A stopover in Buenos Aires: Some highlights

By Hilke Segbers Apr 13, 2010, 14:46 GMT

Buenos Aires - She has been dead for nearly 60 years. But Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, or Evita as she was popularly called, is still omnipresent in Buenos Aires.

'She always stood up there on the small balcony on the left,' says tour guide Maria, pointing to the facade of the Casa Rosada presidential palace.

The people loved then-president Juan Peron's wife, who died in 1952, and to this day cultivate her memory. Almost every visitor to Buenos Aires makes it to her mausoleum, even if the visit to the city is a brief one.

And there are many such visitors. Argentina's capital is a favourite stopover destination for travellers who want to tour the southern parts of South America.

Buenos Aires is actually too large to go to for just a short visit. The metropolis has some 14 million inhabitants. A good tour guide can at best convey a strong impression of a city in just one day.

The central square is Plaza de Mayo. White symbols appear to be painted on the pavement stones, but on closer scrutiny, they turn out to be stylized headscarves.

These are dedicated to the 'Madres de la Plaza Mayo' - the mothers of those men who during the military dictatorship of the 1970s were taken away and killed. For years, the mothers converged on the square, and silently marched in a circle to demonstrate against arbitrary rule and violence in the country.

The city's streets are laid out like a chessboard. There are hardly any curves to speak of.

In the central city area are the pedestrian zones of Florida and Reconquista. Florida is the main shopping attraction for vacationers, the place where the quality leather goods with the inlaid silver decorations - the classic souvenir from Argentina - are to be found.

Those who are not interested in the T-shirt shops should keep on going to the higher street addresses. This is where the exclusive boutiques are located.

In the courtyards behind the buildings, often there are small gardens, bars and restaurants.

For cafe fans, however, an absolute must is found not in a back courtyard, but rather on the lively Avenida de Mayo. There, the 'Tortoni' has been famous for its cafe specialities for some 150 years. But tender steaks and good wines are also on the menu there. With its wooden panelling, the cafe is a kind of mixture of the styles of Paris and Vienna coffee houses.

The harbour area, which up to 20 years ago was a wasteland, has become, similar to the Docklands in London, a trendy quarter. Today the Puerto Madero, featuring elegant ensembles of refurbished buildings, is one of the most expensive areas of Buenos Aires. In its waters, expensive yachts lie at anchor.

A magnet for visitors is the presidential palace where Evita lived before she succumbed to cancer at the age of 33.

The nation's icon today lies at rest in the central cemetery La Recoleta. It is in the Duarte family mausoleum that the embalmed remains of Evita found their final rest - after an odyssey, lasting years, which also included Europe. Today, hundreds of Evita's admirers still visit the mausoleum daily.

Those who like to stroll through markets and scour antiques shops should head for the city's oldest district, San Telmo. Here just about anything can be found - from old kitchen shelves from the 1950s to heavy crystal chandeliers.

During the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, a motorway was built straight through the district's narrow alleys, providing motorists a view inside the living rooms of residents. A few years ago, torture chambers were found hidden in the motorway's concrete pillars - the noise of the rushing traffic helped to drown out the cries of those being tortured.

The rubble of the old houses which had been demolished to make way for the urban motorway was simply dumped into the basin of the old harbour of La Boca. Today this site is devoid of any useful purpose and old cranes rust away.

But the taverns of the area are holding on, some becoming restaurants. Street artists are selling their pictures and a few galleries have sprung up. For the tourists, couples dance the tango on the street. It is here in La Boca that visitors start to fathom why Buenos Aires has been dubbed the 'Paris of the South.'

As to personal safety, for those who like to go exploring on their own the central city is not a problem. But some of the side streets near the harbour are not recommended.

Generally speaking, the southern part of the city is less safe, while the more affluent northern part is not a problem. The simplest way to get around is to book a taxi to visit all the most important sights. For five hours, you pay 200 pesos - about 52 dollars.

The best times of year to visit Buenos Aires are spring and autumn, when the weather is steady and temperatures are around 20 degrees Celsius.

Between October and December, the chacarandas - the huge trees lining the boulevards - are in blossom and visitors go walking on a virtual carpet of petals. In the summer - December to February - the city is hot and sticky. Only the mosquitos, who will join you in the taxi for the ride in from the airport, like it then.

Those who want to stay longer than a day or two should also consider a side excursion to Uruguay. On the other side of the Rio de la Plata river is the small colonial town of Colonia. A speedboat takes visitors to its clean beach in 50 minutes. The beaches of Buenos Aires, by contrast, cannot be recommended.