La Boca and more...

  Buenos Aires, Argentina
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

(lisa is typing this one) First on the list for today: check out La Boca.  This is where the original port of BA was situated, until the late 19th century and reportedly, where the tango was born.  There's a really cool old transporter bridge there, that is sort of an icon for the area. 

old bridge at la boca

old bridge

We also found  and abandoned old ship, a bunch of run-down warehouses, and the main place that visitors go to see:  Caminito (little walkway).  Caminito is a cobblestoned street with brilliantly colored old shops and restaurants - which looks really cool - except the area is now a total tourist trap. 

ghost ship at la boca dock

We actually went out of our way to walk around the block from the opposite end so as not to be accosted by the creepy street tango people that try to get tourists to dance and pose for photos with them.  Needless to say, Brad still ended up becoming trapped by a crazy tango-man that was dancing with a tango rag doll.  He blocked Brad and would not let him pass for an uncomfortable amount of time...  Lisa was entertained by this from a safe distance, as she bolted when she saw crazy guy approaching. 

la boca's caminito

caminito tambien

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We tried to visit the Fundacion Proa - a supposedly amazing collection of South American contemporary art, but it's closed for renovation till next year.  Instead we stopped for beers at El Obero, one of the original pubs of La Boca.  It was such a cool place and seemed to be frozen in time.  There were old photos all over the walls with celebrity visitors and soccer stars.  We enjoyed the break from the afternoon sun along with a few Quilmes - the popular (and delicious) Argentine beer.

open since 18th century

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Apparently La Boca went into decline once the port moved to where it is today - Puerto Madero.  So next, we decided to hit Puerto Madero.

At Puerto Madero, we found an old turn of the century military ship that had been in service for one hundred years.  It had been just about everywhere in the world and was now converted into a museum.  It was so cool to check out their old uniforms and the furniture and decor of the boat.  It was so ornate and beautiful. 

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Another Puerto Madero highlight - this cool bridge:

new bridge designed by caladera

We then headed over to MALBA: Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires.

malba

They had a fantastic collection of contemporary Latin American art, and they were featuring an exhibit with work by Oscar Bony.  He did some really interesting and controversial work in the sixties when he rented and displayed working class families.  They were payed their entire year's salary to participate in the art.  Other highlights from his work were pieces that he created and framed with glass, then shot bullet holes through them.  One of the pieces was of the New York City skyline wtih one bullet hole in each of the twin towers.  The piece was done in 1996.  It gave us the chills.

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Later that night, we went to a neighborhood parrilla, where Brad enjoyed some more meat.  Then we headed off to a Wednesday night club call Zizek.  (Thanks for the recommendation, Disco Shawn!)  It was a really cool group of people - mostly our age - and  mostly really good music. 

mashups, cumbia, grime, bastard pop hip hop

It was definitely the most underground thing we experienced. The flier described the night as a mix of hip hop, dancehall, reggaeton, mashups, Grime and Bastard Pop. It was definitely its own unique scene which was really fun to be a part of. The best part was this hip hop group (lavarap) that performed. the dj kept playing a sample of an air horn and it made me laugh every time. classic stuff and the crowd was eating it up.

argentine hip hop

The next band were from Chile and they weren't so hot and it was pretty late so we headed home