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December 8, 2019: The Renoir Exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth |
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December 6, 2019: A Tour of Iguassu Falls |
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Return to the Index for 2019 |
Today, Greg has arranged for a local guide to walk with us around the city of Buenos Aires. He plans on taking us once again to Recoleta Cemetery (and we will certainly have a nicer day for that than three days ago) and then to some other spots he thinks we should see.
Our Walk to the Rose Garden
Our guide Marcello came over to the apartment about nine in the morning; Fred and I had gotten back to the apartment about midnight from Iguassu Falls. We had a chance to chat for a while on what we might see and do during the day. Greg had arranged with the condo owner to let us stay through the afternoon until we left for the airport about five, so at least we didn't have to worry about storing our things during the day.
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We were on the south side of the avenue, and after a few blocks we passed by Plaza Alemania (Germany Square) across the avenue on the north side. This plaza (actually a block-square park) is also known at the "Source Farming Wealth" or the "German Source in Buenos Aires" and is located in the farthest southeastern corner of Palermo Woods (an area that also contains the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden). It was given to the Argentineans by Germany to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Argentina's revolution. On May 25th, 1910 Argentina hosted a celebration of the Centenary of the Revolution of May and invited the leaders of all the countries of Europe and the Americas. It was on this day that Germany gave the plans to build a monument to demonstrate their gratitude and serve as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries.
This gift was probably meant to solidify a relationship that Germany was in great need of maintaining. Germany knew that war was approaching and they needed to keep the supplies delivered by Argentina coming into their country during the conflict. During WWI Argentina was a major importer to Germany, and they maintained neutrality.
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Bredow took great pains to erect it, traveling to Greece for stones and spending four years in construction before delivering the stones to Buenos Aires where he spent several more months erecting the monument. On the left side of the monument is a sculpture of a bull and a man; this sculpture represents a cattle ranch. At the opposite end of the monument and fountain is a statue of three men- each with an element of agriculture. The first sits on a plow, the next holds a shovel and the last lifts a stone of the earth; these each respectively represent agriculture, horticulture and mining. On the back of the monument are brass plaques which represent the benefits of agriculture. Located on the lower wall of the monument are brass shields of the sixteen German regions.
I guess in Argentina, though, nothing moves rapidly. For even though the plans for the square were given to Argentina in 1910, and although the sculpture was finished by 1920, Plaza Alemania was not finally inaugurated until 1964- a half-century after Germany sent the plans to Argentina.
Just west of Plaza Alemania, at the southeast corner of the Japanese Garden, we saw on the other side of the street the a statue of Carlos Tejedor (1817–1903). Tejedor was an Argentine jurist and politician, Governor of Buenos Aires Province between 1878 and 1880, and a prominent figure in the movement against the Federalization of Buenos Aires. And just before we reached the crossing into the Rose Garden, we passed the Eco Parque (formerly the Zoo) on our left, and got a look at its iconic carousel- one of four or five old carousels in a city that seems enamored of them.
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The monument was a donation from the Spanish community in celebration of the centenary of the Revolución de Mayo of 1810 (which marked the formal beginning of Argentina's independence from Spain). It was built entirely in bronze and Carrara marble. The sculpture was finalized in 1927.
At its top is a symbolic statue of the republic with allegoric marble representations of labor and work at its base, and bronze figures that represent the Andes, Pampa, Chaco and de la Plata regions. Its inscriptions include a fragment of the Argentine constitution that proclaims freedom for the country and for any person in the world who wishes the make Argentina their home and also four statements that proclaim the brotherhood of Argentina and Spain, their people, their language and their destiny.
We arrived at the south corner of the intersection, walking up from the southeast, and to get over to the Rose Garden in the north, we had to use the crossings around the west and north sides of the circle. As we crossed to the west corner, we passed by the equestrian statue of Julio Argentino Roca (1843–1914), an army general who served as President of Argentina in two non-consecutive six-year terms beginning in 1880 and 1898. He supported major infrastructure projects, gained increased foreign investment, advocated large-scale immigration from southern Europe, and agricultural expansion. He also negotiated and signed a treaty with Chile that for the first time defined their border with precision.
