By Mariel Lizana, journalist
When we talk about Buenos Aires, our first thought is tango, leather articles, commerce, sea, beautiful architecture and a Latin-American city that seems to be ahead of its sisters in many aspects.
Buenos Aires offers many attractions for its visitors, who go to the city attracted by the nostalgic sensuality of its typical dance, the tango, an urban dance from De La Plata River, with enchanting movements. The tangos charm and magic has goes beyond boundaries, so the capital is an excellent chance to discover it and enjoy with its exquisite music, where the main actor is the string instrument, bandoneon.
Another thing about Buenos Aires is its beautiful architecture; with a remarkable french influence that can be appreciated in its street and buildings. The establishment of many immigrants from France, Italy and Portugal developed a mixed culture in Argentina and even a special language called lunfardo, used to write the lyrics of tango. This influence is also noted in the gastronomy and popular traditions.
This city also counts with interesting districts to discover, like San Telmo, with its antiques and tango ballrooms. The citys downtown is located in the famous Plaza de Mayo square, where is also Casa Rosada, the Government Building. In the same place there are the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Cabildo and Argentinas National Bank.
If you follow De Mayo Avenue, you will get to National Congress (the Parliament House) and in the surroundings you will see many beautiful buildings with finest architecture, squares decorated with monuments and sculptures; and a signed reproduction of The Thinker, of Rodin.
La Boca district is the immigrants neighborhood. Here you will find the famous sidewalk, Caminito, a lot of museums, theaters, the Boca Juniors soccer team field, "La Bombonera" and a beautiful avenue by the port.
Some other important district is Recoleta, a neighborhood with many cultural buildings like the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Library and the Graveyard, a place where are the rests of presidents and other important celebrities of the country. Palermo is another main district of the city and there is the Latin-American Art Museum, the Zoo and the Planetarium.
Corrientes Avenue is the center of bohemia and spectacle in the city, with many theaters like San Martín and Luna Park Stadium. In the intersection of Corrientes Avenue and 9 de Julio Avenue it is located the Obelisk, a monument that is a symbol of Buenos Aires in the world.
Other interesting place to discover is Colon Theater, a great building from the XIX century, with marble floor, amazing vitreaux and elegant halls. Colon Theater also has an Arts Institute, with important students from it and a public library, with a complete bibliography with many titles referent to music and arts, besides the full collection of specialized magazines in these subjects.
The modern architecture can be appreciated in Puerto Madero district, with its skyscrapers built in the last decade. One of them is the remarkable Espacial Tower, with 220 meters of height, which is located in the Entertainment Park of Buenos Aires.