La Boca

La Boca

I just got back from La Boca (the mouth). La Boca is kinda a working class neighborhood made up of mostly Italian immigrants. The main draw is the interesting buildings made of tin and painted in bright colors. The story goes that the the immigrants didn't have house so they made shacks out of tin and painted the shacks with left over boat paint. Many artist and performers are attracted to this neighborhood and they can still be found there today.

Tango and Soccer are supposed to have been introduced to Argentina in the Boca barrio. You can still find people dancing Tango in the street and many soccer themed sights. (Check the photos)

I really liked this neighborhood. The caminito (little walk) was nice. There were many people taking pictures and others asking the tourists if they wanted to take a picture with someone dressed up in a tango outfit. I really liked the feel of the neighborhood. You could see the river front from one of the streets. The docks had that unpleasant smell of the ocean - somehow I didn't mind it much. Many of the roads were cobblestone. What I really liked was that the barrio was nice too look at but still rough around the edges. There were still "bad" parts of the neighborhood. I saw many stray dogs, old buildings, graffiti, and a car on blocks. I also went to a museum of paper. I wanted to go to the Museum of Fine Art in the Boca barrio but there was a huge group of school kids so I decided to pass the time in the smaller museum next door. The paper and engraving museum was pretty cool. By the time I left I was getting sleepy and I had ran out of battery power on the camera so I decided to catch a cab back. Come hell or high water tomorrow I'm going to go somewhere on the Subte. I'm tired of paying 5$US each way for cab rides.