Checking out La Boca

Location:
La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Cultural Tour

By Shawn O'Bryant

Bustling, gritty La Boca is one of the most flavorful neighborhoods in the entire city. Built around the original port of Buenos Aires at the mouth (la boca) of the river inlet, it was largely first inhabited by Italian immigrants who created a unique community and painted their houses with left over boat paint, creating a vibrant mixture of clashing bright colors, a tradition which lives on even today.

La Boca suffered massive economic strains when Puerto Moderno was created and commercial shipping completely left the area. Even now it remains one of the poorest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and although it has a bustling tourist nucleus by day, at night it is a dangerous area to walk through. The best option is to go into La Boca for day trips since there are nearly no sleeping quarters, and the few that exist are infested with drug addicts and prostitutes.

However, during the day there is nowhere with a more tightly concentrated array of interesting sights and tourist activities. A haunted tower (Av. Almirante Brown and Wenceslao Villafañe), live music, street performers, artists, dancers, museums, cafés, restaurants, vendors, and real time history match in attitude the vibrancy and color of the surrounding buildings.

If you are looking for souvenirs look no farther. All up and down Calle Magallanes and the Pasaje Caminito there are dozens of shops to buy everything from postcards, hats and leather goods to Boca Junior soccer team thongs for the ladies. As for food the same can be said: stroll the strip and look for something lively; all the restaurants are decent and offer great Argentine and Italian food. Bar la Perlan (Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1899, Tel: 5411 4303 0909, www.proa.org) is a little off of the Magallanes / Caminito nexus, but worth checking out. It is over a hundred years old and offers free tango shows on the weekends.

The Boca Juniors fútbol (soccer) club, which was once the home team of Argentina’s favorite son and international fútbol star, Diego Maradona, is also located in the area. Their stadium Estadio Boca Juniors (Brandsen 805) stands as a massive blue and yellow monument and landmark that can help you to find your way in and out of the neighborhood. A Boca Juniors museum is located within the stadium and tours are available. For reservations head to Florida 971. Mon-Sat., 10 a.m.-8 p.m., or call 5411-4312-7276 or 5411-4313-5503.

Last, but certainly not least, the Museo Cultural del Tango is located right near the stadium, fifty meters down the street. Here you can take a free tour of its traditional buildings and peer inside the time capsule like rooms where artifacts and scenes from La Boca’s working class roots and early tango culture are on display. If it sparks your interest, come back later for the tango show. It costs $80, but includes a full dinner and the museum claims it is the cheapest “authentic” show in town.