Archives for April 2011

La Boca: Places of Interest

Buenos Aires colorful neighborhood of La Boca is known to the outside world for tourist destination number one, El Caminito. But those who dare to wander off the tourist path will discover La Boca is still a lively neighborhood of immigrants with a number of places of interest for art and history lovers.

El Caminito

El Caminito is ground zero for visitors to La Boca and is among Argentina’s top tourist destinations. El Caminto, or ‘little walkway’ is a pedestrian street set along the old railroad lines built here in 1866. In the 1950’s local artist Quinquela Martín and other neighbors were inspired to paint the houses with bright colors, emulating the spirit of the early immigrants to the city.

Since 1959 El Caminito has served as an open-air museum, where visitors can take snaps of the colorful houses, see some street tango dancing and purchase works of art from vendors who set up along the thoroughfare. El Caminito is photogenic and is probably Buenos Aires biggest tourist trap, with overpriced restaurants and trinket shops. The strip is not representative of the rest of the neighborhood, but unfortunately it is all that many visitors see.

Vuelta de Rocha
Along the waterway, by the bustop

Declared a site of historic interest in 1949, this cobblestone plaza is where Commander Guillermo Brown established the naval dockyard of his army in the war against Brazil. Named for Antonio Rocha who later built the little plaza here, it was formally known as ‘The Plaza of Sighs,’ so called for the nostalgic sighs of the Genoese immigrants who would congregate here.

Puente Nicolas Avellaneda

From Vuelta de Rocha you can see the emblematic Ferry Bridge of Nicolás Avellaneda. Built in 1908, it was one of 20 bridges of its kind constructed in the 20th century and is one of eight left standing today. It was constructed in England and assembled in Buenos Aires. It is the only of its kind outside of Europe.

Although it remained in disuse since 1960, it was declared an historic monument in 1999. In one of La Boca’s latest triumphs, in 2010 the bridge was re-inaugurated with a fresh coat of orange paint, and glassed-in walkways that give a good panorama view of the city. Pedestrians and bikers no longer have to take boats to reach Maciel Island in Avellaneda, across the water.

One hundred meters from the old ferry bridge sits the newer bridge of the same name that is still in use for automobile traffic.

Quinquela Martín Museum of Fine Arts
Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1835/43
Tel: 4301-1080

• Hours: Tue-Sun: 11:00 a.m. —6:00 p.m.

In 1936 painter Quinquela Martín created this primary school and decorated the classrooms with his murals. On the third floor is the museum, with 90 of Martín’s works depicting life on the port, as well as a selection of works by other Argentine artists. In early 2011, President Cristina Kirchner declared the building a National Historic Monument. Entrance is free with a suggested donation of AR$5.

Fundación Proa
Avenida de Pedro Mendoza 1929
Tel: 4104-1000

The Bow Foundation is an arts center that features six temporary exhibits per year including world-renowned contemporary masters such as Marcel Duchamp and Argentina’s own Marta Minujín. The foundation also contains a library, rooftop café and an auditorium with weekly culture-related events.

Boca juniors Stadium (La Bombonera)
Brandsen 805
Tel: 4362-2260

Argentina’s most famous stadium is officially named Alberto J. Armando Stadium but everyone just knows it as La Bombonera (‘The Chocolate Box’). This is the home stadium for Argentina’s most popular underdog winners who made Diego Maradona famous, La Boca Juniors.

The 60,000-person stadium was built by Slovenian architect, Victor Sulcic, who also made up that team that built the Mercado de Abasto. The stadium was inaugurated in 1940 and built with the aim to fit in as many people as possible into a reduced space. In the entrance hall visitors can see a mural by La Boca’s most famous son, Quinquela Martín. The painting represents the moment the founder’s of the team selected the club’s colors. On the outside of the stadium is another mural by Pérez Celis. To see La Bombonera in person ask about our tours of the stadium or see a Boca soccer match.

Bomberos Voluntarios de la Boca/Volunteer Fire Department
Brandsen 567
Tel: 4361 2222

The La Boca Volunteer fire department was founded in 1884 out of great necessity. Los Bomberos Voluntarios de la Boca are celebrated for their bravery in fighting against fires, floods and epidemics from their founding to the present. The current barracks was constructed in 1890 and was declared a site of cultural interest by the city in 2002. The fire department is an integral part of the neighborhood, with a popular band that provides music for local festivals and street parties.

