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Buenos Aires or Baires as it is called by Porteños, is a big diverse city of 11 million people. There is a lot to see and a lot to do.
I say diverse because parts of it are very modern like these buildings near Puerto Madero, parts are 19th century European, parts are 20th century North American and unfortunately Baires also has some of South Americas worst slums.
The last time I was here (2004), I posted almost 50 photos of the city and region on this site. You can also see another 8 photos that I took in 1994. This time I will only add a few new sights.
Buenos Aires has been remarkably successful in transforming old decrepit warehouses bordering its four inner port basins into this fashionable ensemble of restaurants, boutiques, offices and apartments.
The image on the right shows these old warehouses before their restoration in the '90s.
As you can see,Puerto Madero's basin no. 4, previously a rough and tumble waterfront, has been reborn into an exclusive environment with marina for the privileged few. Telecom's offices occupy the tall building at the basin's entrance. The sail like structure across the entrance is a super discotheque and the various buildings on the other side of the basin house offices, hotels, restaurants, luxury shops and apartments.
The corbeta Uruguay, built in England in 1874 is maintained as a historical museum in no. 4 basin It played a role in asserting Argentina's sovereignty over part of Tierra del Fuego but its main claim to fame is the heroic rescue in 1903 of a Swedish expedition trapped in the Antarctic ice shelf.
Construction goes on at a lively pace as there is a strong demand for upscale real estate in spite of the country's financial difficulties. You can get glimpse of the new Hilton on the other side of the entrance to basin no. 3.
This 180 degree view of basin no. 3 shows the Hilton hotel, more ongoing construction, a futuristic foot bridge and another boat-museum. There are two more basins like these further on.
The fregata Sarmiento built in England in 1898 served as a naval training school from 1899 to 1949 circumnavigating the planet 37 times while showing the Argentine flag and training cadets.
This ornate building houses a shopping center built in 1896 in the style of the "Au Bon Marché" in Paris and originally called by that name.
(As usual, the black border indicates that this is not one of my photos,)
The mall has had it's ups and downs through the years and changed it's name to Galerias del Pacifico but now it is again one of the finest places to shop for luxury goods in Baires after being completely restored in the '90s.
It has been declared a historical monument for it is a memento of better days when Argentina was the most prosperous country in South America and Buenos Aires it's most elegant city.
Here is a close-up view of the big central dome and glass roofs that were considered a marvel at that time.
The more or less triangular areas decorated with circles are called "spandrels", the steel beams that define their borders are essential to the structure but the areas they generate are only accidental consequences of the presence of these beams. They serve no useful purpose to the structure and neither do the decorations on them.
Stephen Jay Gould and other evolutionist biologists have used the metaphor of "spandrels" to explain how natural selections that enhance the survival and spread of our genes can accidentally produce human aptitudes and tendencies unrelated to genetic fitness. In this metaphor, the decoration on the spandrel, called an exaptation by Gould, has no structural utility but nevertheless contributes to the architectural ensemble.
I mention this "en passant" because some neurologists have presented the hypothesis that the human proclivity to believe in unproved irrational concepts is an exaptation of the evolutionary useful ability of children to rapidly absorb memes from adults. In other words, our tendency to believe in supernatural beings without the slightest evidence, could be an accidental by product of our evolutionary useful ability to mimic our parents' behaviour without stopping to think why..
Below the glass dome is a secondary dome, built after WW II, decorated with murals painted by the country's best artists at that time.
Still further down, at the basement level, this fountain is surrounded by more shops and a food court.
The Galerias del Pacifico are still impressive in a nostalgic kind of way in spite of its more than centennial age.
Buenos Aires has evertthing for the shopper from fancy international boutiques to this flea market not far from the Dorrego subte station.
I love to browse around flea markets, not only to see if I can pick up something of interest but also to observe the people who operate these shops.
Flea market merchants are very special people in our age of throw away consumerism. They have an eye for beautiful objects of the past and they respect them.
Having restored a centenial farm house and furnished it in epoch furniture, I share their appreciation of past expert craftmanship.
The great Colon Theatre built between 1889 and 1908 as a larger sized copy of Milan's La Scala at the zenith of Argentina's prosperity.
Seating 2500, it was then the third largest after the opera houses of Paris and Vienna.
Here is another view of Buenos Aires famous Obelisk just three blocks from my apartment.
Beef being the country's speciality, barbecue restaurants or parillas range from simple ones like this one to quite elaborate establishments where beef, sheep and goat meats are roasted gaucho style on vertical spits placed around a large wood fire.
Here is another one of the innumerable parrillas you can see in the streets of Buenos Aires. If you like tender, tasty red meat like I do the constant tempation to gorge is all but irresistable!.
And yet another parrilla in a more upscale restaurant. Be careful, higher prices and more modern equipment do not mean that the beef is better. Ask your porteño friends they will know where to find the best meat.
And if you really want a great tourist meal, you can be assured of a good show with all the traditional trimmings in an open fire parrilla like this one. Roasting here are Patagonian cordero (lamb), and chivito (baby goat ie. kid).
There are also a variety of stand up bars from simple hot dog stands to more fancy places like this one where my friend Alberto and I are trying to determine whether Italian or Argentine grappa is better with an espresso at two in the morning.
That is a very difficult call to make, especially at two in the morning, it requires
careful and repeated testing but no sacrifice is too great for the advancement of
science!
Argentines are a proud people and I have seen little if any outright begging. There are other ways to survive hard times, like selling pencils or widgets on the subte (subway) or entertaining in the streets like this gentleman is doing late at night, in a once fashionable suit.
The popular malls of micro centro (Lavalle and Florida), are quite safe at night because they are well patrolled by uniformed and plain clothed police using these handy mini vehicles to respond quickly to any call.
Caution is nonetheless advised in dark, deserted side streets at night like in any big city.
Tango dancers are common of course. Less common is the one on the right who gave us quite a show dancing with his puppet.
Two Charlie Chaplins are sure to attract more attention and donations than only one.
Baires is a big city of eleven million people big enough to include all kinds of people such as these two transvestites sitting at a table next to mine in a fast food place who were pleased to pose for me when I asked them permission to take their picture.
This gypsy was the master of all street entertainers.
He had the best spot in town at the intersection of the Florida and Lavalle malls reserved for foot traffic, and he occupied it almost all the time.
He was quite good at making people laugh and had a wide enough repertoire that only once did I see him doing the same routine twice.
I noticed however that there were fewer street entertainers than three years ago. Forever the optimist, I took this to be a sign that the economy was improving.
