Tangoing in Buenos Aires
Before saying goodbye to Argentina for more adventuring in the tropical north, we simply had to sample some of Buenos Aires famed atmosphere, if even for a few days.
With wide boulevards, green parks and grand architecture, it was easy to see why some regard the city as the Latino Paris of South America, however the Argentinians impassioned pride for football, recent independence, reverence for their dead nobility and lifestyle in the sun made for a very individual atmosphere all its own.
Buenos Aires, or specifically the many immigrants who shaped the city culture to what it is today gave the world the Tango; a fitting signature dance given its series of dramatic swings, erotic dips and prolonged eye contact. This fusion of raw unadulterated desire, motion and music demands the passion for perfection, which can also be seen in how the locals live, work, dine and fiesta late into the nights.
It also features the most popular dead woman of Argentina, Eva Perón (ie.Evita to theater-goers) who rests eternally at the Cemetery of La Recoleta, the hallowed burial ground of Argentine nobility. Despite dying in 1952, many local mourners still bring a steady supply of flowers to her tomb, which is possibly the most visited tourist attraction in the city also. Although she shares her grave with a host of other notables, including past presidents, she is the one "they all" come to see.
Buenos Aires does not begin and end with Evita and the tango either. Plazade Mayo is named for the date of the beginning of Argentina’s independence, yet today is more famous as a place for political protest. Mothers of los desaparecidos (“the disappeared ones”) who vanished without a trace during the military dictatorship of the late 70s and early 80s, hold a demonstration every week to ask, seemingly in vein, for information about the fate of their loved ones.
With wide boulevards, green parks and grand architecture, it was easy to see why some regard the city as the Latino Paris of South America, however the Argentinians impassioned pride for football, recent independence, reverence for their dead nobility and lifestyle in the sun made for a very individual atmosphere all its own.
Buenos Aires, or specifically the many immigrants who shaped the city culture to what it is today gave the world the Tango; a fitting signature dance given its series of dramatic swings, erotic dips and prolonged eye contact. This fusion of raw unadulterated desire, motion and music demands the passion for perfection, which can also be seen in how the locals live, work, dine and fiesta late into the nights.
It also features the most popular dead woman of Argentina, Eva Perón (ie.Evita to theater-goers) who rests eternally at the Cemetery of La Recoleta, the hallowed burial ground of Argentine nobility. Despite dying in 1952, many local mourners still bring a steady supply of flowers to her tomb, which is possibly the most visited tourist attraction in the city also. Although she shares her grave with a host of other notables, including past presidents, she is the one "they all" come to see.
Buenos Aires does not begin and end with Evita and the tango either. Plazade Mayo is named for the date of the beginning of Argentina’s independence, yet today is more famous as a place for political protest. Mothers of los desaparecidos (“the disappeared ones”) who vanished without a trace during the military dictatorship of the late 70s and early 80s, hold a demonstration every week to ask, seemingly in vein, for information about the fate of their loved ones.
