Where We Be
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| La Boca District -- Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| A peek inside the famous La Boca soccer stadium -- notice the black-and-white Coca Cola ads |
| Bright splashes of color characterize the homes of the La Boca District |
| Not to be outdone, we put on a few moves of our own. What can we say, tango runs hot in our Anglo-Saxon blood. |
La Boca is where tango originated. Did you know
tango was a poor man's dance, or that it was
originally only danced by men? It wasn't until tango
became all the craze in Paris that the middle and
upper classes in Argentina came to appreciate and
adopt it as their own.
If you go to La Boca today, you'll see some of the
most historic tango halls in Buenos Aires; but this
historically immigrant and poor community is still a
rough-and-tumble neighborhood. Many guide-
books suggest you take a taxi to and from the
tango halls at night and stick to the touristed
streets during the day.
The most touristed street in La Boca is the famous
El Caminito—think "La Boca Lite" in that it's safe
and sanitized for tourists. The houses are painted
in bright splashes of color—a tradition since the
days when immigrants used leftover paint from
their jobs sprucing up ships in the river harbor to
paint their corrugated metal homes.
We saw the famous Boca Juniors soccer stadium
and learned how the Coke advertisements there
are all in black and white. Why? Because red and
white, the traditional Coke colors, are the colors of
hated cross-town rival La Plata!
tango was a poor man's dance, or that it was
originally only danced by men? It wasn't until tango
became all the craze in Paris that the middle and
upper classes in Argentina came to appreciate and
adopt it as their own.
If you go to La Boca today, you'll see some of the
most historic tango halls in Buenos Aires; but this
historically immigrant and poor community is still a
rough-and-tumble neighborhood. Many guide-
books suggest you take a taxi to and from the
tango halls at night and stick to the touristed
streets during the day.
The most touristed street in La Boca is the famous
El Caminito—think "La Boca Lite" in that it's safe
and sanitized for tourists. The houses are painted
in bright splashes of color—a tradition since the
days when immigrants used leftover paint from
their jobs sprucing up ships in the river harbor to
paint their corrugated metal homes.
We saw the famous Boca Juniors soccer stadium
and learned how the Coke advertisements there
are all in black and white. Why? Because red and
white, the traditional Coke colors, are the colors of
hated cross-town rival La Plata!
| We had no idea Mom & Dad were such great tango dancers until we saw them on the streets of La Boca dancing for their cruise fare |
| Robin with Argentine soccer legend Maradona |
| Rough-and-tumble immigrant district La Boca is the historic home of tango |
| Corrugated houses are made beautiful with swaths of bright paint |
| I snapped this photo right before a major downpour -- notice the guy in the upper-story window peering out at the rain |
| We adopted the restaurant down the street from my parents' hotel, called Cafe Arenales, and ate there for lunch and dinner every day of their visit. Our waiter, Carlos, made it especially fun. |