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El Rosedal (The Rose Garden)
The Rosedal of Palermo, also called Paseo del Rosedal (The Rose Path), is a traditional park here in the Palermo neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires- part of a complex known as Parque Tres de Febrero. In its 8 acres it has 18,000 rose bushes sprinkled with numerous works of art and monuments to the famous.
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In 2011, El Rosedal was declared a Cultural Heritage Site of the City of Buenos Aires; like the "Historic" designation in this country, this means that any restoration or new work that is done must respect the original design and be approved by the City Council. In both 2012 and 2014, El Rosedal was awarded the International Garden Excellence Award from the World Federation of Rose Societies.
I found this entire area- Germany Square, the Japanese Garden, El Rosedal, and the surrounding smaller parks- to be reminiscent of Central Park in New York City. It was very much an oasis of green just steps away from highrise residences.
The lands on which El Rosedal is located were known as Bañado de Palermo and belonged to Juan Manuel de Rosas (1793–1877)- a politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Born into a wealthy family, he amassed a personal fortune, acquired large tracts of land, and became regional caudillo (warlord). He rose to become de facto dictator of Argentina, and held on to power into the 1850s. But in 1851, when he attacked the Empire of Brazil because they were aiding Uruguay in its struggle against Argentina. Rosas was defeated and absconded to Britain. His lands, which included the tract on which El Rosedal is now located, were confiscated and on this tract the landscaper Carlos Thays designed the Tres de Febrero Park.
Right near the southern entry, on the path leading into El Rosedal, there is a small round fountain, and we stopped there for a bit. I took one panoramic picture with the camera and created another out of four separate images. Here they are:
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It was Joaquín Anchorena, mayor of Buenos Aires between 1910 and 1914, who promoted the idea of ??creating a rose garden within the park. The agronomist Benito Carrasco was responsible for its layout and construction, and it was completed in late 1914. Almost 1200 varieties of roses were planted; the Greek-style pergola, gazebo, and jetty were built (and they still border the lake today); and the Greek bridge was constructed.
We walked north along the central garden path; this took us by two long, rectangular pools, each equipped with a fountain. This brought us basically to the center of the garden- right at the south side of the geometric array of rose bush beds. Here, I stopped to take a series of pictures that I put together into a 360° panoramic view; that view is in the scrollable window below:
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You can tell it is a 360° view if you look at the man standing at the very left of the image. Scroll all the way to the right side of the image and you will see him again- getting is picture taken by someone else.
Sadly, over the years El Rosedal was somewhat neglected, although various civic organizations sponsored periodic cleanups and restorations. But in 1994, El Rosedal underwent a privately-funded complete restoration- including all the plants, monuments, and structures- with continued adherence to the original plans. And just a decade ago, the YPF Company, a leading Argentine energy firm, sponsored the planting of 5,000 new rose bushes were planted, the fountains were restored, a sprinkler system was added, and all the benches were replaced. The reopening ceremony was attended by Argentina's then President.
Now we can walk into the Rose Garden itself, as well as wander over to the pergola and bridge over by the lake.
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Because it is a space that makes the identity of the City and Tres de Febrero Park, to protect it and give it a legal framework, the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires decided on April 14, 2011 to declare El Rosedal an Historical Heritage Site. This means that the original design of the space must be preserved during any future restoration or work done on the site.
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Before we headed back south out of El Rosedal, I made one more panoramic view of the northern part of this beautiful garden:
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We took a little different route out of the garden, and passed this baobab tree on the way. We came back out on Avenue Libertador where we hailed a cab to head off to get a bit of lunch at the next stop Marcello had planned for us in the old part of Buenos Aires.
