HOME Buenos Aires, Argentina
Portenos (residents of BA) thrive in a lifestyle developed over the years. Buenos Aires is a very European city, and its residents have cultivated the cafe lifestyle - for want of a better term - common there. Late nights, clubs, wine and smoking are the norm, together with the discussions that go along with this.
Some portenos, when asked how they would differentiate their city from another great neighbor, Rio de Janeiro, point to more education in Buenos Aires, as well as more elegance and a greater emphasis on the intellectual aspects of life. To this might be added a less relentless pursuit of carnal pleasures. Which is not to say that it does not exist. Speaking from a male perspective, the women are beautiful. They do not exude sex like the women in Rio do. Rather, their faces have a lived-in beauty that speaks of midnight passion and lost loves.
There are two sets of images below. The first set is from a 2006. The second is from a 2003. If you are interested in learning a bit about the city you need to look at both.
Click on the pictures. (If you plan to visit you may want to see Tips for Travelers.)
2006:
 The Sunday San Telmo fair is not most people's favorite place to buy things. But it is good entertainment, full of mimes like this windswept couple (you cant see the woman), and the lady behind, who may be the soul of Mother Teresa? |
 Shopping paradise Florida Street is good for entertainment as well. This gentleman was admiring the tailor's dummy very closely, but moved away just as this image was taken |
 Tigre is a lovely little town an hour's train ride from Buenos Aires. It sits in the delta of the Parana river, one of the largest in the world. Homes are scattered all over the delta - with no roads, every home, school and nursery depends on boats. Here a supply boat offloads. |
 The Japanese Garden in Palermo. |
 One of the city's many dog walkers. |
 This is what greets you when you walk into the zoo. |
 A red panda. |
 The BA zoo probably saves money by letting visitors buy (approved) food for animals. Here a dromedary seeks out food. |
 The capybara is the largest know rodent, as big as a medium sized dog. If you take the boat ride at Iguacu (Iguassu) Falls you may see a colony. |
 Tango at the Cafe Tortoni. |
 A tree at the Recoleta Cemetery. |
2003:
 A tango demonstration at the Sunday market in San Telmo (Dorrego Plaza). |
Recoletta Cemetery, high on the list of all guide books. As you can see from the picture, it is laid out like a city. This is one of the "streets". |
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That is Eva Peron's last resting place - the journeys she made after death is quite a story. People still come in droves to visit. |
 Florida Street, which stretches almost for a kilometer, starting from near San Martin Plaza. It is closed to traffic and is lined with all sorts of stores. |
Puerto Madera is also known for its homage to women. All the streets are named after women, for instance. In the background is the Bridge of the Women though, as some say, it seems more like a bridge for the man. |
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Widest river in the world - this is the River Plate, 220 km (135 m) wide here, stretching all the way to Uruguay. |
Caminito Street in the La Boca area, one of Buenos Aires' most recognizable images. The story goes that when Italian immigrants first came here, they used leftover paint on the ships for their houses, to protect them from humidity. Thus the varied and brilliant colors. |