the settlements Plaza Mayor, or principle plaza. Today it is three blocks long and one wide and at its centre is the Pyramid of May, commemorating independence from Spain. This is now dwarfed by the surrounding buildings which include Government House, known as the Casa Rosada. This is now the seat of Argentina's executive branch, so is where the President and Vice-president of the nation hold sway. Leaders traditionally address the nation from its balcony and the pink tone is allegedly made from mixing blood, beef fat and lime. There is also the Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana). A flame burns outside for all those who died in the war of the Malvinas in 1982. Inside it is enormous and slightly confusing as the outside from the square makes it seem more 'church' like in size. The tomb of General Jose de San Martin, liberator of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay is the most important aspect. He is revered by everyone and four soldiers from the regiment of grenadiers which he founded maintain an around the clock guard. It is quite interesting to time your visit with the changing of the guard.
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Colon Theatre
The colon theatre is one of the world's grand opera houses. It covers a whole city block, and it is besides being functional utterly beautiful in itself. The outside of the building is Italian renaissance-style. Inside it is adorned with frescos and paintings, gilding and sculpted bronzes, chandeliers, beautiful marble and domes. Artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Enrico Caruso, Vaslov Nijinsky, Ana Pavlova and so many more have performed on this stage. An interesting backstage tour focuses on the theatre's behind-the-scenes life, witnessing rehearsals, visiting the amazing set design and workshops in its underground maze, where the costumes, wigs, shoes, props and scenery are made.
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Tango
This is so much a part of what visiting Buenos Aires is about that even if you can not be persuaded to take a tango lesson, you must at least make time to take in a show. The lessons need only be for an hour but are a lot of fun and particularly being able to try in the city where this beautiful and dramatic dance was born.

It has been said that only in Buenos Aires could the tango be born. 'Only in this haunting city of immigrants could a music of such emotional depth spring forth and take hold of a population. A musical ode to feelings of longing, loneliness, death and love, the sounds of the tango fill the air of Buenos Aires. Melancholy on the surface, but with a core of determination and cautious hope, it is a music that mirrors the soul'.

Originally tango can be traced to the 19th century when Argentina was consolidating after a series of civil wars and a frontier war against local Indians. It became at this time a thriving centre, populated by discharged soldiers, families fleeing the economically declining interior and thousands of European immigrants from Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe. Each group brought is own voice to the city, Spain's flamenco, the rhythm of candombe (that arrived with the African slaves) and the lilting milongas (traditional Gaucho songs). The fusion gave birth to the Tango most often heard in brothels and seedy cafes but as the 20th Centuary dawned, the tango found its way into the hearts of a larger audience and soon became 'the' stylish dance. During WW1 the tango crossed the ocean to Europe and became the rage. Once accepted over seas it was embraced by all in BA as a symbol of national creativity. In 1917 a little known tenor named Carlos Gardel recorded a song called 'Mi Noche Triste'. It not only became a hit in Argentina, but throughout Latin America. He became a superstar, and this was heightened by his death in a plane crash during a tour in 1935 of Colombia. He is the most popular tango figure of all times. Today the tango remains an important part of Argentine culture, although not quite as prevalent as during its heyday in the early part of the century. Tango clubs still reflect the glamour and passion of the Gardel era.

The two best shows are Esquina Carlos Gardel and El Viejo Almacen. Carlos Gardel, is paid homage to by this fabulous club where the spectacular show features the pure essence of the Argentine tango, with a six piece orchestra, famed singers and the best dancers in the whole of Buenos Aires. El Viejo Almacen is the most traditional and oldest tango bar in BA. It is housed in the old neighbourhood of San Telmo where the atmosphere is more local and the show good but less impressive than Esquina Carlos Gardel. The restaurant is much simpler.
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Estancias and The Gaucho
In the province of Buenos Aires are many estancias you can visit simply as a day trip. Buenos Aires located in the Pampas region is gaucho country and visiting the Argentine Estancias is a wonderful way to see and enjoy the country away from the city. Staying in a beautiful private ranch allows you to share the lifestyle of the Argentine countryside, hosted by the ranch-owners. These estates are devoted largely to cattle ranching and to growing grain. The architectural development of the estancia evolved into the construction of grand European-style mansions, true rural palaces of European inspiration. Some have ballrooms, Old Master paintings, twenty-foot tables, two dozen bedrooms, formal gardens, parks full of red stag for hunting and rivers full of trout and polo fields. Estancias are the land of the gaucho, loyal ranch-hand, servant and friend of the landowner, who works tirelessly to build and develop the estates.

The gaucho is often thought of as the Argentine cowboy. Gaucho is a Quechua Indian word meaning an 'orphan'. He is the orphan of two civilisations (European and native) in a no-mans land. The first gauchos of this land were the 'lost people'. They broke the tenuous link with European civilisation and looked for a way of life in the endless and wild American lands. The plains of the Pampas were the gauchos cradle. From the Spaniard the gaucho inherited his pride, horsemanship for rounding cattle and a taste for fighting to protect them: from the Indian, his nomadic life and the need for freedom. His existence relied on him owing a good mount, a recado (saddle made of leather and sheepskins, which also served as a bed when he slept in the open air), a poncho, hat, bolas, lasso, leather pouch with dutch gin, mate, tobacco and jerky (dried meat) to survive. If he had a house it was made with whatever materials were available and this was how he existed during the 19th century. Later things changed, the gauchos got caught up in the wars of the young republic, and later caught by the sprawling network of fences that changed the face of the Pampas forever. The gaucho, accustomed to making his own laws, had to learn to respect judges and police. Once he had ridden across the plains in a straight line, now he had to follow the roads along the wire fences. By the end of the century the ideal of the nomadic gaucho, free from all ties had become a legend.

Today the Gaucho still breaks in his horses, busts broncos, ropes cows and horses, cuts, rounds-up, races and grabs the ring. He lives on the land and for the land.
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Mate
This is the most typical Argentine drink. Originally drunk by the pre-Columbian Indians and known in the colonial period as Jesuit tea, yerba mate is a stimulating herbal tea made from the leaves of ilex paraguaiensis, a bush similar to holly. It became popular amongst the guachos and today is consumed widely in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It serves as the basis for social interaction and is offered to strangers as a welcoming gesture. The preparation is a ritual, needing a container called mate, normally the dried shell of a gourd, a bombilla (small tube for sucking mate out, with a bulb shaped filter attached), the leaves and warm water. When you drink mate differences disappear, the owner of the land, the foreman and the labourer are all equals, in an informal conversation.
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