La Boca
La Boca is one of the 48 neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Its known to be the first neighborhood of the city once founded by San Pedro de Mendoza in 1536. The conventional explanation is that the neighborhood sits at the mouth ("boca" in Spanish) of the Riachuelo. It was a seaport area populated by mainly Italian, Spanish, German, French, Arab and Basque immigrants.
The must see in La Boca are:
1. El Caminito: One of the most visited 100 squared feet of Argentina.
2. La Bombonera: Museum and stadio tickets are U$9,00 (11am/5pm).
3. Calle Magallanes: There are lots of studios in this street. The Centro Cultural de los Artistas in on the 861, where you can also have a privileged view of Caminito. This is a good tip for an artful walk in La Boca!
4. Fundacion Proa: Just in the begining of Caminito you will see the Fundacion Proa which is a great cultural center for contemporary art. It is worth a visit!
5. Museo de Cera : You can see La Boca's history in it. (See picture on the side)
6. Museum Maguncia is based on Gutemberg's paper impression and print. This is a nice tip for artists who like visual art design and love papers!
7. Benito Quinquela Martin, a La Boca orphan, is maybe the most famous Argentine painter. His paintings of port scenes show the activity, vigor and roughness of the daily life in portuary La Boca.
La Boca hosts Museo Quinquela Martin which offers to its visitor the best paintings of this artist along with Spilimbergo, Victorica, Lacámera, Sívori and Policastro. The museo is in the top floor of Escuela Don Pedro de Mendoza (High School) in Calle Pedro de Mendoza, 1835. Its also a good opportunity to check out the Argentine school and its infra-instruction.
Quinquela's painting
Here is a good article on how Benito changed La Boca.
Caminito
Caminito is a joyful finding. I went with the city tour buss and they give only 45 minutes in Caminito, which is really fast to walk, get to know the place, buy art, take pics and eat. You just have time for a quick walk on it. If you have time, I would recomend going back and taking your time there.
Camino literally means way or walkway in English and the suffix -ito makes the noun in its diminutive form. So, Caminito means little walkway. For me, Caminito is a touristicly decorated once-upon-a time a slum.
Why is Caminito so colorful?
The immigrants in the Riachuelo worked in the port and used to paint their homes with the leftover paints of the shipyard as nothing else was available and could be afforded.
Here is a good site about Caminito and its history.
Those are the main streets of Caminito
This is restaurant Bachicha. There is a lot of shows and live dancing. Another good suggestion for a meal is Rincon de Lucia (Calle Lamadrid, 699). It is hidden and lots of people dont see it, but it is a great choice. The door is closed. OPEN! Haha. It used to be an old pension. They reconstructed a room the way it used in the old times and use it as a museum today.
Street Art
Caminito and San Telmo are nice places to buy Street Art
Music Stage in a viela
Graffiti Walls
La Bombonera
Lego Replica of La Bombonera
The agency city tour took me to La Bombonera which is a stadium located in the La Boca district of Buenos Aires widely known as La Bombonera (the Chocolate Box) due to its shape. The stadium is owned by Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's most famous football clubs. Out of its capacity of 49,000, there are 37,538 seats, 2780 are boxes and 8,682 standing which are completely filled during classic games with River Plate and Boca Juniors, for example.
The tour buss stoped there and you can buy tickets to visit inside. As there was no game at the moment, I decided to visit the the neighborhood. This is a poor place and not safe to walk around alone. Stay close to La Bombonera and its souvenier shops. There are three nice shops in front of it. Nice place for a Quilmes beer or a coffee. Also, enjoy and take pictures with Maradona and Che. While the guys visited an empty stadium, check the pics I took below:
Maradona estatue in a souvenier shop
Found Che Guevara smoking there
Around Bombonera there are homeless people
La Bombonera shows great wall-paintings
Graffiti wall on La Bombonera
Souvenier shops
La Boca Houses
Argentians have a big crush on the Simpsons.
Check the souvenier T-Shirts:
If I have to choose, I go for San Telmo. It is indeed the best neighbourhood not only because it is strategically located but also because it is beautiful in itself. Last year I travelled to Argentina and I had decided to rent apartments in buenos aires. I certainly made the best choice!
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