Buenos Aires was the very first city I visited outside of my own country, South Africa. I imagined that my love affair with it began due to it being my maiden voyage into the unknown and exotic. But I was wrong.
- Buenos AiresHalloweenHJB / Foter.com / CC BY
Buenos Aires has an allure that far exceeds its mouth-watering meat, stylish Porteños (locals) and fiery tango dancers. It’s a city with a magic that I am yet to put my finger on, but I will tell you that I found it out in the hot streets, amongst the children playing soccer in the plaza and in the busy Sunday markets.
- San Telmo Market
Whilst the lazy wake up late on a Sunday afternoon, the market of San Telmo doesn’t. Children play the sweetest tunes on the roadside for money, artists hang their paintings and everyone seems to be in the most beautiful attire. An old man in a tuxedo poses with a radio, another manoeuvres a drunk puppet and a blue man parades through the cobbled streets. An elderly couple cling to each other tenderly and tango ever so slowly in the main square. I am not sure whether to look at the mime artists who assume a windblown position or the collection of ancient dolls, so I look at it all one at a time.
- Visit Casa Rosada
You cannot miss this pink government building in the main square of Plaza de Mayo. There could not be a more poignant political spot to stand in the country. Many a president has saluted the crowds from these balconies and the plaza is where demonstrators marched for freedom, where mothers wept after the forced disappearance of their children during the Dirty War and where a bombing occurred to overthrow the president Peron.
- Watch a show a Che Tango.
I was enthralled before I had even set foot into the dining hall. Colourful characters greeted us upon arrival at the restaurant Che Tango. They donned hats, elaborate dresses and long tailcoats and the actors took us for a dance right there in the road. We entered a large dining area and whilst we ate the juiciest of steaks, my breath was taken away by the kicks, drags and lunges of the tango dancers. Together with the music that spoke of lust, sadness and passion, I was in awe.
- Go on a tour of La Boca
La Boca is said to be a poorer neighbourhood in the city with a lot more crime and liveliness than elsewhere. We were cautioned not to walk there at night, but together with a guide we ventured past their red, yellow, green and blue homes, visited the Boca Juniors museum with a half of fame Diego Maradona and experienced what an Argentine house looked like ages ago.
- Watch a soccer game at La Bombonera Stadium
Don’t just visit it, chat to a local about buying tickets for you and get yourself to a game. The name means ‘the chocolate box’ and due to its unique shape as the craziest acoustics coupled with the drumming and cheering of rampant Boca fans, you feel the stadium literally shake.
- Stroll through Recoleta Cemetery
If anyone had told me to walk around a cemetery for fun I would brand them a Goth or a freak, but it turned out to be quite a surreal experience given the nature of this historical monument. Once you pass through the tall neo-classical gates and into the tree-lined pathways you will lay eyes on vaults of some of Argentina’s most renowned citizens such as presidents, Evita Peron, actors and writers. They are not just any tombs but highly detailed, marble mausoleums that tower above the ground and hold the dead behind stain glassed windows as statues, angels, birds standing guard.
[box]About the Author: Lauren Manuel is a travel journalist from Cape Town who is currently on a years working holiday in Asia from where she writes for the popular Cape Town accommodation site, Cape-Venues.co.za.[/box]