San Telmo
We are going to head south past Plaza de Mayo to the oldest area of Buenos Aires and an area known as San Telmo. We could take the metro, Marcello said, but it would take up a fair amount of time walking to the nearest station and then into the San Telmo neighborhood from the nearest station to it, so we opted for a very reasonable $5 cab ride.
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San Telmo is the oldest barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires. It is a well-preserved area characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line the cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers. San Telmo's attractions include old churches, museums, food halls and stalls, antique stores and a semi-permanent antique fair in the main public square, Plaza Dorrego. Tango-related activities for both locals and tourists are in the area.
Getting to San Telmo
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At right is a map of San Telmo itself, and here I am certain of the route we took, as the cab made one right turn onto a street that went right by the little bistro just off Plaza Dorrego where we stopped for a snack- an establishment aptly named the Plaza Dorrego Bar.
Also on the map at right, I have marked a few of the major things we saw as Marcelo took us on a walk through San Telmo. After our snack at the Dorrego Plaza Bar, we walked a short ways down the street to see the largest church here in San Telmo- the Church of Our Lady of Belen. After that, we walked back up the street and through the plaza itself, which was crowded on this Saturday afternoon.
We wandered north from the plaza, stopping into some of the shops and little enclosed gardens on the way past the largest market in this part of the city- the Mercado San Telmo. This market, which includes food, antiques, clothing, and many other items, reminded me (at least as far as the food goes) of the markets in Barcelona, Dakar, Montevideo, and other places as well. From the market, we turned east to walk out of San Telmo and over to a very pretty canal and a much newer area of the city.
The Dorrego Plaza Bar
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The establishment doesn't have a web page with any history that I could find; the best description came from a site devoted to the barrio of San Telmo: "Bar Plaza Dorrego is one of those super-evocative, classic, old-school spots with the requisite checkered floor, suited-up waiters, and dusty wine bottles. The old wood bar is covered in the scrawled etchings of customers past and present, and some of the waiters have been working the floor for over two decades. Take a seat at the bar and order a few drinks (teetotalers try their famous submarino— hot milk with a little added chocolate), and traditional Argentine snacks to the sound of tango music for the quintessential BA evening."
We sat at a table in the back with windows open to the street and had coffee, hot chocolate, and some cookies and crackers. During our short stay, Marcelo told us quite a bit about the barrio, and some of its history.
Known as San Pedro Heights during the 1600s, the area was mostly home to the city's growing contingent of dockworkers and brickmakers; indeed, the area became Buenos Aires' first "industrial" area, home to its first windmill and most of the early city's brick kilns and warehouses. The bulk of the city's exports of wool, hides and leather (the Argentine region's chief source of income as late as the 1870s) were prepared and stored here in colonial times. The area's first residents, though, were Africans- both slaves and freedmen.
The Church of San Pedro González Telmo
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Fred also, it turns out, got a really good picture of the upper part of the church facade, and his pictures shows a bit more detail than my composite picture. Here is that picture of the church facade.
Church construction began in 1734 by the Jesuits; a Jesuit architect designed the building, but on his death an Italian architect was commissioned to complete the work. The Jesuits were expelled from Buenos Aires in 1767, and the unfinished church, as well as other church buildings, passed to state administration. A different order took over the site in 1795, but the church was not completed until 1876 (although the church dome was actually finished by 1858.
The external colonial features of the church disappeared in 1931 when the facade was completely transformed into a neocolonial design. The interior remained essentially the same, with very simple lines.
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The temple, which impresses with its magnificence and warmth, has a Latin cross plan, a dome crowning the transept, and chapels in the side naves. The central nave has a semicircular vault with arches supported by thick pillars. It measures 125 by 35 feet.
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The altarpiece, which encompasses the old main altar, was built by the carver José Merlang in 1833; it is crowned with an image of the Holy Trinity crowns the altarpiece. Below is an oil painting of the Sagrada Familia and three 9-foot niches separated by eight Corinthian columns; the left and right niches contain images of San Telmo and San Juan de Dios, while in the center is Our Lady of Bethlehem- all executed by a Venetian artist in wood and consecrated in 1903.
