La Boca

Today we visited the far off neighborhood of La Boca (at the bottom of BA).  Here's the trusty map again (remember we are in Palermo):

La Boca is most known among tourists for it's colorful houses.  In the mid-19th century, La Boca became home to poor Spanish and Italian immigrants who settled along the Riachuelo (river dividing the city from the rest of BA).  After sprucing up the barges with fresh paint, they used the leftovers for their houses and that's how the colorful neighborhood got it's claim to fame.

The Subte doesn't reach La Boca, so the only way to get there is by bus.  We hopped on our first Buenos Aires bus, which wasn't as confusing as I thought it would be (since there seem to be more buses than people here) and we were on our way.

There are very few seats on the bus, leaving room for lots of people to stand.  The bus was MUCH slower than the Subte, as it has to succumb to the whims of traffic.  The Subte is MUCH more efficient and I consider buses an absolute last resort.

We passed Casa Rosada (Pink House-the Argentine version of The White House) on the way:

After the longest hour of my life, we were finally there.  First thing we saw was the river:

The Riachuelo is full of toxic waste from years of untreated sewage and garbage dumping, leaving it murky and smelly.  Not a place to stop for a swim (unless you want to grow a third arm or become sterile).

Street view:

This neighborhood has become a major touristy area, filled with street vendors, tourists shops, restaurants and tango dancers.

Shall we dance?

We walked through a street fair to get to El Caminito (the main street):

One stand made stuff out of matches:

This street was adjacent to El Caminito, filled with colorful shops and outdoor stands.

Experience La Boca.

Here's El Caminito.  If you see pictures of La Boca, this is probably exactly what you'll see:

These are the historic, colorful houses the poor immigrants inhabited over a hundred years ago.

At the end of the street, a mural depicts past struggles of the neighborhood.  

We were a bit too lazy to walk all the way up to it, so this is from afar.

We passed more colorful buildings, restaurants and shops:

There were a few different flea market-type inlets on this street selling lots of souvenirs and art:

A souvenir and true work of art rolled into one:

Amazing.

There were lots of these paper-mache-type figures all over:

Even one of the Pope!

Not creepy at all.

We got to the front of El Caminito and found The Pope again!

Man, that guy sure moves fast!

We walked around the corner, away from all the riff-raff and walked to Fundacion Proa.

Fundacion Proa is known as one of the most cutting-edge art museums in BA.  However, we didn't go to look at art (I just can't take anymore).  I mean look at what we saw just walking in:

Like I said, we didn't go for art, we went for Cafe Proa:

It got a star from Lonely Planet and if something gets a star, I need to go to there!  We walked upstairs and into the cafe:

It was a nice day, so we sat outside on a comfy sofa:

The view was great:

Entree menu:

They brought us an assortment of breads and hummus:

Aaron ordered coconut curry with chicken and rice and it was ginger-y and delicious:

I ordered seafood rice and OMG there's nothing in the world like perfectly cooked seafood:

I haven't had seafood cooked to perfection in far too long.  

Aaron also got cafe con leche (coffee with milk):

Coffee here always comes with a glass of water and some sort of cookie.  Yum!

This gourmet meal was excellent and altogether costs $27!  Don't reasonable prices just make everything taste just a little bit sweeter?  Take note, restaurateurs!

 Even the bathrooms were interesting.  The door was a large, wooden revolving door:

and the stalls were glass:

F-A-N-C-Y!  Yea, it's time to get on outta here.

Next up, we walked a couple blocks to La Bombonera Stadium (futbol=soccer stadium), home of the Boca Juniors.  These paintings were on the side of the stadium:

as well as these plaques:

They even had a walk of fame!

We wanted to see what the fuss with soccer was all about, so we paid $10 each for entrance into the museum and the stadium.  Let's get our futbol on!

There were TVs everywhere with sports news and footage from games:

Trophies:

I think this is the first team (1930):

Current team?

Now let's get to the stadium:

GOAL!

Picture of the stadium during a game:

We went upstairs to the cafe and of course they have a huge wine selection:

The team even has their own wine:

View of outside:

That's basically La Boca!  Tourists aren't recommended to venture off the beaten path because it's not always safe, so that about did it for us.  On the bus ride home (almost 2 hours!  Somebody shoot me!), Aaron snapped a really faraway picture of the Obelisco we saw in The Center weeks ago:

We've finally visited every neighborhood in BA and somehow I feel very fulfilled.  Each had it's own point of view and something unique to offer.  Don't get me wrong, there are still a few more tourist things we want to do  in BA (visit the Sunday feria in San Telmo and take a tour of Casa Rosada), but I still feel like we've checked a lot of boxes on our list and we've gotten the real BA experience.  I'm currently wiped from lack of sleep, so I'm going to bed early (meaning before the sun comes up.  Yea, I need a job.  No, I don't.).