Buenos Aires Things to Do Tips by Constanza

Occupying the eastern end of Plaza de Mayo, this shocking pink Presidential Palace has a world-famous balcony, where the likes of General Galtieri, Diego Maradona, Evita and Per?n have addressed the crowds at various stages in Argentina?s history.

Originally a fortress, the Casa Rosada was remodelled as a palace for the Viceroy, when Buenos Aires became the Capital of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata in 1776.

A typical example of French and Italian styles, it gained its bright pink colour during the presidency of Sarmiento when, in 1873, he chose the colour because it represented both political sectors ? red for the federals and white for the opposing unitarians.
The south side of the building houses the Museo de la Casa Rosada in its basement.

Exhibits include artefacts used by the presidents of Argentina between 1826 and 1966, together with Spanish and English panels giving an overview of the country?s political history.

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Phone: 54 11 334-3600
Address: Hipolito Yrigoyen 219
Directions: Transport: Subte line A to Plaza de Mayo, line D to Catedral or line E to Bol?var.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10-18, Sun 14-18. Guided tours of the museum at 11 and 16 Mon-Fri, 15 and 1630 Sun.
Admission: Free. Identity card or passport required.

Situated on Plaza de Mayo and the only surviving Government building from colonial times, the Cabildo was constructed in 1748.

In May 1810, it was the focus for the May Revolution and the museum reflects the history of this period. Exhibits include watercolours by Enrique Pellegrini together with the original plans for the city and its fort.

The upper galleries of the building are magnificently adorned with giant keys and wooden doors dating from colonial times.

The building is guarded by members of the Regimiento de Patricios, dressed in tradional costumes dating from their founding in 1806.

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Phone: 54 11 334-1782
Address: Bolivar St. 65
Directions: Transport: Subte line A to Plaza de Mayo, line D to Catedral or line E to Bol?var.

Opening hours: Wed-Fri 1130-1800, Sat and Sun 1400-1800.

Admission: $1.

Located near Plaza Lavalle, the Teatro Colón is regarded as one of the greatest opera houses in the world and is an essential visit even for those not usually interested in classical music. The Italian Renaissance-style building highlights the city’s European feel.

Designed by Italian architect Francisco Tamburri, the theatre has seen the likes of Vaslov Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova grace the stage with their dance. Bernstein, Strauss and Stravinsky have conducted here and Caruso, Melba, Callas, Pavarotti and Domingo have all sung in the 2500-seater auditorium and tested the highly regarded acoustics.

Visitors to the theatre have to take one of the guided tours; they will find themselves being led through the Central Hall, the ornately gilded and mirrored Salon Dorado and the auditorium, whose Dome is decorated with frescoes by Raul Soldi.

Tours also take in the workshops where visitors might see the 1000-sq-metre (11,100-sq-ft) backdrop for each opera being hand-painted by the expert craftspeople. There are also items of clothing and footwear, used in past performances, on view.

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Phone: 54 11 4378 -7133
Address: Libertad 621 y Toscanini 1168.
Directions: Box office and theatre entrance: Libertad 621
Guided tours entrance: Pasaje Toscanini 1168 (on Viamonte 1100).
Transport: Subte line D to Tribunales; bus 5, 6, 29, 39, 59, 67, 115, 132, 146 or 155.
Website: www.teatrocolon.org.ar
Other Contact: visitas@teatrocolon.org.ar

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The Avenue 9 de Julio is definitely the widest avenue of the world (140m width).
It is magnificent with its huge advertisements and buildings, palo borracho trees and the Obelisk, a symbol for the porteños.

On this avenue you can also find one of the most important theaters of lyrical music of the world: the Colon Opera House.
You can picture the hasty rhythm of porteños if you walk along Florida street, full of stores.

At night there are plenty of theaters and cinemas in Corrientes Avenue, for that reason known as "the street that never sleeps".

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Address: Centre of the City

Large and impressive perspectives give place to many of the most advanced architectural examples which contrast with historic buildings.

Catalinas Norte, named after the "Convento de las Catalinas" constitutes an urban complex only comparable to some of the most modern cities in the world. There high elegant buildings like the Kavanagh stand out with unusual shapes or glassed walls.

Green spaces can also be enjoyed there: San Mart?n Park, where the "Granaderos" force were instructed by General San Mart?n being also named "Mars Field" afterwards.

Around 1871 an immigration of wealthy families from the southern part of the city settled down in Buenos Aires.

