Last day in Buenos Aires: some random factoids about history, geography and tango.... and more beef!

We are taking it easy on our last day in Buones Aires:  There was a morning tour, where we saw some new parts of town: The 2nd port (first one was in "La boca" which we visited yesterday), which was in use for only 30years, because not big enough to sustain the rapid growth of the city.

Random Factoid 1) People from Buenos Aires are not - as I had suggested in a previous blog- called "BuenoesAirians" - they are called Portenios - which makes no sense at all...But they are called that because they live on a port.  However, shouldn't the city then be called "Porte" of "Porto"???

It is now the nicest neighborhood in the city, lined by fancy apartments, and wide spaces.   It is the only part of Buenos Aires which is actually facing the water - It is surprising how little one ever sees the water here, considering it is a major port.

Random factoid 2) Our guide suggested that the early settlers built the town to face the pampas, because it was new and exciting to them, and also because the river is brown (see post from 2 days ago), so they did not think it was pretty.  

 Still, I though this was the nicest part of town (to live in at least), including this architecturally significant foot bridge;
This cool set of workout equipment on the dock (Suzanne and me acting silly and trying - but not succeeding -to burn off some of the beef-related calories we have been consuming......);

 And this beautiful military training sail boat.  It is all very reminiscent of Sydney harbor.

 We even got a picture of Joe and me together, with the cool bridge in the background, because I feel that every few days or so, we need proof that he is still around.....

We then went back to the San Palermo district, where we visited a food market - but after seeing the central food market in Marrakesh, I think we are spoiled and found this one less than exciting.  It had however the obligatory cases of offal, which always makes us American go "ewwwwwwwww"...  but seems perfectly common almost anywhere else in the world.

Random factoid 3:   People in Argentina consume 60lb of beef/ year, beating even the USA in beef consumption.... 

We drove back to La Boca (where the painted houses are).  On the way, we passed this incongruous Russian church (there were a lot of Russian emigrants in the 30th):

Since we had already seen La Boca yesterday, it gave Joe the opportunity to take some artsy shots....

And for us to discover this papier mache statue of the pope,  welcoming us to his restaurant (I think that's what he is doing, why else would he be there??).
Oddly enough, this is the only effigy, or painting, or nick-knack representation of the pope we have seen,
which I find surprising. 

Randowm factoid 4)  "La Boca" means "the mouth".  it is so named because it sits at the mouth of the river.  Bonus factoid:  the "la Boca" soccer team colors are blue and gold - same as the Swedish flag, because they could not agree on the colors when the team was formed, and decided they would take the colors of whatever ship showed up next.  It was a ship from Sweden....

During our drive around town, our guide talked about the history of tango:  first, it is important to understand that Tango is not just a dance.  Here tango means the music, the singing and the dance.  The bandoleon (small accordion) plays a key part of it, and so do the songs - which are supposed to be sad (or it's just not tango).  Yesterday, I gave one definition of it, today's is very different in spirit:  "Tango is a sad thought which is sung".

While the origins of it are not 100% clear, it is obviously a mixture of the different cultures that came here, with strong gypsy and Spanish influences, but also Russian and some African.
Random factoid 5 and 6):  they are VERY few black people in Buenos Aires, because, unlike Brazil and it's sugar plantation, Argentinans did not bring in many black slaves. There were a few in Buenos Aires, mostly as servants, and they died in disproportionate numbers during the yellow fever epidemic.  Also, there was basically no native culture here - the Incas, Aztecs, etc... were all North and West.  Around Buenos Aires were only hunters, which were - duh- exterminated by the first Spanish.  Consequently, there is basically no "pre-history" here - all history starts with the Spanish.  This is not true in the North of the country, where there is actually some push by native culture to get some of the land back.

Tango is a critical part of Argentina's culture, and helps define its people:  they feel that the difference between Brazil's Samba and Argentina's Tango is a good allegory for the difference between the 2 cultures:  people in Argentina are more melancholy, while Brazilians are more exuberant.

We had lunch with our tour group (and interesting and varied mixed of old white people....  what are WE doing there????).  I'll have more time to write about them during the 2 days crossing of the Drake passage, which starts tomorrow night  (assuming I don't spend the 2 days puking overboard...).  We are leaving early and flying to Ushuia, at the very tip of Patagonia, then taking a tour of the Tiera del Fuego National park, before we embark in the evening.  I may not be able to post blogs while sailing (I may be able to post text, but certainly not pictures) - we'll see how the wifi works once on board.....
In the mean time, I leave you with this last peice of beef (lunch):

Dinner will be take out salads and fancy sandwiches, plus some Argentinian wine, in our room....  Sound great!