Along the walls of the nave on both sides are nine altars from different periods. These are intricately-carved and actually quite large, dedicated to various saints and religious figures. Two were sponsored by the church itself, while the others were donated by various church patrons. Here is one of the larger altars.
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The church still preserves its original doors, the upper window, and the walls. And the church, like many others, contains a number of objects of artistic and historical significance. Many of these are found in a cloister now open to the public.
Plaza Dorrego
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Plaza Dorrego is in the heart of San Telmo; up through the 19th century, San Telmo was the main residential barrio (neighbourhood) of the city and Plaza Dorrego was its focal point.
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Originally, the square was "Hueco del Alto" or "Alto de la Carretas" as it was the place where wagons would stop before crossing the Tercero del Sur stream on their way downtown. It became Plaza del Comercio in 1822 and finally, in 1905, became Plaza Dorrego. The buildings located in the square maintain their original design thanks to the help of Buenos Aires Historical Commission.
Currently, its surroundings are full of cafes, bars and pubs, which fill the square with tables from those shops. There are also several antique stores. Musicians and dancers (particularly tango exhibitions) are often seen, and when we arrived in the square two dancers were performing. Fred and I each made films- his a closeup of the dancers and mine more of the square as well:
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Those dancers were doing the Argentine tango (although I don't know how that differs from tangos elsewhere). The Feria de San Telmo (San Telmo Fair), mainly of antiques, runs every Sunday. Along with La Boca, Recoleta, Florida Street, and a few other spots, the Plaza Dorrego is one of the main tourist attractions of Buenos Aires. From the southwest corner, I did a panoramic view; in that view, the Plaza Dorrego Bar is at right:
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A Walk Through San Telmo
I've put the best of our pictures from the walk in the slideshow below. As usual, each image has a sequence number in its upper left, and arrows in its lower corners that will allow you to move forward and backward through them.
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Puerto Madero
When we completed our walk through San Telmo, we found ourselves at the southwest corner of Puerto Madero, also known as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, a barrio of the city that occupies a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and which represents the latest architectural trends here in Buenos Aires. Marcelo thought this would be an interesting place to see, and so we next walked through the old port, through the new residential and commercial area, along the ecological area at the river, and then back across yet another Calatrava bridge.
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We walked north along the canal (I have rotated the view so that east is at the top to make the 3D effect more useful) and then crossed over one of the three major avenues that span the canal. This brought us to the center of a pretty amazing new development of commercial and residential high-rise structures. This area is the trendiest "modern" area of the city (as Recoleta and Palermo are the trendiest of the older areas). We walked through this area and over to the edge of the Ecological Preserve- a wetland area which is actually the west bank of the Rio la Plata (our of the image to the east).
There is a promenade along the preserve, which is a very popular place for walking, jogging, and biking. There are also numerous little cafe kiosks, and we had lunch at one of them. We continued north and then crossed back to the west through the Women's Park. This brought us to a Calatrava-designed pedestrian bridge, and coming across it we went right by the Frigate Sarmiento and could see the Argentine Defense Ministry behind it. (We are actually not that far from Plaza Mayo and the Casa Rosada at this point.)
So let's take a look at some of the pictures we took along this very pleasant, two-hour walk through the new Puerto Madero development. When we came to Av. Paseo Colon, the first thing we noticed was the impressive College of Engineering Building- part of the Catholic University of Argentina- across the wide avenue from where we were standing. In the median in front of this building we saw this large sculpture:
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Made by Argentinian Roberto Yrurtia (1879-1950), this is one of the most famous bronzes in Argentine art. It was unveiled in 1907 upon a low rectangular base. Fourteen bronze figures, together appear to be dragging a gigantic rock. The allegory is that of the liberating significance and effort involved in work and, also the dignifying role of women in the life of men as they offer their support with energy and hope in the struggle of life. Fred did an extreme closeup of the figures so you can see the amazing detail of the figures. We passed the Engineering College on our way over to the canal, and just before we reached it, we came by this extremely unusual amphitheatre.
