Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cantinas
. A notable sculpture called “Sailor's
Mother” depicts a woman whose expression
betrays the anxiety of waiting for a child to
return from the sea.
Calle Necochea
, which meets Avenida Pedro
de Mendoza at Vuelta de Rocha, is the street of
Italian
cantinas
and late night entertainment.
It is also the street where Aristotle Onassis
lived in the days before he became a billionaire
shipbuilder and the husband of Jackie Ken-
nedy. It is one of La Boca's best loved yarns.
The Story of Aristotle Onassis
When Onassis was in his teens he emi-
grated to Argentina from the ravaged city of
Smyrna in Turkey. He thought opportunity
awaited him and he was right. He started as
a boatman, ferrying people across the
muddy Riachuelo under the Black Bridge.
Later, he started a cigarette manufacturing
business (he rolled each cigarette by hand
at the beginning). This enabled him to buy
his first run-down old boat. The boat was re-
stored and sold at a good profit, which
proved to be more lucrative than cigarettes
or telephones (he was also working nights in
central Buenos Aires as foreman in charge
of the telephone systems that were being in-
stalled during his tenure there). The rest, as
they say, is history. Ask any local about the
man and they'll point out the café he fre-
quented and the room he rented in those
days of great expectations. Budding ship-
ping magnates and others all have a great
time in the
cantinas
of Necochea Street.
