Saturday, August 12, 2006


La Boca

The sight of the Riachuelo with its discarded barges has inspired several poets.

Enrique Larreta wrote:

Siempre busco esta misma ribera. Busco enfrente
el hospital de barcos. Rojos, apuntalados
barcos, barcos en seco, descascarados,
que pinta con dulzura de llamas el poniente.


Fernandez Moreno recalls also an impression of such barges:

Duermen las barcazas
pegadas al muelle…
anchas, viejas, sucias
las barcazas duermen.
Aguas del Riachuelo,
aguas malolientes,
aguas con estrías de aceite.


Santiago Stagnaro, who was born in Montevideo but lived and died in la Boca being very young, wrote:

Mi hermanita rubia, plancha.
La morocha, cose. El gato
en la cocina maúlla en las faldas de la “vieja”.
La cena está casi pronta y
sin embargo...¡yo no sé qué honda
tristeza cruza el semblante de todos!


Bartolomé Botto in his poem “Calle Ayolas” dedicated to Quinquela Martín draws a beautiful but dreadful picture:

Me causas mucha pena
al verte así tan fea,
tan sucia, desmantelada,
mísera despierta. olvidada,
sin verde arboleda,
sin canto de gorriones,
sin la policromía de las flores
en tus viejos balcones.

¡Qué poca suerte tienes, calle Ayolas;
continuarás así con tu tristeza a solas!



PUERTO MADERO

This district is located downtown by the river. It was born from the restoration of the old docks and warehouses that shaped the old Buenos Aires harbour. For its proximity to downtown, it rapidly became a tourist centre. Its 16 buildings, surrounding the docks, concentrate a variety of luxurious restaurants and modern office buildings.

The old port
Around 1880 Argentina was an exporter/importer country of manufactured products. At this time the harbour was built according to engineer Eduardo Madero’s project. The construction lasted more than 10 years and a lot of money was invested. Buenos Aires has always been related to the Port. That is why its inhabitants are called “porteños”.

Malecón Building
Dock 1 Built in 1999, the project was directed by one of the most important architecture studios in the United States. This is an office tower comprising twelve floors. A great commercial center.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

LA BOCA

One evening Juan de Dios Filiberto and the poet Gerardo Coria Peñaloza went down an abandoned detour that joined Garibaldi street and Vuelta de Rocha, skirted by small lodging made of metal sheets and wood painted in different colours. They felt inspired by the surroundings and thus Caminito song was born travelling around the world successfully since ever.

Caminito que el tiempo ha borrado,

que juntos un día nos viste pasar,

he venido por última vez

he venido a contarte mi mal.


Caminito que entonces estabas

bordado de trébol y juncos en flor,

una sombra ya pronto serás

una sombra lo mismo que yo.


Desde que se fue triste vivo yo,

caminito amigo yo también me voy.

Desde que se fue nunca más volvió,

seguiré sus pasos, caminito, adiós.

………………………………….


Little lane time has blurred…
Once you saw us pass by together,

I have come for the last time;

I have come to tell you my woe.

Little lane, you were then,

embroidered in clovers and flowering reeds,

a shadow you will soon be,

a shadow the same as myself.


Since she left I live in sorrow,

friendly little lane, I'm leaving too.

Since she left she has never come back,

I'll follow her steps, little lane, goodbye.

Palermo



This is one of the largest and most attractive parts of the city because of its parks and tree-lined avenues. The district has three interesting routes which are worth visiting: Palermo de Bosques y Lagos (Palermo and its Woods. Two artificial lakes border the vegetation.) Additionally, you can enjoy many subspaces, like the“Poets Garden”, the “Andalusian Yard” and the “Roses Garden” commonly known as El Rosedal with 15,000 rose bushes and plants of 1,189 different species.




Obelisco



A symbol of Buenos Aires city, the Obelisk was built in May 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first foundation of Buenos Aires.

Address: Av. Corrientes and Av. 9 de Julio