When we reached the side of the canal, we could see that it was a series of rectangular waterways crossed at regular intervals by avenues (each of which did have a bridge over an artifically narrow section that would allow boat access to the entire waterway. Standing midway (north to south) on the west side of one of these rectangles, I made this panorama from north to south:
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This port area was actually built between 1887 and 1897 to provide a place for ships to dock; because the river was so shallow near the shore, ships had to anchor out in it and use barges to bring goods to shore. Puerto Madero (named for the businessman who was in charge of its constrution) solved these problems. The costly project was an engineering landmark, but ten years after its completion the appearance of larger cargo ships made it obsolete. The Puerto Nuevo (New Port), where our cruise ship docked, was opened in 1911.
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Finally, in 1989, the various owners of land and facilities at the port created a corportation whose objective would be the urbanization of the area; these owners received stock, and some was sold to the public. Reclamation of the 450-acre port could now begin.
In the 1990s, local and foreign investment led to a massive regeneration effort, recycling and refurbishing the west side warehouses into elegant houses, offices, lofts, private universities, luxurious hotels and restaurants that conform to a gallery of options for this new district in a city that grew up turning its back to the river. Led by the 1999 opening of the Hilton Buenos Aires on the east side of the river, luxurious hotels, state-of-the-art multiplex cinemas, theatres, cultural centres, and office and corporate buildings were constructed on the east side, on the strip of land between the old port and the ecological preserve on the banks of the Rio de la Plata. We could see much of this development from the west side of the river:
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One reason why there are these two "packages" of highrises is that each one is at the eastern end of one of the avenues that were built across the river. The area between these groups of highrises is developed also, but mostly with lowrise apartments, a few houses, and commercial spaces.
As we walked north along the quay, it seemed as if every building we passed came replete with street art- picture after picture after picture. When we saw there would be a whole row of these fanciful, colorful images, we tried to photograph them all- simply because.
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When we reached Avenue Azucena Villaflor, we turned east to cross over the Rio Darsena Sur to the newly-developed east side of Puerto Madero. As we turned, we could see, over on the northwest corner of the avenue, the Buenos Aires Customs House (Aduana)- a government building and architectural landmark here in the Montserrat section of Buenos Aires.
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The Acuana traces its origins to the San Nicolás Agreement of 1852, whereby all customs duties were nationalized. The provision, initially rejected by the Province of Buenos Aires, began to be enforced following the province's defeat at the Battle of Cepeda in 1860. The National Customs Administration was established two years later.
The building reflected the importance of customs duties to the national treasury itself, which from the colonial era of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata until 1930, accounted for around 80 percent of government revenues. The bureau's importance declined after 1945, as other revenue sources were developed. In the 1985-1995 period, the administration was rife with corruption; ultimately, the customs bureau was transferred to the Argentine equivalent of the IRS in 1997.
As we crossed over the river to the east, we could look north towards the Frigate Presidente Sarmiento (more later when we get closer to it) and the Calatrava-designed Puente de La Mujer (Woman's Bridge)- a landmark rotating footbridge (more later when we come back across it).
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The road-street network is entirely new- based around the three major avenues that cross the river- and every street in the Puerto Madero is named after a woman (including the Woman's Bridge referenced above). The Fortabat Art Museum is in this neighborhood; it resulted from an initiative spearheaded by Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat- Argentina's wealthiest woman.
Puerto Madero currently represents the largest urban renewal project in the city of Buenos Aires. Having undergone an impressive revival in merely a decade, it is one of the most successful recent waterfront renewal projects in the world. Not only are there numerous notable buildings (and a number of private homes nestled among them), but there is also a great deal of public art and sculpture. Two large sculptures were particularly noteworthy.
