My favorite places in Buenos Aires - Part 1

Check a few places that I found the most attractive in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I do not live in a capital city and I'm not pretending that I know that metropolis perfectly, but I'm sure you will find my publication interesting, and who knows? Maybe someday it will be useful for somebody who will be planning their trip and looking for any valuable information on Internet?

I used to live half of my life in Kraków, Poland - the second biggest city in that country, with nearly 1 million citizens. I've spent there years, loved long walks and exploring the districts, and yet, I feel that some parts of the city were totally unknown to me. Buenos Aires, which is the 13th biggest city in the world, the city where nearly 16 million people live, simply cannot be explored in 100%. Cities are living, new buildings are created every week, new events, clubs, pubs - every day. Even though I do enjoy knowing the area in 100% (that's why I feel amazing on the small islands, like Tenerife), I accept the different nature of the megapolis. I will share with you some better-known spots that surely won't disappear in the next years.

La Boca

I think it's the most popular attraction in Buenos Aires (or at least one of the most popular) and if you reached any guide before planning the trip, you most likely already know it. It's the old district (barrio), which name can be translated as "the mouth" - it's because the river that enters the ocean in that place reminds with the shape mouth. In here tango was created, in here the first colonizers were building their houses, finally, in here most of the tourists are spending their money. It's because of the characteristic architecture: barrio was very poor, so the houses were built of everything that can be found - they are partially made of metal, bricks, or wood. To cover the ugliness of the construction, homeowners decided to paint their houses, but as they were not able to buy the paint and they did not have enough paint of one color to cover the whole construction, each house is painted in small squares of yellow, red, blue, green and other pigments. It all looks very joyful and beautiful and after so many years, ironically, the solutions that came from poverty made this district more fashionable and more expensive than the others around.

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Congress

National Congress Palace is located in front of a small park and surrounded by interesting buildings of which some are kept in Art Deco style, others in neo-romanism or neo-baroque. Nearly all the time somebody is protesting there, but don't assume based on it, that the situation in the country is so bad. Sure, Argentinians have plenty of problems, and now, with the economical crisis, maybe even more than before (although it's not the first crisis in this country). The thing is, that peaceful protests are crucial for that nation - it's their tradition to be politically and socially engaged, much more than many other nations I have met. In my opinion, that's the best proof the democracy here is stable and on a high level.

The Congress Palace has been built at the beginning of the XXth century in a Neoclassical style and it can be visited by tourists for free. You can enter inside only with the guided tour that is organized twice per day (once in English and once in Spanish), from Monday to Friday.

Casa Rosada

The USA has the White House, Argentina has the Pink House instead. It's the presidential palace, surrounded by the wonderful plaza and now (February 2022), with the big monument to memorize all the victims of the Covid pandemic. The monument is quite simple, small rocks with the names of the people who died because of the virus are put in one place, but the number of those rocks helps people to realize how big is the number of the people who passed away. I do compare it to the situation in Poland, where I come from. These people are not tested to make statistics look better and the government is trying to not talk about Covid at all. How huge a difference it is! How childish Poland looks compared to the Argentinian Government!

Casa Rosada, just like the Congress, can be visited by tourists but exclusively as part of a guided tour. Nowadays, due to pandemics, it's required to make the reservation online before.

Museo Histórico Nacional del Cabildo y la Revolución de Mayo

That tiny, colonial building can be found nearby Casa Rosada, on the other side of Plaza de Mayo. It was a town hall but also the place where the Argentinian independence was discussed for the first time and a decision about separating from Spain has been made. Very symbolic and very meaningful for every Argentinian.

Inside you will find some XVIIIth century artifacts, such as jewelry, clothes, or paints. The museum is not big, so booking 1 - 1,5 hours to see it is completely enough.

Obelisco

Argentinians love huge monuments, like Monumentos a la Bandera all over the country, big Jesus monuments, and... mentioned Obelisco from Buenos Aires. Sigmund Freud would probably say it's because of some complexes, but let's skip psychology and focus on the tourist attractions.

Obelisco was made in the 30s of the XXth century, so it's relatively new. It's 67 meters high and... it was very close that the construction would be canceled. The major of the city wanted it to be demolished when workers were halfway to finishing the monument. He was saying, the Obelisco is ugly, ruins the aesthetic value of the neighborhood, and maybe dangerous if someday it will collapse. Luckily it survived and since then it's a significant part of the city.

Sometimes the Obelisco is stylized in something to commemorate the most important events, like in 2005 when it was covered in a pink condom for World AIDS day or when it was changed into the pencil for "La Noche de Lapices" _source

Old harbor

The old harbor in Buenos Aires does not look old at all. It's the area that has lost its prior function and evolved into the boulevards next to the water channel, full of fancy restaurants and clubs. The marvelous place where we could spend the whole day, although remember that it's quite expensive here (at least for Argentinians - for foreigners the whole country is relatively cheap, especially if you know some tricks related to money exchange - I will write the whole article about it).

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Honestly, I'm very positively surprised by that museum. Living in Chile, I have learned that even the biggest objects of that type are relatively small and the collection is not that impressive. 300 - 400 years is not enough to create the best museum and being used to those that I have seen in London, Brussels, or Madrid, my expectations were always very high. The National Museum from Buenos Aires is different though - there is a room for the Argentinian Art as well as for the Pre-columbian artifacts, but besides that, we can find here the paints from the early medieval times (mostly middle Germany region), as well as those from France, Spain, Ireland, Holland, etc from Baroque, Romanticism, Renaissance. Everyone will surely find something for themselves here. There are a few paints of the biggest painters from this world too: Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet, or Goya. Definitely worth visiting.

I do not know how much is the entrance, because we did not have a reservation. There were not too many people at that time there, so the staff allowed us to enter for free, right from the street (another reason why I love Argentina so much).

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Floralis Generica

It's the interactive sculpture of the huge flower that opens and closes during the day. The sculpture has been made in 2002 and remains one of the most photographed elements of the city. Do not expect any show or additional tours, but as it's located right next to the museum that I have described in the previous point, you can spend extra 10-15 minutes to come there, enjoy its view and take a selfie. As it's located in a rather big park, if you have more free time, you may consider making a picnic there.

The construction is made totally of steel, it's 20 meters high and the buenosaires gob website assumes that it was the first interactive sculpture in the world that was based in 100% on hydroelectric and solar panels. It does not only represent nature but it's also carbon footprint neutral, it does not harm the environment.

Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur

There are two ways how you can explore that natural reservoir right in the center of the city: the most popular and most attractive is to take one of the routes that go between the lakes or leads you to the beach. The reservoir is available for everyone but... it's closed on rainy days and right after the rain. It's also not adapted for people with disabilities. They can try the second way, which is taking Avenida Herman Giralt and exploring the park without really entering it. Even from there, you can see the swamps, lakes, marvelous flora, and the enormous number of birds. The place is great to chill out, calm down a bit, maybe sit with the book or paint. Just remember to make sure you have a solar protector and a hat with you because, in the summer, the sun is very strong here.

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Summary

That will be all for today. I have presented some of the most interesting attractions (at least in my opinion), leaving the second part for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. You can read it HERE

_{PS: The photos included in this post belong to me. You can find on them me, my mother and my two partners}