Friday, October 21
Today, Amy found a tour of La Boca that started at 11am. We took the bus again, it is quite far. La Boca is an old port from the 16th century. The main port has long been moved but the city is still vibrant and colourful. Our guide explained that the residents have fought over the centuries to preserve the buildings and the river and the culture from corporate take-over. Plus, there is a giant football arena in the middle of it. The Boca Junior team. The neighbourhood (and city) seem to LOVE the CABJs!
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| La Caminito One of the most photographed streets in the world, I suspect |
La Boca is very photogenic. The buildings are painted in vivid primary colours. When we arrived, it was thronging with people! But as the day passed, we could actually see stuff. Here are many photos of La Boca.
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| Dogs in pants, who can say no to that. |
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| The famous Caminito Street |
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| Everyone in Buenos Aires was meeting their tour group at this building |
We found out tour guide, Santiago. He was very enthusiastic about La Boca. We got a whole history lesson which I will spare you. But it is a very diverse population, protective of each other and their heritage.
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| Santiago, explaining the history of the river |
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| This Bridge is a whole story in itself. There is a 'car' that is suspended from that top bit. It is no longer functional but they seem quite proud of it. Info on the 'ferry bridge' |
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| The port was obsolete before it was even completed |
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| The river was so polluted for decades, nothing was alive it in. Now they are cleaning it up. This thing scoops out garbage |
More sights (while my wifi is holding out and dinner service hasn't started yet so I haven't been kicked out of the dining room)
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| This guy saved the neighbourhood from destruction |
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| This is a heritage house, built from corrugated tin and rummaged wood. These cannot be torn down. |
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| The street art here is very political. Or very pro-football |
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| Stop being so photogenic, dog! |
The Boca Juniors, and their super cool stadium which we were not allowed to enter
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| It was very common to see the pope and a footballer together over businesses. Best to hedge your bets on who is more holy |
And that was the end of our tour. Time for lunch! Street meat, finally!
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| But first we had to move this guy out of our chair |
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| Apparently, there are places, like the one we ate at that use their profits to feed children and give them a place to hang out after school |
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| A selection of chimichurries to choose from |
A little refuge to sit and have a beverage
As we were heading to the bus stop to head home, we popped into a museum of the guy (whose name I will totally find) from the statue above. Artist, neighbourhood savior, opener of schools, you know that guy.
Everthing in this neighbourhood is all colour, all the time, even the museum walls.
Yes, cool art but entrance to the museum, we discovered, also gave us access to the roof with some very awesome views!
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| This is the Flora de Vida (flower of life). It was planted in the river to generate oxygen and a place for birds and fish to return |
I could add so many more photos! But I will spare you and head back to my room to collect Amy for dinner out.
Except for this one
Later that day (but written the next day from Montevideo - with even WORSE wifi!)
Ok, let's finish up with Buenos Aires so we can move onto Uruguay!
After we left La Boca. we decided to stay in the Waldorf area. We had seen a nice area, Av. Florida, close by so we headed there. Lovely street, full of people, lights strung, but mostly high end stores, not so many places to eat.
We headed back to that area that had been full of theatres. At around 8pm on a Friday! It was like a Japanese subway station at rush hour. We ducked down a side street and saw a restaurant that had a grill in the window. Perfect, meat.
We went in and it was huge, clearly a tourist spot but we were hungry so we sat. There was a mariachi band playing. Is that a thing in Argentina? Fine, some background music. But we had barely been handed a menu when a child was given the microphone and began to sing. Sorry, let me correct that: began to "sing". If you consider raccoons mating while also been stuck with hot pokers ''singing". It was so awful and so loud. I seriously considered getting up and leaving. When the waiter came back, I asked if the singer was going to be all night because he was terrible. The waiter agreed and said only a couple more songs. He then went over to the band and someone took the microphone away from the kid. I don't know if I did that, but I seriously hope so. It didn't stop him from singing, it was just a decibel or two less piercing. I have a very short video but I don't think I can download it. Maybe later. (update, not sure if the upload worked but if it did, turn on the volume at your own risk)
Dinner itself was fine. We had steaks. They were not nearly as delicious as the ones we had at our fancy dinner, but they did cost half the amount, so there's that to consider.
Back to the hotel to finalize what we are taking on the cruise and what can stay at the Waldorf. For all of it's shortcomings, the staff at the Waldorf were exceptional. They are keeping our bags for three weeks for no additional charge. Every person we dealt with was so nice.
After all of my careful packing, there wasn't too much to leave behind (other than my crazy, breakable and awkwardly shaped market purchases - Amy to the rescue, she let me put them in her hard-sided suitcase so they don't get smashed in the 'cage'). I ended up with just half a duffel of stuff that I'm not taking.
Update, I have moved to the 'business centre' in The Dazzler near the lobby. Way better wifi. And the beauty of a business centre in 2022 is that absolutely no one needs one so it is empty. But nice little desk and wifi so apparently, not no one, just this someone.
One last thing. I am down to my last few thousand Argentinian pesos (less than a meal's worth) and a little over $100 US in cash. So, I decided to hit a bank machine to take out some ARS Pesos so I would have enough in Ushuaia, and maybe our last couple of days in Buenos Aires. I chose Santander because they have always worked for me, whatever county I have been in. But not this time. It wouldn't read my card. I tried multiple machines. Amy tried. Nope. So, we have very little cash and only credit cards to use. Let's hope it was a glitch that night and not permanent
Ok, I will leave you in Buenos Aires and pick you up again in Montevideo. And then after that it may be radio silence for three weeks. Maybe in Falklands, but don't bet the house on it.
Here's a last image of street art from La Boca.
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