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At the east end of Azucena Villaflor, we crossed Avenue Dr. Tristan Rodriguez to come to the edge of the Ecological Preserve and the promenade (walkway) that runs north-south along the west side of it.
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The history of the Reserve begins in 1918, with the Municipal Riverside resort along the “Costanera Sur” promenade. On foot, by car or tram, thousands of porteños came to this place in search of fresh air on summer afternoons, or to bathe in the river (in separate male and female areas, of course, according to the 1923 Regulations.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the promenade became prosperous with the setting up of bars and coffee shops which added their architectural beauty to the Nereids Fountain, the bronze lamposts, and various other monuments. The resort became one of the porteños favorite promenades not only during the day but also at night due to the music and variety shows performed in the coffee shops.
The decline of the resort started at the end of the 1950s. Facilities began to deteriorate, many coffee shops were demolished and bathing started to be forbidden due to river contamination. In the early 1970s, a new project was created to reclaim land from the river in this area (the land on which much of Puerto Madero was finally constructed). The wetlands to the east became isolated, although the project was not completed.
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When construction ended, different plant communities developed spontaneously from seeds present in the silt, windborne or dispersed by the animals. By providing refuge and food, plants helped animal populations to settle in. From the beginning, the newly formed ponds and grasslands attracted the attention of nature lovers and bird watchers who started to visit them regularly.
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As the biological diversity increased, woods and a variety of animal species appeared. Most of the formerly open water is today covered by floating plants. This place became a meeting point for joggers, cyclists, students, naturalists and even foreign bird watchers passing through Buenos Aires. On June 5, 1986, the Buenos Aires City Council voted unanimously to create the Ecological Preserve.
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We continued north along the promenade, eventually passing the Argentine Museum of Humor- actually the bottom few floors of a residential building. Just past one of the most interesting highrises (note the pretty amazing sky bridges between the two towers), we turned back west, crossed the avenue, and the found ourselves in the Argentine Women's Park.
This broad green area with amazing views of the Puerto Madero skyscrapers is dedicated to the women of Argentina. At the entrance from the east side of the park, we passed the Argentine Women's monument. My picture was a little dark, but fortunately Fred took a closeup picture of the sculpted figures of women at the monument's base. The park contains a large central plaza configured as an amphitheater and a section that has more than 200 rose bushes.
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You've seen these before, I am sure, done on sidewalks and streets; if you haven't, just Google the term and I am sure you will see a good many of them. But here, aside from the fact that the art itself was really neat, each one of the installations also had some painted "instructions" telling folks where to stand and where the photographer should be so that the pedestrians could "interact" with the artwork. In the one at left, the photographer is supposed to get his subject to stand in a certain way so as to give the appearance of "holding" the gigantic pencil.
There were two other works like this, and you should definitely take a look at our pictures of them:
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Continuing west, we came out of the Women's Park and found ourselves on Avenue Juana Manso, one of the many "new" streets here in Puerto Madero that are named for women. This street was lined in both directions with the new buildings that have been constructed here in the last twenty years:
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We crossed that street and then walked through a kind of passageway between buildings to come out onto a broad plaza beside the river which, on a sunnier day, I think would probably have been thronged with people.
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Now I doubt that this building is used for that today, but it is undoubtedly used for something. Regardless, from this side of the building we could see that each of the stacks had one or more words on it. From the right, these words were "women", "belief", "doubt", "independence", "empathy", "equality", "property", "pleasure", and "power"; on the rightmost silo there was a multi-word phrase. I didn't know it at the time, but the first word(s) were hidden by the trees, but the words I could see were "living without us". In keeping with the theme here on the east side of Puerto Madero, I can only assume this is yet another tribute to women in general, as all the individual words would seem to have something to do with the qualities women have, and the last phrase some expression of the idea that these characteristics are essential to a well-functioning society. (Or maybe that without women, there would shortly be no society.)