This led to the building of magnificent palaces in the area and today these characteristic buildings prevail in the commercial areas, different institutions and hotels.
The English Tower was built in 1916 and inaugurated by the English residents in Argentina.

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San Telmo -at some time the center of the city- proves that Buenos Aires has existed for more than four centuries.

You can infer that because of the different old buildings protected as historical heritage.

Here you can find most of the tanguer?as.
In Plaza Dorrego and surroundings you can feel that tango atmosphere reproduced by the bandone?n rhythm.

Artisans and antique stands gather here, and tango dancers usually perform their shows in the open air.

Since San Telmo has been declared historical area it has developed from the point of view of buildings and stores. Many last century old houses have been recycled into stores and picturesque restaurants.

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This is a contrasting port neighborhood with a very characteristic atmosphere: wood and metal low houses painted in very bright colors.

The use of colour and the area’s artistic tradition, which is still in evidence today, was heavily influenced by Benito Quinquela Martín – one of Argentina’s most famous painters – who used his artwork as a form of social protest. His powerful images of this working-class neighbourhood can be seen at the recently renovated Museo de Bellas Artes Quinquela Martín, along with the work of other local artists.
Wall paintings and sculptures ornament Caminito Street where you can find painters as well as dancers and singers performing tango music.

In the XIX century this area was the settlement of genoese sailors and port workers who founded a friendly society structure that originated poets, musicians and plastic artists.

You will be surprised by the typical canteens of La Boca where you can still enjoy traditional dishes while you listen to a tarantella or a nostalgic canzonetta.

This barrio is best known for its football team, Boca Juniors, for whom the legendary Diego Maradona played, but also for its multi-coloured wooden and corrugated iron houses.

The houses were built and painted by the resident dock-workers, of mainly Italian descent, who used leftover materials and paint from the ships. The most famous street, Calle Caminito, possesses the best of the painted houses and is where artists, street performers and tango dancers congregate daily.

It is also worth exploring the temporary exhibits of Argentine artists at the modern Fundación Proa museum. Tango was developed in this neighbourhood and, in the 1920s, children from wealthy families would come here to dance the dance banned elsewhere in Buenos Aires.

Many restaurants provide daily lunchtime tango shows for tourists.

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Directions: It's a pintoresque neighborhood in Buenos Aires

In the 80's a group of specialists were dreaming of recycling the port of Buenos Aires.
So, from 1991 to 1998 Puerto Madero Project gave place to technology and planning.

The attractive contact with the river and an area of high-gastronomy restaurants -together with new office-blocks and shops- make this place an ideal rendezvous for business people at lunch time and for friends in the evening.

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Directions: Alicia Moreau de Justo...from the begining until its end. All the way down.

This area represents art, elegance, leisure and night life, characteristics which concentrate the many characters of the porte?os ?lite.

It is called after the Convent of Recoletos Fathers Congregation, the church "Our Lady of Pilar" (inaugurated in 1732), and the cemetery where various national heroes lay.

You can find here the Museum of Fine Arts, the "Palais de Glace" and the Recoleta Cultural Center characterizing the area with a marked artistic fashion, enriched by the presence of artisans and artists.

Sophisticated restaurants, caf?s and discos in the Recoleta neighborhood give this area unique charming characteristics.

A cemetery may not be everyone?s idea of a tourist attraction, but La Recoleta, founded in 1822, is one of the most famous in the world.

Much to the dismay of Buenos Aires?s privileged families, it is the final resting place of Maria Eva Duarte Per?n or Evita as she is also known. A steady succession of locals and foreigners visit the site in order to pay homage to one of Argentina?s most illustrious figures.

The vault is deliberately unsignposted but this doesn?t deter anyone. The burial site can easily be located by following the guided tour groups or by seeking out the mass of bouquets that are always being left.

The populist sentiment of the inscription on Eva?s tomb, Volver? y ser? millones (?I will return and be millions?), did not enamour this woman to the descendants of the members of Porte?o high society buried around her. She lies in a supposedly secure grave two metres (six feet) below concrete, but hers is not the most impressive vault by any means.

The cemetery is filled with a wide range of vaults, containing the bodies of writers, scientists, national heroes and former presidents, exhibiting a vast variety of architectural styles and stones. It is a pleasant stroll through the labyrinths just looking at the inscriptions, in the shade of the trees, as the feral cats lazily prowl around or sleep on their favourite tombstones.

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