Buenos Aires

I first read about Foto Ruta on BBC's travel web page. It's an affordable photography based tour of the different neighborhoods of the city. I'd always wanted to take a photography course and Buenos Aires seemed as good a place as any. I talked a friend into joining me and we met our guide/instructor at Puerto Madero in the morning.

 

We first talked a bit about our photography experiences and goals before heading out to start snapping shots. Puerto Madero is nice, but it's not my favorite neighborhood because it feels so generic and sterile. This could be Ft. Lauderdale or any other characterless spot. Nevertheless, I did enjoy walking around knowing my companions wouldn't get annoyed with me for stopping every twelve feet to set up a shot.

 

After we had exhausted the port, we jumped in a taxi and headed to La Boca, the colorful touristy neighborhood.

 

At the end of the day, the three of us sat down to upload our photos and examine the day's work. I wasn't especially wild about any of my photos, but I did learn a lot about my camera's features, how to manipulate light, and gained some confidence when taking picture of strangers, so it was a day well spent.

 

Buenos Aires: bikes & the tango

Our trio explored the city by bicycle today. Unfortunately for me, when we dropped off our clothes at the laundromat the other day, we arrived to pick up our clothes a few minutes too late and the place had closed for a four day weekend. Since then I've been alternating the few clothes I didn't bring to the laundromat: a dress, a skirt, and two shirts. Today was a skirt day, which isn't the best idea when spending the day biking around town!

 

We first hit up the hip neighborhood of Palermo, which is the city's European-influenced version of New York City's West Village. We rode around a quiet park and watched the geese swim around and honk at each other.

 

Porteños love their dogs like New Yorkers and Parisians. During our afternoon ride, we passed multiple dog walkers, each one typically with about a dozen dogs of all sizes.

 

Riding east, we next stopped at Puerto Madero for lunch on the water. Having lived in New York for too long, I am understandably and unnecessarily anxious about locking up a bicycle and leaving it on the street. I think I hardly made eye contact during lunch as I couldn't take my eyes off the bikes!

 

Fortunately (and predictably), the bikes were fine and continued on to San Telmo. It was a weekday afternoon, so the neighborhood was quiet, unlike when we visited on Sunday for the market. We had a hard time finding the place to return the bikes, which lead us to find three spots I had looked for on Sunday but didn't find.

 

The first was the famous San Telmo fresco.

 

And just down the street was Buenos Aires's narrowest building. It's the perfect size for Mini Bear.

 

The last spot was El Viejo Almancen.

 

We eventually returned the bikes, got cleaned up, and went to an evening tango show in a theater on Calle Florida, a pedestrian shopping zone.

 

Our table was right in front of the stage, giving us a great view of the dancing. Noticing the steps leading from the audience area to the stage, I was nervous they'd pull audience members on stage. Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with looking like a fool a public, but I strongly dislike dancing with strangers. The dancing was great, the live music was perfect, and I was more than a little relieved when the show ended and I was still safe in my seat!

 

Around the corner from the theater was the President's office, La Casa Rosada. It's painted a pink/salmon shade, but at night the building is illuminated with not-so-subtle pink lights.

 

Buenos Aires: La Boca

If you've ever seen a picture of Buenos Aires, you've seen a picture of La Boca, a working class neighborhood originally established by Italian immigrants.

 

Due to its proximity to the river Riachuelo, the neighborhood was once home to a shipyard and fisherman. This maritime history is reflected in La Boca's architecture.

 

La Boca is known to be a rough neighborhood if you stray off the tourist path, so we made sure to stick to the main avenue as we walked there.

 

Our route took us by the river where a tango show was going on. For fifteen minutes, we joined the audience and watched a family of tango dancers spin, dip, and twirl their way across the improvised stage. In fact, they moved so fast that I wasn't able to capture any decent photos of them, just videos. It's said that La Boca is the birthplace of tango, but I have no idea how much truth there is to that statement.

 

El Caminito, probably the most photographed street in the whole city, is the heart of La Boca. This short, pedestrian street takes you past vividly colored paintings: sea greens, hot pinks, egg yolk yellows, fiery reds, and a painter's pallet of other bright shades.  

 

El Caminito is pretty much always full of tourists, snapping photos and not paying attention to where they're going. Local artists sell original paintings and stores are well stocked with souvenir trinkets.

 

Mini Bear stopped in a cafe to snack on some empanadas.

 

I don't understand what motivated this car's owner, but I couldn't resist this photo. Believe it or not, I've actually been called bossy myself.

 

 

Buenos Aires: sculptures, tombs, & drums

It was a gorgeous, sunny day today, so we planned our itinerary so we could be outside as much as possible.

 

The first stop was the sculpture garden in plaza des Naciones Unidas. Officially named Floralis Generica, but commonly referred to as the Steel Flower, the central sculpture was unveiled in 2002. A porteño named Eduardo Catalano created the eighteen ton sculpture.

 

In googling the Steel Flower to find its proper name, I discovered that the flower actually opens and closes. I've only ever seen it in the daytime, when it is open, but apparently at night, the flower closes its petals and emits a red glow. I'll try to catch it at night next time I'm in town!

 

Our group of three carried on to nearby Recoleta cemetery. Best known as Evita Peron's final resting place, the cemetery is a great place to visit. Wide, tree lined avenues splinter into narrow streets and alleys filled with above-ground tombs. Some are beautiful, some are falling apart, but all are fascinating to see.

 

The tomb of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak is always crowded with spectators due to its uniqueness. Most of the tombs resemble phone booths in size and construction while hers is a green statue of herself petting her dog and standing on a podium. She died on her honeymoon after an avalanche in Austria and her body was sent home to her native Argentina.

 

Whenever I've gone to Recoleta in the past, I've always found Evita's tomb just by following the crowds. Today was surprisingly quiet and we had to ask for directions.

 

Lunch was across the street at a cafe. My ears perked up when I heard an accordion, so I grabbed my camera, recruited someone to take my photo, and dashed off towards the music. The accordionist was more than happy to have his photo taken with me and in this picture I am in fact moving his hand to my hip and away from other parts of my body.

 

After a long day out in the sun, we went out to a concert I had heard about from other backpackers months ago. La Bomba de Tiempo is a weekly improv drum circle that takes place on a stage in an old warehouse. This was an event I had been eager to see for months but as I had no idea when I'd next find myself in Buenos Aires on a Monday night, I half expected that I'd never see it. Even after the long wait and anticipation, it didn't disappoint one bit. There must have been enough energy coming off that stage to power Las Vegas for a week!

 

Fifteen musicians clad in red jumpsuits stormed the stage and took turns conducting the group. The conductor controlled the music with simple hand gestures. What impressed me the most about the performance was that such a large group of people could work together so seamlessly without saying a word. Each musician was clearly a skilled percussionist but, more importantly, was also able to follow directions and cues without the slightest hitch. It made me seriously wonder what the rest of society could learn about successful communication from these musicians.

 

The show lasted about two hours and they switched conductors every forty or so minutes. At this time, some of the musicians took the opportunity to shuffle instruments, going from bongos to cow bells to drums that I won't pretend to be able to name. Meanwhile, a new conductor might pound the drum in front of him to start a beat and draw the other musicians in.

 

Watching the conductors felt like something of a spectator sport. These guys definitely have rhythm but for some reason, they absolutely cannot dance! One conductor moved around the stage like Sideshow Bob wearing flippers. The audience also included some amusing dancers, most notably the hippies prancing and swaying about.