Argentina A-Z: B for Buen Aire, C for Caminito

B for BuenAire

It can happen to anyone when travelling – seeing or finding that small detail that links the place we are visiting to our home town, and depite being aware we are presented with a mere coincidence, we feel a rush of excitement.  That’s how I felt, when I discovered that the name of Buenos Aires derives from the devotion of the chaplain of Pedro Mendoza, who founded the city, to the Virgin Mary of the Fair Winds – in Spanish:NuestraSeñora de BuenAire. This Virgin was believed to have protected sailors, according to a legend that tells the story of a Statue of the Virgin Mary that was rescued from the water after helping miraculously to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea. The statue, called in Italian Nostra Signora di Bonaria, is to this day conserved in an abbey, in Cagliari (Sardinia), which is the town where I was born. 

C for Caminito

Caminito is one of the most famous areas of Buenos Aires: many visitors who are in town for only a few days consider it the main attraction. Indeed, even porteños (what Buenos Aires citizens call themselves) consider it a place con buenaonda (“good energy”). For locals is an artsy refuge in which to see the latest exhibition or enjoy a film screening in the Museum Fundación PROA, which also has a book shop/reading area for quiet-seeking arts readers, and a cafe that offers a great view of the Richuela River, in spite of its smell and pollution. The modern building is the terrace of one of the oldest parts of Buenos Aires, and offers a great contrast not only to the touristy noise of the Caminito itself, but also to the decadence of the poor lanes of La Boca.

In Caminito I had my first alfajores (typical argentinian sweet), I bought a straw hat which I then forgot to bring to Mexico with me; I fantasised about buying several canvases and spending money in each taller of artists who would make their own product: but I restrained; I had parrilla (typical local barbecued meat) in a local coventillo called El Paraiso, where the musician who entertained the public sang a few Italian songs and told me he spent a summer in Sardinia touring with EdoardoBennato. I have a sweet memory of each time I went either on my own or with Adriana.

No matter how many tourists pass by and how commercial it might at times seem: the place still conserves its original meaning and the fascination still lies in the features given to it by the people who made it important: the pastel and bright walls majestically painted by Benito Quinquela in the 1950’s are still vivid, decorating what back then were abandoned houses and are now the set of the most picturesque attraction in the city. Tangos like the one that Juan de Dios Filiberto dedicated to the ally, are still playing and performed on the street and outside every restaurant, almost competing to be the loudest, each with a sad love story attracting the next customer. Caminito is like a sugar rush on a gloomy day, its colours lend you an unfulfilled joy, unjustifiable if you think of what’s around the corner. (And)it therefore keeps you in your seat, a spectator of yet another show, inebriated by a shallow euphoria.