A Visit to Caminito, La Boca

Last Tuesday after our morning lessons a group of students from Elebaires were taken by Juani on a walking tour through Caminito, a famous street in the barrio of La Boca, an area of Rich Argentine history.

Between the years of 1880 and 1930 La Boca, (a port hence its name “The Mouth”) was flooded with millions of foreign immigrants, the majority from Italy, who came to live in Buenos Aires. Suddenly there was not enough housing for the huge influx of immigrants at this time.

In answer to the problem “Conventillo” (meaning tenement/shared) housing was constructed along the Caminito and in the surrounding areas in order to accommodate as many people as possible. They are big houses with many windows and balconies, and are split into many different rooms which, at that time, were all shared by many different families. They are famous for their brightly coloured facades, which were painted with the left over paint from the shipyard.

First of all we all took the colectivo to La Boca. Juani showed us the port, and then led us along the Caminito where we could see the wonderfully bright colours of the Conventillos and the tango that was being danced in the street. It was a place that reeked tradition, despite the fact that it is now a tourist hotspot in Buenos Aires. We went inside what would have been a typical room in a Conventillo, although now the rooms have become tourist shops. We were really able to appreciate how life would have been like in such cramped environment.

After strolling along the Caminito we went to pay a visit to the Boca Juniors football stadium, although unfortunately it was closed so we had to appreciate it from the outside!

Once our walking tour had come to an end, we sat in a restaurant on the side of the street with music playing and watched the tango whilst sipping a cerveza…some of us even joined in with dancing the tango!…What a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

Find out more about the activities on offer at Elebaires on the Calendar page on our blog. Or, if you are interested to see more photos of what happens at Elebaires, go to our Facebook page.