Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Analyzing the powerful artwork at
Museo de Bellas Artes de La Boca Benito Quin-
Going to a
fútbol
game at
La Bombonera Stadium
, home to the scrappy Boca Juniors
team.
Explore: La Boca
On your way into La Boca, note the Casa Amarilla, in the 400s block along the main drag
Av Almirante Brown. This is a replica of the country house belonging to Almirante
Brown, the Irish founder of the Argentine navy. Three blocks further on (look to your left
at the kink in the road), you'll notice the curious Gothic structure called Torre Fantasma
(Ghost Tower). As you reach the Riachuelo, you can alight from your bus or taxi and walk
the last few hundred meters. Get a good look at the Puente Nicolás Avellaneda, which
spans the Riachuelo, linking La Boca to the industrial suburb of Avellaneda; before the
bridge's completion in 1940, floods had washed away several others. From here follow
the riverside walkway all the way to El Caminito.
Boca's main attractions - museums, shops, eateries, Bombonera stadium - are all with-
in a few blocks of El Caminito. There's no reason to venture beyond the touristy streets in
this neighborhood, whose bullies have a reputation for occasionally mugging careless
tourists for their cameras. Be discreet, stick close to the busier streets and you should be
fine. Buenos Aires' mayor, Mauricio Macri, is from La Boca and has been trying to im-
prove the neighborhood by developing destinations such as the Usina del Arte; eventually
he wants to gentrify the thoroughfare of Pedro de Mendoza, linking Puerto Madero with
La Boca.
The symbol of the community's solidarity is the Boca Juniors soccer team, the former
club of disgraced superstar Diego Maradona. The team plays at La Bombonera Stadium,
which is just four blocks inland from the Riachuelo and contains a museum detailing the
team's players and successes; you can take a peek at the stadium from this museum.
