Selected Sights of Buenos Aires

I was lucky to have over three weeks to explore Buenos Aires.  The Argentine capital is so big and spread out that there are many areas I never had a chance to visit.  Fortunately, many of the major attractions that are of interest to tourists are located within a reasonably compact area.  By walking, taking the Subte (subway), and utilizing Uber, I was able to cover a lot of territory and get to many interesting sights in different parts of the city.

Near the beginning of my stay in Buenos Aires, I took advantage of a free 3½-hour walking tour of the city center.  The guide, Martin, was a friendly young English-speaking Porteño who began the tour outside the famed neoclassical Teatro Colon on a bright and sunny winter morning. 

Teatro Colon

Along the route, Martin gave the group (there were 12-14 of us, from various countries) a wealth of information about the history of Argentina.  It provided me with valuable insight into the economic and political issues facing the country today.  

From the theater, we walked down the widest avenue in the world, Avenida 9 de julio.  The street takes its name from the date of Argentina’s independence.  Some say it looks like the Champs Elysées in Paris.  I think it would be more accurate to say it looks like a cross between the Champs-Elysées and Times Square.  In any case, it takes 2-3 light cycles to cross its 16 lanes, even if you run from one standing island to another. 

The next destination on our walking tour was the Plaza de la Republica, located where Avenida 9 de julio crosses the Avenida Corrientes.  It is here that you’ll find a tall obelisk, a Buenos Aires landmark, that’s usually surrounded by a crowd of tourists and Porteños.  This obelisk isn’t an Egyptian antiquity.  It was erected in 1936, to commemorate the 400^th anniversary of the first Spanish settlement on the Rio de la Plata.   

The obelisk in Plaza de la Republica

We then walked to up to the Plaza San Martin in the Retiro district.  An equestrian statue of General Jose de San Martin, Argentina’s liberator, dominates a large grassy park.  Surrounding the plaza are several former private mansions, such as Palacio San Martin, which are now mostly used by the government. 

Equestrian statue of General Jose de San Martin

The former Palacio San Martin 

I was struck by the juxtaposition of a sign for La Rural, the city’s annual livestock show, and an elegant mansion in the French Beaux Arts style.  It reminded me that there's certainly more than one side to Buenos Aires. 

An interesting mixture of the rustic and the elegant 

The final stop on our walking tour was in the adjacent district of Recoleta, an upscale neighborhood of fancy apartment buildings, expensive shops and luxury hotels.  But the main reason tourists come to Recoleta is to see the famous cemetery. It may seem strange that a cemetery is a popular sight.  However, the highly decorative crypts as well as the illustrious names in Argentine history buried there explain Recoleta Cemetery’s appeal.  Of course, it’s Eva Peron’s burial place that draws the largest numbers of visitors.  Her remains are buried near the crypt of the Duarte family.  

Entrance to Recoleta Cemetery

Eva Peron's remains are buried here.

I also did plenty of sightseeing on my own.  One afternoon, Elisa and I returned to the city center via Subte (a quick and inexpensive ride).  We jostled our way through the crush of people walking down Avenida 9 de julio until we reached the Plaza de la Republica and then turned west onto Avenida Corrientes, a main east-west thoroughfare.  One theater after another lined both sides of the street.  You could choose from performances of plays, classical music, popular music, tango, and more.  The Teatro Cervantes, built in 1921, caught my eye because of its beautiful architecture.

Teatro Cervantes on Avenida Corrientes 

Another day, I got an early start, taking the Subte from Palermo to the Plaza de Mayo at 9 in the morning.  There were several important sights in the immediate area.  

A view from the Plaza de Mayo

Looking east on the Plaza de Mayo

The most recognizable building is probably the Casa Rosada, which stands at the eastern end of the plaza.  If this government building looks familiar to you, it’s because it appears in many photos showing Eva Peron standing on the balcony and delivering speeches. 

Casa Rosada 

The plaza is also the site of the city’s Metropolitan Cathedral, where the present Pope Francis previously served.  I walked past the neoclassical building several times before realizing that it wasn’t a Greek temple.  The interior is fairly dark and gloomy.  There are no stained glass windows, as in Gothic cathedrals in Europe, but there’s plenty of gold. 

The Metropolitan Cathedral faces the Plaza de Mayo.

A quick detour down the Avenida de Mayo brought me to Café Tortoni.  The décor of the historic French style café hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1858. 

Café Tortoni retains its Old World charm. 

After a cup of coffee and an alfajor at Café Tortoni, I headed south into the Monserrat district.  At one time, this was a desirable residential area.  The only sight that caught my attention was the 18^th century Basilica Nuestra Señora del Rosario and Convento Santo Domingo, which has been named a national historic monument. 

Buenos Aires has several museums that are worth a visit, and at least three were within walking distance of my Palermo apartment.  MALBA’s collection of 20^th and 21^st century Latin American art is housed in a beautiful modern building.  An exhibit of photographs by Diane Arbus had just opened when I visited. 

The Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Museum) features a wide range of art from Europe, going back as far as the 12th century, in addition to art by Argentine masters.  The permanent collection includes works by artists such as Manet and Degas.  Temporary exhibitions highlight the work of contemporary Latin American artists.  

 

National Fine Arts Museum

An 1861 painting by Edouard Manet 

An 1851 painting by Argentine artist Prilidiano Pueyreddon

A piece by contemporary Argentine artist Luis Felipe Noé 

Beautiful paintings, sculpture, tapestries and home furnishings are showcased in the National Museum of Decorative Arts.  The building itself is a gem, built in 1918 in the French neoclassical style.  It was formerly the residence of the immensely wealthy Errazuriz Alvear family.

The entrance to the Decorative Arts Museum

I went further west by Subte one sunny afternoon in search of Barrio Chino, the city’s Chinatown.  While it’s certainly not as large or impressive as Chinatown in New York or San Francisco, it is an extremely popular destination for Porteños.  People of all ages filled the sidewalks and streets.  There was the usual assortment of restaurants, plus shops selling cheap, colorful novelty goods.  Several stands offered a variety of Pan-Asian snacks, from sushi to spring rolls.  The heavy smell of fried food hung in the air.  At one of many sidewalk stands, I saw a lot of familiar looking Chinese items.  While they were listed with Spanish names, they were pretty easy to recognize.  For example, I tried a steamed bun with vegetable filling, which was called an empanada de verdura.

A busy day in Barrio Chino

There are two other sections of the city that I’d also like to describe to you: San Telmo and La Boca.  However, since there’s so much to share in words and pictures, I’ll be back in a few days with a separate post about these two interesting neighborhoods.