This whole riverfront area was really very well-done. Here are two more views of it- the rightmost having been taken from the middle of the pedestrian bridge that we crossed:
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From this plaza, we walked just a block or so north along the river to come to one of the iconic spots in the whole Puerto Madero area- the Puente de La Mujer (the Woman's Bridge).
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Started in 1998, it was inaugurated on December 20, 2001, and is the first of only two Calatrava structures in Latin America. The architect has described the design as a synthesis of the image of a couple dancing the tango.
The 580-foot pedestrian bridge weighs 800 tons, is 20 feet wide and is divided into two fixed portions, 80 feet and 100 feet long respectively, and a middle section of 400 feet that rotates in less than two minutes on a white concrete pylon, allowing vessels to pass. This central section is supported by a steel "needle" with a concrete core, about 120 feet high. The "needle," inclined at a 39° angle, anchors suspension cables which support the central span. A computer system at the eastern end of the bridge operates the turning mechanism when required. (We did not see this in operation; Marcelo said it doesn't open often and in fact he had only seen it open once.)
A number of streets in the Puerto Madero district have women's names, thus giving the bridge its name. The work was conceived by businessman Alberto L. González, who donated money for its construction. Costing about $6 million, the bridge was manufactured by the Urssa steel fabrication conglomerate in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country of northern Spain.
According to records of the Puerto Madero project, the bridge was not part of the original plan. A Buenos Aires advertising executive had been hired to develop an advertising campaign for Puerto Madero, but his analysis showed that the biggest challenge of the site was access, not public awareness. A landmark footbridge, he suggested, while certainly more costly than an initial advertising campaign would have been, would be more practical and lasting. The developer agreed with the assessment, and the structure was built.
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The ship was originally built for the Argentine Naval Academy so that cadets could learn how to operate the three-mast rigging systems. But in addition to its sailing rig this ship includes a large triple expansion steam engine supplied by two coal-fired boilers exhausting through the rear stack. An additional auxiliary boiler exhausting through the forward stack provides steam for other than propulsion, including two engines driving electrical generators on the main deck (below the weather deck).
ARA Presidente Sarmiento ARA Presidente Sarmiento made thirty seven annual training cruises including six circumnavigations of the globe. The ship was retired as a seagoing vessel in 1938, but continued to serve without sails on Argentine rivers around 1950 and as a stationary training ship until 1961.
Florida Street- Galleria Jardin
Next, Marcelo wanted us to see one of the major points of interest on Florida Street- the pedestrian street that Fred and I had been walking on a few days ago on the day when the ship was docked at the port but we were still "on" the cruise.
The plan was to hail a cab for the quick ride northwest from Puerto Madero to Florida Street. We could have walked, but Marcelo said that since we'd already seen Plaza Mayo (twice) during our visit, there was no particular reason to walk through that area again (it was fairly close by) and he thought our time could be put to better use walking on Florida Street and from there over to Avenue 9 July.
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It wasn't far up the street to one of the entrances to Galeria Jardin- which turned out to be an upscale shopping mall just off Florida Street, occupying a whole city block and specializing in electronics. I was wondering when we went in why it was that Marcelo thought a run-of-the-mill shopping mall was worth our time.
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It was certainly nice enough, with upscale stores. I discovered in looking into Galeria Jardin (I could not find any information on its construction, though) that one of the stores inside the mall is the Argentine flagship store for the designer Carolina Herrera (a Venezuelan designer of women's fashions noted for having dressed a number of US First Ladies, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michele Obama, and even Melania Trump); that's why many of the banners have her name on them and why you see "CH" (her logo) all over the place.
Even as nice as the mall was, though, I still couldn't see right off why it was worth our time (although Greg was happy when he found a bookstore to browse through). Marcelo led us into the center of the mall- past the escalator going up- until we came to a large atrium with stairs going down to the floor of it.
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All very nice, but directing your gaze up to the ceiling reveals the main attraction of Galeria Jardin.
