Buenos Aires (Pt 2)

Here are some more pics....

Back in San Telmo on Sunday at the end of our stay. They have a massive market along the street where we were staying...

Here's Laurie with Papa (the Pope)...

Our next tour started with a morning 'tour' of Buenos Aires, which was surprisingly informative, even though we'd been to some (not all) of the localities before. We really enjoyed it as we had a very good guide to explain it all. Here are two very large installations on the main avenue of the city - their two icons - Eva Peron and Messi!...

We had by now been joined by our friends Chris and El for the next tour, so we are now 5...

Back at the same church we had a coffee in a great cafe we hadn't visited before, whilst the others visited the Recoleta Cemetery. But Marian found time to talk to a Westie....

The first time we visited the main May Square it was overcast and about to rain (which it did that day). But now we had fantastic weather. This is the original administrative building for Buenos Aires (from about 1580, when the city was founded). The building lost 3 arches either side, when they pushed through new avenues a la Paris in the late 1800's...

This is the Casa Rosada (the red house) - their Parliament. The stones around the base of the statue arose informally - each stone represents a life lost during Covid. They lost 130,000 people - apparently the government managed vaccines very poorly...

Buenos Aires had one of the earliest metro systems in the world - these portals are from 1913. There are also remnants of rail lines along streets all through the city. Buenos Aires had one of the largest tram networks in the world - up to 750km of lines and 3,000 carriages! The closed it down in the early 1960's....

Faded grandeur...

The La Boca neighbourhood is at the original port. It is characterised by brightly coloured buildings (very touristy now). The origin is that people would pick up free/cheap paint from the port (used for boats) and use it to paint any wall they could.....

Note Maradona on the left. He played for the local football team...

Messi again...

Close to the local airport (not far from where we stayed in Recoleta) is the largest slum in Buenos Aires. It is fairly contained (geographically) and contains mostly permanent looking structures. It is quite at odds with the surrounding areas. Presumably there are similar communities elsewhere, but we didn't see them. Buenos Aires has a population of about 3 million in the city area, but the Province is more like 20 million. This is a large proportion of the whole country (about 47 million)...

We visited the nature reserve a second time. Here are some more random pics. The reserve is on the Rio Plata 'river'. As a river, it is the widest in the world (220 km!). It is often classified as such, because it is fed by 2 major rivers and has characteristics of an estuary having brackish water. But, it looks like a bay to me....

Buenos Aires (Pt 1)

We've just spent a week in Buenos Aires and we were very impressed. It's a grand city. The golden years were from 1880 to 1930, when it was the 5th richest city in the world. It consciously styled itself on Paris, with many French architects coming across to design buildings. But the Depression put an end to it. Despite this, the older qualities have been built upon over the subsequent years to create a city of significant style and substance. The original historic neighbourhood (San Telmo) is where we stayed a few nights. We also had an Airbnb at the Recoleta neighbourhood, which is the most Belle Epoque in the City. The wealthy residents of San Telmo moved 'out' of the city in the later 1800's to escape fever and disease  - establishing palaces/mansions in the Recoleta and Palermo neighbourhoods. 

The Pope was also visiting when we were there, and his digs were around the corner in a former palace. The density of living is quite high. Most streets in Recoleta are lined with 10 to 12 storey buildings, but there are plenty of large street trees so it has a good feel to it. Here are some pics....

Most of San Telmo has original cobblestone streets (now heritage protected in situ) and there are a significant number of heritage buildings in the neighbourhood...

San Telmo also has a vibrant market from the late 1800's going strong...

We moved across to the Recoleta neighbourhood to a great apartment in a genuine Belle Epoque building. Our apartment is the first floor above the the grey car...

Opposite our apartment...

Scattered around the neighbourhood are palaces from the golden years...

Including the Popes digs...

The Recoleta neighbourhood is named after the Franciscan Recoleta Monastery, built in the early 1700's. It was once in fields outside the city, but is now still in place in the inner city area. The Monks were expelled in 1882 and their garden turned into a cemetery. That cemetery is now a tourist attraction, as it contains a huge number of astonishing mausoleums set along tree-lined stone paths, belonging to wealthy and connected Buenos Aires residents, including most former Presidents (and Eva Peron)...

Right next to the city, is a fantastic natural reserve which is large and well used. It has great birdlife and lengthy boardwalks and pathways (some detailed pics at the end)...

The Palermo neighbourhood is pretty groovy and more low rise, with some great street art...

We visited the Botanical Gardens and a Decorative Arts museum, set in a former place. Both were great...

The Pope was a big deal - they were expecting over 1 million people to his mass on Sunday, which I expect they achieved...

The old port has been transformed into a new urban neighbourhood and it's very well done...

Statue in front of the main Post Office building in French style...

There is a pedestrian mall running a very long way through the main part of the city. This is one of the crossings....

Here are a few random pics from my proper camera (not the iPhone) of birds and critters in the reserve, adjoining the city...