We walked beyong the Calle Florida to the main thoroughfare of Buenos Aires, Avenida 9 de Julio, a 425 foot wide avenue named for Argentine Independence Day. An obelisk stands in the center of what Portenos call the widest city street in the world. One of many fountains dotting the long strip of avenue. They are lighted at night. Along 9 de Julio stands the Teatro Colon filling one square city clock and housing the classical music life. Underneath the beautiful building are the rehearsal halls and various workshops needed to prepare scenery and costumes for the performances in the theater. A memorial to a troupe of ballerinas who died in a plane crash on their way to a performance stands at the main entrance. Unfortunately, because the theater is undergoing renovation at the momenht, we were unable to see more than the facade of the building.
Most of Buenos Aires has a French air although the older colonial buildings are Spanish and La Boca has an Italian air. The inhabitants of the city hail from all over Europe. Their telephone directory is filled not only with Spanish surnames, but with the names of the German, Italian, Polish and other European countries.
Yerba mate is a bitter tea like drink that is consumed all over south America. In Argentina one drinks it with a special metal cup and a metal straw that serves as a spoon. On 9 de Julio Avenue we found a young man selling and engraving mate cups for the locals.
Sidewalk flower shops are common on the downtown streets, as are kiosks selling magazines and souvenirs. I was surprised, though, to see a selection of pornographic magazines at one of the stalls.
We looked at a lot of restaurants before we decided to eat at La Chacra, a place we remembered fondly from our last visit. Unfortunately, the quality of the beef is not as it once was. That was the biggest disappointment of the entire trip.
Tango is a style of music that gave birth to the dance of the same name that was invented by the poorer residents Buenos Aires. It began as a street dance of the people, and it is fitting that today it still can be found on the streets of the city. On our way back to the hotel after lunch, we came across another tango group performing for tips. But this time, instead of a single couple, there were two men and one woman. The two men performed one dance by themselves. Evidently that is another part of tango that we in the U.S. are unaware of.
