Few
journeys offer
such a stunning
introduction to
a city as the
aerial approach
to
Buenos
Aires . The
city - the third
largest in Latin
America, with
around eleven
million
inhabitants -
may not enjoy
the dramatic
scenery of, say,
Rio, but what it
does have is
space; lots of
it. Surrounded
by the seemingly
infinite pampa,
Buenos Aires'
sprawl is
checked only to
the northeast by
the River Plate,
an estuary whose
great brown
expanse in turn
suggests a
watery extension
of these
flattest and
most fertile of
lands. Just as
impressive as
this expansive
vista, however,
is the
incredible
regularity of
the city's
layout; with no
geographical
quirks to
overcome, Buenos
Aires is
practically a
blueprint for
the strict grid
system according
to which the
Spanish colonial
administration
built their New
World cities.
On the
ground, Buenos
Aires initially
seems to live up
to this aerial
impression of
uniform
vastness: the
entire
conurbation of
Gran Buenos
Aires covers
some 1400 square
kilometres, much
of it taken up
by nondescript
suburbs, divided
and subdivided
by hectic
motorways and
flyovers. At the
centre of the
conurbation,
however, sits
the city proper
or Capital
Federal and,
at its heart,
you'll find a
city on an
eminently human
scale. Buenos
Aires is a city
of barrios
(neighbourhoods).
In the downtown
district these
barrios merge
somewhat -
commerce and
finance are the
real defining
boundaries of
this area - but
away from the
city's compact
core they assume
strong
individual
identities. The
strongest
identity of all
is worn by the
highly
idiosyncratic
La Boca ,
the city's
famously
colourful
southern port
district and
possibly the
only place in
the world where
it's regarded as
normal to paint
houses,
telegraph poles
and trees in the
colours of your
football team.
Adjoining La
Boca to the
north is the
charming if
occasionally
crumbling
cobbled
neighbourhood of
San Telmo
, a bohemian mix
of tango bars,
antique shops
and artists'
studios. To the
north of the
city centre,
there's the
exclusive
neighbourhood of
Recoleta
, synonymous
with its
fabulously
aristocratic and
ornate cemetery,
and patrolled by
designer-clad
ladies-who-lunch
and professional
dog-walkers. In
all there are 47
barrios in
Capital Federal,
forming a
fascinating
patchwork quilt
of identities
and provoking
fierce loyalties
in their
inhabitants. For
many people,
these
neighbourhoods
are Buenos
Aires' best
sights, more
intriguing than
the majority of
the city's
museums,
churches or
monuments and
requiring
nothing more
than a bit of
time and walking
around to be
enjoyed.
Even more
important than
divisions
between barrios,
though, is that
between north
and south
. Ever since the
city's elite
fled the
southern barrio
of San Telmo in
1871, after a
yellow fever
epidemic, the
north has been
where you'll
find Buenos
Aires' monied
classes, while
the south is
largely working
class. This
division of
wealth shows
itself clearly
on the streets
of Buenos Aires:
the north is
dominated by
high-rise
constructions
and grand late
nineteenth-century
mansions and
apartment
blocks, whilst
in the south
low-rise
buildings
predominate,
marking the
area's much
slower pace of
development. The
centre is
perhaps best
regarded as a
kind of buffer
zone between
these two; no
one feels out of
place on busy
pedestrianized
Calle Florida or
bookshop, cinema
and café-lined
Avenida
Corrientes.
Equally, the
west of the
city is a kind
of neutral zone,
largely middle
class with
pockets of both
wealth and
poverty.
For the
tourist, all
these areas of
the city have
something to
offer. As well
as the glamour
of Recoleta, the
main draw in the
north are the
city's best
museums, and the
landscaped
parks, botanical
garden and zoo
of Buenos Aires'
largest and
greenest barrio,
Palermo .
The south is
much more about
soaking up the
city's most
traditional
atmosphere while
the centre is a
kind of mixture
of both these
attractions,
wrapped up in a
sometimes hectic
atmosphere but
with plenty of
welcoming cafés,
bookstores and
cultural centres
to ease things
along. The
attractions of
the west are
scattered
through various
barrios and
include one of
the city's most
enjoyable
events, the
Sunday gaucho
fair in the
outlying barrio
of Mataderos.
Buenos Aires
is one of Latin
America's most
culturally
distinctive
cities and there
is both cliché
and truth in its
popular image as
the home of
tango, football
and Evita. All
make their
presence felt on
the streets, and
no one
witnessing the
mass
celebrations
after a major
football victory
would doubt its
importance in
local life. Yet
to sum up the
city in terms of
its most famous
cultural icons
would be to do
an injustice to
its diversity
and subtlety.
The city's
elusive quality
was perhaps best
captured by
Argentina's
greatest writer,
Jorge Luis
Borges, who said
it "inhabits me
like a poem that
I haven't yet
managed to put
down in words".
Far less
elusive,
however, is
Buenos Aires'
linguistic
identity; the
heavily
inflected,
almost
Italian-sounding
Spanish of the
city's
inhabitants -
liberally
peppered with
lunfardo ,
the capital's
idiosyncratic
slang - is one
of the
Spanish-speaking
world's most
instantly
recognizable
accents.
Above all,
the capital is
an immensely
enjoyable place:
one of the
world's great
24-hour cities,
it is perhaps
one of the few
where you'll
find yourself
with
standing-room
only on a bus in
the early hours
of a weekday
morning.
Whatever time
you hit the
streets, you'll
find Porteños
, as the city's
inhabitants are
known (from
puerto, meaning
port), in
animated
conversation
over an espresso
in one of the
city's
ubiquitous
confiterías, or
cafés. And
unlike some of
the continent's
more
Americanized
cities, such as
Caracas or São
Paulo (and
despite the
ever-increasing
traffic), Buenos
Aires is still a
great city to
walk around. In
addition, you'll
find its central
streets
agreeably
populated at
most hours of
the night: not
only with
revellers but
with people
walking their
dog or nipping
out for a
coffee.
Around
Buenos Aires
are a number of
worthwhile
attractions. To
the north lie
wealthy suburbs
such as Olivos,
home to the
presidential
residence, leafy
villa-lined
Vicente López
and San
Isidro whose
winding cobbled
streets look
down on the
silvery brown
waters of the
River Plate.
Beyond San
Isidro, and only
an hour from the
city centre,
you'll find one
of the region's
most beautiful
and unexpected
landscapes: the
Paraná Delta
where
traditional
wooden houses on
stilts sit
amongst lush
subtropical
vegetation. The
Delta is reached
via the town of
Tigre ,
from where boat
trips can also
be taken to
Isla Martín
García , a
former penal
colony and now a
nature reserve,
as well as to
the Uruguayan
coast. Just
across the River
Plate, the
Uruguayan town
of Colonia
del Sacramento
makes an
excellent
overnight trip
from Buenos
Aires, as much
for its
laid-back
atmosphere as
for its stunning
colonial
architecture.
