La Boca

(Katherine) Besides the Obelisco, probably the most famous images that represents Buenos Aires are the painted buildings down the ally of Caminito in the barrio of La Boca. The first immigrants who settled here built their shelters out of corrugated metal and brightly colored paint left over from the shipyards from the highly polluted Riachuelo River. Today, the ally is considered an outdoor, interactive museum with recreations of such structures (this is important to note, as we spent part of the day looking for a physical building on our quest for the “museum”).


We had been told by numerous people that this was the most dangerous neighborhood in Buenos Aires, and to watch our backs and pocketbooks the whole time we were there. We expected the worst, and traveled with minimal cash and no credit cards, no flashy jewelry, etc. I had also been told that the 152 bus was an extremely easy and cheap means to get to the neighborhood and this turned out to be accurate. We caught it on Santa Fe, and literally got off at the end of the line and walked a few blocks to the right - a great way to save several pesos verses taking a cab. We walked with caution, hands on purses and wallets, until finally we came upon the infamous La Boca.....and suddenly I felt like I was at Pier 39 in San Francisco, right down to the waterfront atmosphere. This was not a dangerous neighborhood – it was a tourist trap. Every restaurant had a “greeter” who harassed you to get you to visit their venue and eat their overpriced food. If you dared look a a piece of art you became engaged in a conversation about how unique it was; ever though there were 10 more just like it next door. There were a handful of people dressed up in very traditional tango costumes who tried to solicit you to take a photo with them, although you never actually saw them dancing to validate their costumes....hmmm... We learned quickly that everyone's sales technique was to first ask you to try/see/taste/buy their goods, and if you start to walk away they ask “where are you from?” to suck you back into a dialogue. We walked around for a bit, read about the history, took several photos, and quickly departed. It was too overwhelming being attacked by salespeople. Interestingly, once a huge tour bus arrived, they all seemed to lose interest in us which made for an easier escape.

A quick side note about our departure. In our haste to leave the area, I hailed the first taxi that came along, and forgot about the rule that our first driver from the airport had told us. ALWAYS look for the company name “Radio Taxi” when hailing a cab in Buenos Aires because they are generally trustworthy and will not take you for a “ride.” Sure enough, the ONE taxi that we took that was not a Radio Taxi took a turn down a street which made no sense. Luckily I am adept with maps and directions, so as soon as he turned, I started telling Robert, “we're going the wrong way” and started pointing and getting out my map. I think the driver noticed my subtle backseat commotion because he soon turned back on to the main street within a couple of blocks. Luckily my mistake only cost me 5 pesos, but if I didn't know where we were it could have been an expensive mistake!

We had the cab take us back to San Telmo, our new favorite neighborhood, and decided to look for a venue recommended by our friend Esteban – Gibraltar. We actually had given up on finding it when we finally stumbled across it – a wonderful old bar with tons of character. The front area has leather couches and small tables, and the back has a small classic bar made of dark wood. The drinks were fairly cheap and they offered Thai food, but we opted for traditional bar snacks instead after learning our lesson with bad Tex-Mex. I would highly recommend this as a place for a happy hour, and would even make a great local hangout if you were staying in the area.