Saturday, 5 October 2014
From here I then walked to Avenue Córdoba to the Teatro Colon, the seven story Opera House which is apparently among the world's top five opera theaters. It was opened in 1908 and is world famous. There are tours available in English, and I wanted to go on one but it was all sold out for the day. So I had to be content with some photographs of Teatro Colon. From Teatro Colon I walked towards the Obelisk, which was built in 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city; this was the spot where the Argentine flag was flown for the first time in Buenos Aires. The Obelisk is about 67 meters high and was apparently constructed in 4 weeks.
Passing the Obelisk I had to cross over the widest avenue in the world, Avenida 9 de Julio or the 9th of July Avenue (named after Argentina's Independence Day on 9th of July). There used to be buildings in the centre of the avenue, but all these buildings were removed to make the avenue wider, and now it is the widest in the world. It really is wide. Only one building remains in the middle of the avenue now, a white building with a black and white painting of Evita Peron on the wall.
Then I walked along Avenue De Mayo, and I came upon Cafe Tortoni. So I read that this is the most famous cafe in Buenos Aires, and it has been patronized by numerous celebrities, historians, politicians and artistes from around the world since it opened in 1858. It is perhaps the oldest and most traditional cafe in Buenos Aires, and apparently has been used as a set in many movies. There were a group of 3 people waiting to be seated outside the cafe, so I queued up behind them and in about 5 minutes I was in! Here I had a cup of coffee and some sandwiches, nothing special but I wanted the experience of being in this famous cafe more than anything else. Here again the waiter tried selling me all things beef, and was aghast when I said I don't eat beef. I burst out laughing.
After my coffee I walked on ahead along Avenue de Mayo, until I reached a building called Cabildo, which was the former Spanish town hall. This was a fascinating old colonial building. Just in front of this building was a train station called Estacion Peru, one of the many stations that run the A Line subway. This was the first subway line opened in Buenos Aires in 1913, and is the 13th oldest subway system in the world, and the oldest in South America. I entered the station, took some pictures of the train (which looked more modern that I would have liked it to be) and then out of the station again.
And then I was in Plaza de Mayo again, I had already visited this place whilst on the city tour yesterday, but now I had a bit more time to explore. I first went into the Cathedral, which is also the mausoleum of San Martin. It is the oldest church in continuos service in Argentina. It is a beautiful church with stained glass, paintings and beautiful statues. The mausoleum area is heavily guarded and the public were not allowed to enter this area. Then I walked around Plaza de Mayo. It is strange, Argentina is the only country so far without a plaza de armas, although Plaza de Mayo could be it, with a cathedral nearby. But it is not called as such, and it was a Spanish colony so I am not sure what happened here. The Plaza de Mayo is commonly used for numerous gatherings and political protests, most notably the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, a regular assembly of mothers protesting the loss of their children called Desaparecidos (the disappeared ones) during the Dirty War, a bleak moment in Argentina's history.
In the 1980s there was a brief military dictatorship which the Argentine Government refers to as the Dirty War. During this time, military and security forces conducted guerrilla violence against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism. Victims of the violence included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists and alleged sympathizers. Some 10,000 people "disappeared", these were people who were considered to be a political or ideological threat to the military junta.
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