WA-laboca-waxmuseum-ChristianHaugen — photo: Christian Haugen

Wax Museum/Museo de Cera
Del Valle Iberlucea 1261
Tel: 4303-0563

The only wax museum in Argentina with scenes depicting life in La Boca through the years. Scenes by artist Domingo Telechea depict gauchos, Afro-Argentines, sports figures and immigrants who built the country. In addition to the lifelike depictions of the La Boca of old there is a large collection of old photographs, newspaper clippings and tango memorabilia of the neighborhood. It’s located in an Italian Renaissance style house dating to 1902. It was dubbed a site of cultural interest by the city

San Juan Evangelist Church
Olavarría 486

La Boca isn’t a neighborhood with as many churches as others but San Juan Evangelista is the barrio’s oldest house of worship. It has been on this spot since 1859. The neighborhood of La Boca was officially established after the church hosted a magistrate court here. The current building was completed in 1886.

Torre de Fantasma/The Haunted Tower
Benito Perez Galdos 390

A modern Catalán/Art Nouveau style building constructed in by Catalonian architect, Guillermo Alvarez. Neighborhood legend says that a down-and-out female painter known as Clementina jumped to her death here at the turn of the 19th century. Residents can still hear her walking the halls and sometimes screaming at night, prompting at least one former resident to move. Read more about La Boca’s haunted tower here.

Casa Amarilla
Almirante Brown 401

A replica of the home of one Argentina’s war heroes and most famous Irish immigrants, Guillermo Brown. After Brown lost his leg fighting for Argentine independence, he built his home on this land and continued to command the army resulting in victories against Uruguay and Brazil. Today it functions as the Naval Historical Studies Institute. From here you may spot players from the Boca Juniors practicing on the fields nearby.

Abasto Shopping — An Old-Time Market Turned Mall

Abasto, the huge art deco style complex in the neighborhood of the same name, is Buenos Aires largest shopping mall.

The mall’s distinguished façade along Corrientes Avenue features five huge leaded glass archways that are emblematic of the neighborhood, especially when lit in the evening. Inside, a huge atrium floods the building with natural light. The centralized mall features over 250 stores, a children’s museum, a small theme park, a food court, and a cinema with 12 screens.

The unique building was originally the site of Buenos Aires’ central vegetable market, inaugurated in 1893. It slowly grew outward as the population boomed, until the original structure was demolished in the 1930’s to make room for a larger building. The current art deco structure dates to 1934 and took three years to construct.

The building was designed by José Luis Delpini, Raul Bes and Slovenian-born architect, Viktor Sulčič — the same team that constructed Buenos Aires’ most famous stadium, La Bombonera in the La Boca neighborhood.

This was Buenos Aires’ golden age — the new market included all the latest amenities of the era including escalators, phone lines throughout the building and a connection with the underground subway.

A 1952 fire in the building burned for various days but thanks to the sturdy old-world construction, Abasto survived the blaze and Delpini was able to reform the damaged parts. A 1955 movie called Mercado de Abasto set in the mall highlights what a central place the market played in everyday life.

By 1984 Buenos Aires’ population had grown so much that housing the vegetable market in the center of the city became impractical due to the congestion the trucks caused bringing in produce in from the province. Abasto was shut down and the vegetable market was transferred to the Mercado Central in the Buenos Aires province, where it remains today.

Abasto’s Rebirth

To the dismay of residents, the one-time jewel of the neighborhood remained closed until the end of the 1990’s. During that time the neighborhood around Abasto became notorious for squats, prostitution, and drug use and was generally avoided by people who didn’t live there.

During Abasto’s nearly 15 years of hibernation, various proposals were thrown around to determine the building’s destiny while the neighborhood languished. One proposal included converting the market into an arts center similar to Paris’ Georges Pompidou Art Center. Finally in 1997, Hungarian-American billionaire, George Soros (who was also behind the restoration of Galerías Pacífico) purchased the building, and invested $2 million in its restoration.

The resurrection of Abasto as a shopping mall in 1998 instantly ushered in a new era to the blighted barrio, a more modest renaissance to that which took place in the waterfront restoration of Puerto Madero around the same time.

This mall has some decent shopping with international name brands such as Lacoste, Samsonite and Adidas and smaller national outlets. The movie theater is one of the city’s most comfortable and offers a range of films from Hollywood blockbusters to sentimental national productions.

The prices at many of the smaller stores tend to be more reasonable than those at other malls such as Galerías Pacífico, but a costlier than at the maze of street-side stores in the surrounding neighborhood, which carry similar merchandise.

Kosher Kids

Abasto is a mall designed with kids in mind. In addition to the celebrated Children’s Museum, there’s an arcade and a small indoor theme park with a Ferris wheel that spans all three floors.

The food court offers the usual parilla, pasta, pan-Asian offerings and claims fame to the only Kosher McDonald’s outside Israel, a hangout for the Orthodox fast food lovers among the neighborhood’s surrounding Jewish community.

