Back from our vacation in Santiago, our first stop was Buenos Aires. It was kind of a shock to be back on the road with long bus rides, staying in hostels with shared bathrooms, and not having our friends around all the time. BA was either the best way to get back in our travel groove or the worst way to adjust because the city is so energetic with architecture, futbol, tango, and probably much more.
On our last day we had wanted to visit the San Telmo market and the gaucho market. We started off with the San Telmo market because it was right next to our hostel. We were not ready for how massive the market was. Before we knew it, we had walked from our hostel to the historic center which is about a 1km long, not including the side streets. We never made it to the gaucho market. Of course Peter did what he does best: buy stuff.
We spent most of our days walking around the city gazing up at BA's magnificent buildings. We also made our way to El Ateneo, a theatre turned cinema turned bookstore. You can even sit in the boxseats and read a book.
Buenos Aires architecture is..... eclectic. It was like Buenos Aires didn't know what to do so it just copied French and Italian neoclassical forms because it was popular at the time, then added some art nouveau to be cool, and then squeezed a bunch of modernist buildings inbetween.
Peter insists the historical area is like a mashup between NYC and Paris - they took all the ideas of Paris but then built them twice as tall.
The neo-gothic basilica of Merecedes Castellanos de Anchorena and the super modern apartment of Corina Kavanagh is a good example of the architectural juxtaposition.
Corina Kavanagh was a very determined daughter of a wealthy family of BA. But because her family wasn't from any notable European lineage, or "old money", she was looked down upon by the aristocracy. Unfortunately, she fell in love with the son of Mercedes Castellanos, a Catholic noble who strongly opposed the relationship. She managed to end the relationship by sending her son to Europe. Corina vowed her revenge and reinforced it with concrete.
Mercedes had built a church for her family across the street of their mansion because the main church 3 blocks down was too far away and this way she could she her pride and joy right from her home. Corina waited until she went on vacation and bought the land right in front of it with only the intention of obstructing the view from Mercede's mansion. She had to sell much of the family's land to build her 33 story tower of revenge but it was well worth it. The only way to have a good view of the church is walk down the alley next to Kavanagh Building Tower; the alley is also called Corina Kavanagh street.
We got to experience Argentina's religious pastimes: futbol and tango.
The ever popular River Plate game that was occurring that weekend was super expensive and it looked like the only safe way we could get in was to go with a travel group. Apparently the only way for Argentines to get tickets is to be part of the teams' club and even to get into that is a 7 year wait. We decided to go to a different game, Arsenal de Sarandi vs Gimnasia. It was really cool being in the stands shouting each time the referee didn't make a call in our favor (Arsenal) while the barra brava sang songs and banged on their drums. We knew a couple of their songs - thanks DC United!
Tango. It is everywhere.
-Priscilla
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