Crashing into Boca

Anne and our first visitor in Buenos Aires checking out La Boca a few weeks ago.

What Americans celebrate as Labor Day is simply known as "el lunes" here in Argentina, so Anne and Mark were among the very few in Buenos Aires who were celebrating this occasion by not laboring.  So, they decided to take advantage of the situation by playing tourist and buying tickets to the "Hop on, Hop off" bus for a ride around the city.  Anne had done this tour before with our guest from the U.S. (anyone who was hoping to be Anne, Mark, and HBomb's first guest in Buenos Aires - sorry, that spot has been taken).

Labor day also marked the first time that Anne and Mark were in a car accident in Buenos Aires.  Well, a bus accident anyway.  And the lesson to be learned from this?  If you're going to get hit by a pick up truck with a redneck conversion (pictured below), it's best to do so in a big ole double-decker bus.  Honestly, we didn't feel anything.

So, anyway, what we think happened was that our bus turned right from the middle lane (which is, surprisingly, NOT an illegal maneuver here) and the pick up truck trying to sneak by on the right just kept on keeping on and broad sided the bus.

Then as required by law, the baldest guy at the scene has to write down all of the relevant facts.  After he got that done, he returned to the Hair Club for Men and the bus was back in action.  Anne and Mark, of course, went top level on the tour bus, that's the only way to do it.  

"I hate this so much," -  the lady over Anne's shoulder.

From there we had a pretty good view of the sights of the city.  Plazas, government buildings, art, other car accidents... this tour had it all.

By this point in the tour, Mark had ditched the headphones and commentary, so let's just go ahead and guess that this was .... parliament?

Eventually, the tour wound its way to the neighborhood known as "La Boca."  The origins of the name of this neighborhood are somewhat in dispute.  It was settled by a lot of immigrants and many of them were from a neighborhood in Genoa, Italy called "Boccadasse," so "Boca" could be a shortened homage to that homeland.  Good story, has a nice immigrant legend vibe to it. I like that.

Or, since "Boca" means "mouth," and the neighborhood sits at the mouth of the Riacheulo river, "Boca" could be a reference to the mouth of the river.  Makes sense, seems plausible.

But Mark is a true believer in Occam's razor (which is roughly translated as, "Keep it even simpler, stupid").  Look at a map of the neighborhoods of B.A. - this one looks like a boca (granted, it looks like the boca de una tortuga, but still, a boca).  Obviously, "La Boca" is the abbreviated version of "Turtle's Mouth".

Anywho, regardless of how it got its name, this area is now called La Boca, and it is home to a few pretty big deals.  First, and probably most famous, this is where the Boca Juniors play their soccer.

Anne and Mark drove by the "Bombanera" (literally translates as "chocolate box" but this is what the Boca Juniors' stadium is called).  People were lining up to take the tour and check out the Juniors' museum - and there wasn't even a match today.  The stadium is coming up on 100 years old and is located right in the middle of the neighborhood - think Wrigley Field or Lambeau - so it is a pretty intimate setting for sporting events.

As you may know, soccer is a pretty big deal around here.  The Boca Juniors and River are the two big league squads in Buenos Aires and their matches are quite the events, especially when they play one another.  These matches are called "superclasicos" and they are pretty intense.  In fact, this rivalry is more than a "friendly" one.  At the last superclasico in May, for example, the Boca Juniors had to forfeit because some of their fans busted through a security fence and pepper sprayed the River players at half time.  

So head's up on that.  The second thing to know about La Boca, which maybe you have gathered from the behavior of the soccer fans, is that this is a bit of a rougher neighborhood.  And the third thing to know about La Boca is "El Caminito."

El Caminito is a small street that you can't miss.  All of the buildings are brightly painted in many different colors, with street vendors and tango dancers competing for your attention (and your pesos!).  This street was made famous - well, at least in Argentina - when it inspired a tango song.  Carlos Gardel (aka "Carlitos" or the "King of Tango") sang it, and now it's a standard of the genre.

After a bit of touristing, it was time for some chow.  Anne and Mark found a nice, 130 year old Italian tavern and went inside.  After taking some recommendations from the waiter, Anne and Mark apparently ordered absolutely everything.