One of the nice things about Abasto Mall is that thanks to its vastness and open construction, it never seems to get really crowded. Even at Christmas time when parents bring their kids here to see Santa Claus, things are quite relaxed.

Abasto Shopping Mall
Corrientes 3247
Abasto
Tel: 4959 3400
Free transport from hotels: 5777-6027

• Hours: 10:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. everyday

Getting there:

–Buses: 29, 99, 71, 26, 146, 124, 168
–Subway: Station Carlos Gardel, Line B

• Underground parking
• If you spend over a certain amount in any store marked ‘duty free,’ ask for your receipt so you can get a refund on the taxes on your way out of the country.
• If you are staying in a hotel, call the mall for a free ride from your hotel to the mall. To be driven back to your hotel until 7:00 p.m., ask at the mall’s service stands.
• On Wednesday, movies are half price.

The Children’s Museum

The Children’s Museum of Abasto is a not-to-missed Buenos Aires attraction for the under-12 crowd.

Here parents might observe the first spark of their child’s future career through experiential exhibits that allow them to play at being grown-ups. Interactive displays allow kids to act as a broadcast journalist, dentist, TV cameraperson, construction worker and supermarket clerk among others.

There is also a pint-sized city with a Casa Rosada, Congress building and National Bank. The brightly colored exhibits are all in Spanish but language isn’t a barrier here.

The museum has various official city endorsements including from the Education Minister, and the culture departments of Argentina and the City of Buenos Aires. The Children’s Museum is a non-profit designed with the Declaration of the Rights of a Child in mind. Unfortunately that doesn’t preclude corporate-sponsored exhibits such as a McDonalds and YPF station to ensure early brand recognition, and that is the museum’s biggest drawback.

In the auditorium there are puppet shows, movie projections, storytelling and other events, listed daily by the entrance to the museum. There are two rooms are dedicated to toddlers and babies for those who have a multi-age brood in tow.

For expat parents, this is the perfect place to host a birthday party that is sure to be a hit. Parents will be happy to find that there are spots for them to rest, or better yet send them with the grandparents, who get in free.

If a few hours at the museum doesn’t wear them out there is also the unfortunately named Neverland Theme Park right next door.

Museo de los niños
Av. Corrientes 3247, 2nd floor
Abasto Shopping
Tel: 4861-2325

• Hours: Tue- Sun& holidays 1:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.
• Cost: AR$ 30 children
—AR$15 adults
• ½ off from 7:00 p.m.
• Seniors, students and kids under 2 free

Where to Learn Spanish in Buenos Aires

If you’re going to spend anytime in Argentina it is a great opportunity to study Spanish. Even if you already speak Spanish, you may want to take a couple of classes to learn about the regional use of ‘vos,’ Argentinismos and a bit of Lunfardo, the unique slang used extensively throughout the country, and especially in and around Buenos Aires.

Learning Spanish in Buenos Aires: Public Schools

• Laboratorio de Idiomas, Universidad de Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires Language Laboratory is an obvious option for very inexpensive and high-quality Spanish classes. Here you get a feeling for what its like to be a university student in Argentina — classes are excellent and the bar is set high, but inscription is a bit chaotic, the classrooms have paint falling off the walls, and it’s a miracle if the bathrooms have toilet paper. Students are not given the course material, but in charge of making their own photocopies of the study aids at a nearby copy shop.

Regular courses begin in March and August every year and have four hours of instruction per week for one semester. Their ‘super-intensive’ one-month courses, with 15 hours of instruction per week, are a little more expensive. The university can also provide a certificate confirming that you passed either the basic, intermediate or advance Spanish to provide for school or work.

For those with advanced Spanish they also offer excellent courses in Spanish for foreigners including, ‘Spanish through Cinema,’ ‘Literature of the Rio Plate,’ ‘Culture and Conversation’ and ‘Immigrants in Buenos Aires.’

Language Laboratory of La UBA
25 de Mayo 221
Microcentro
Tel: 4343 1196 / 4334-7512 / 4342-5922

• Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas ‘Juan Ramón Fernández’

Founded in 1904, the Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas, commonly called ‘Lenguas Vivas’ is a school set in a beautiful historic building in the Retiro neighborhood. It functions as a secondary school and provides adult education.

They offer two-month courses with eight hours of instruction per week or four-month courses with four hours of instruction per week. These courses are great for those who speak well enough to get around, but want to keep improving at a steady pace. They also offer more advanced classes than the University of Buenos Aires, which only goes up to ‘level seven’ Spanish.

