The Colors of Buenos Aires

As we took a city tour, we stopped at La Casa Rosada, The Pink House. It is the presidential palace and the official seat of the government. Its front balcony has hosted many famous people. Eva Peron and Pope John Paul II have spoken from it and this was where Madonna sang 'Don't cry for me, Argentina' for the movie.

In my opinion, the most concentrated area of colors is in the barrio La Boca, The Mouth. There was a large wave of immigrants to Argentina during the later part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. About 50% of them were Italian, with a large percentage from Genoa. Genoa is a port town and many of these new immigrants settled at la boca, the mouth of the river. As they did in Genoa, they painted the houses with paint leftover from the shipyards.

A major part of the history of La Boca is Benito Quinquela Martin. By the late 1950’s, La Boca looked nothing like it had in the early part of the century. The colorful housing was being pulled down and being replaced with blocks of flats. An orphan who had been adopted by immigrants, Quinquela, as he is commonly known, grew up in La Boca and is a famous Argentinean painter. Because the port of La Boca had been his inspiration, he decided to do something to preserve it.

The, literally, little street of Caminito was one of the results of this preservation effort. It shows the way La Boca used to look, with brightly painted corrugated metal housing. On the weekends, Caminito becomes a place for local artists to show their wares and couples come to dance the tango in the street.

To see some of the photos we took, please visit Travel Snippets and More and click on the Category: Argentina