Their Spanish classes, taught by ex-University of Buenos Aires professors, tend to be slightly less expensive than the university. As with many state institutes, the professors are excellent but the administrative department is a disaster.

Lenguas Vivas
Carlos Pellegrini 1515
Retiro
Tel: 4322-3992 /96/ 98

— Learn Spanish Online! —

Private Schools

Private Spanish schools are a good option for those who don’t want to deal with the bureaucracy of a state school or whose schedules don’t fit with the classes offered at those institutes. Additionally, private schools tend to offer a smaller class size for more personalized instruction, extracurricular activities, and creature comforts such as nice chairs, classrooms with heat and air conditioning and beverages.

• Expanish

There are many private institutes in Buenos Aires. One of them, Expanish is one of Buenos Aires’ most successful and well-known private Spanish schools. The school is located downtown in an historic UNESCO World Heritage building.

Expanish offers an intensive Spanish course of 20 hours per week, an intensive Spanish Plus class, which combines group classes with one-on-one instruction for a total of 30 hours per week and tailor made one-on-one classes.

Other courses include Spanish & Tango and Business Spanish. Class size is small, with a maximum of nine students per class.

Additionally the school has a student lounge, a study room and library, free wifi throughout the building and is fully accessible for wheelchair users. Extra curricular activities include film screenings, city tours, workshops and group excursions. A big bonus is the rooftop terrace with awesome views and a cafeteria to get something to eat and hang out between classes.

The school can also arrange homestays with an Argentine family or a room in shared apartment as well as volunteer opportunities that will allow you to improve your language skills while helping out the community.

Expanish is accredited by The Association of Language Centers (SEA) and follows a curriculum set by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF).

Expanish Spanish School
Tte Gral Juan D Perón 700
Microcentro
Tel: 5252-3040
From abroad: 1-888-EXPANISH

→ Read our guide on how to learn Argentine Spanish online on Wander-Argentina.org

Do you want your private Spanish school listed here? Get in touch to find out how your school can be featured.

13th Buenos Aires International Indie Film Festival

The 2011 Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival will screen 426 films from April 6 through April 17 in eleven locations through the city.

The festival’s 13th edition includes 42 full-length Argentine films and 48 shorts. Two nights will be dedicated to Argentine film with a premiere of Los Marzianos, a new comedy by popular director Ana Katz. Also to be screened is the well-received 2005 film about internet dating, Medianeras by Gustavo Taretto.

Eleven films are competing in the Argentine Feature Film competition including Hermes Paralluelo’s debut film, Yatatso, about a family of cartoneros (garbage recyclers) in Cordoba.

Another highly anticipated film is the Danish documentary ‘Football is God,’ which follows three fanatics of Argentina’s beloved soccer team, the Boca Juniors.

The Black Power Mixed Tapes is a montage of Swedish archival TV footage documenting the U.S. civil rights struggle, featuring Martin Luther King Jr., Eldridge Cleaver and Angela Davis. The film is set to a score by Questlove from the hip hop band, The Roots.

Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today, the 1948 film depicting the famous courtroom drama will show at Fundación Proa, a new venue added to festival this year.

There are three offerings by Jacques Doillon; Ponette, Le Petit Criminal and 2010’s Le marriage a trois. Swiss director, Daniel Schmid also has a heavy presence with a total of seven films in the festival. Canadian director and juror at this year’s festival, Gary Burns, known for his comedic musings on contemporary life in Calgary, has a total of six films in the festival.

Big names this year include Martin Scorsese with his documentary, A Letter to Elia, about director, Elia Kazan, maker of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Separado! is billed as a ‘psychedelic western musical’ that follows Super Furry Animal’s singer, Gruff Rhys’s as he travels from Wales to the Patagonia pampa in search of long-lost family members. From Ireland comes some existentialist animation by 2009 Golden Bear winner, David O´Reilly.

New this year are a few 3D projections including Werner Herzog’s, Cave of Forgotten Dreams. The Modern Classics segment will include 1963’s Il gattopardo (The Leopard) and a restored version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, accompanied with live music by a Marcelo Katz jazz trio.

Among the special events are talks with Chilean documentarist Patricio Guzmán, prolific French director Jacques Doillon and Canadian director Gary Burns. A selection of free outdoor films will be shown in two locations, 3100 Pasaje Carlos Gardel, next to Abasto shopping and in Plaza San Martín de Tours, at Eduardo Schiaffino and Posada Streets in Recoleta.

This year’s closing film is Nader and Simin, a Separation (2011), by Irani director, Asghar Farhadi. The film is this year’s winner of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear award.

See the Festivals of Buenos Aires youtube page to see more trailers.