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Of course, in your typical European church, the artwork would likely be quite old, perhaps executed by some locally- or internationally-famous artist. My first thought was that perhaps these decorations were just commercially produced for the mall the way paintings are produced for Holiday Inn- certainly serviceable but perhaps not noteworthy (at least not produced by artists of some renown. A explanatory sign near the tree, however, revealed that I was wrong.
The ceiling paintings were actually created (I am currently trying to find out how the original works were copied or transferred to the ceiling. Since one of the artists died in 1964, he could not have painted on this actual ceiling, so I assume these works are copies of some kind and by some method.) by three professional (and locally quite famous) artists, and I think that after my somewhat disparaging comments above, you should know who they were. So here they are, with examples of their work that I cropped out of some of the photos Fred took of the ceiling panels:
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Manuel Colmeiro (Spanish, 1901-1999)
"La Pareja Humano" ("The Human Couple")
"Colmeiro's work is exhibited in two pendentives of the central dome and is based on the biblical text of Genesis 3:1. In addition, it represents his recognition of Galicia, his place of birth. Here, the presence of the sea, which is the structure for social life and imagination, calls - with its oceanic and eternal whisper- the last forces where life flourishes."
Further information:
Colmeiro emigrated to Buenos Aires when he was very young, working in a shoe factory while developing his art. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, and then formed a working group with painters and sculptors. Many of his expressionist works were made during this time, but were lost when he returned to Galicia in 1926.
He held his first exhibition in 1928, after which he was granted a scholarship that allowed him to attend the San Fernando Academy in Madrid. He was a frequent visitor to the Prado Museum as a way of developing his style. He married, and by 1932 was exhibiting his work frequently.
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War sent him into exile back in Buenos Aires until 1948, joining other exiled artists. He moved to Paris in 1949 and back to Galicia in 1989. He was one of the members of the Parisian "Spanish School". In the 1960s, he had solo exhibitions in London, Paris, and Madrid resulting in international recognition. His work focuses on the landscape and Galician popular culture. Colmeiro stands out for his intimacy and the lyrical concept of his settings.
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Spilimbergo (Argentine, 1896-1964)
"El Dominio de las Fuerzas Naturales" ("The Domain of Natural Forces")
"A dynamic mural. Here, a group of strong men exercise their domain on the seas and mountains, noting the difficulties relative to the navigation, fishing, and mining activities. The scene represents an idealist view of a group where human beings must efficiently meet their food, metal, and industrial needs for life to be possible."
Additional Information:
Born in Buenos Aires in 1896, the son of Italian immigrants, Spilimbergo lived in the Palermo neighborhood. An early bout of pneumonia left him an asthmatic. After his initial schooling, he worked in the Post Office while developing his artistic talents on the side. In 1917, he graduated from the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes. In 1918 he began an autobiography, and in 1920 a book of his thoughts, which he used to organize his life and work. His first pieces was accepted by the Salón Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1921. He left the Post Office in 1924 when he had his first solo exhibition.
He traveled to Europe in 1925 and visited Florence, Venice, Palermo, and other Italian cities in search of classical art sources, paying particular attention to frescos. He then moved to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and in the studio of the French painter, sculptor and writer André Lhote. There, he came under the influence of post-cubism and the work of Paul Cézanne.
In 1928, he returned to Buenos Aires, married, and had a son in 1929. In 1933, together with Mexican artist Siqueiros and Argentine artists Berni and Lozano, he produced the mural entitled Ejercicio Plástico. The involvement in this work was a decisive event in Spilimbergo's life and marked the start of his career as a muralist. In 1945, he and other artists combined to create the frescos which decorate the large central cupola of Galerías Pacífico, another shopping mall just two blocks north of Galeria Jardin.
During his years as a painter, Spilimbergo developed a synthesis of diverse styles, classical and modern. From his post-impressionist landscapes and local scenes, he moved to a study of the human figure. His subjects included the slum dwellers of Buenos Aires and rural agricultural workers, all treated solidly and monumentally, although the surreal and metaphorical often crept infound its way into his works. He taught at the Instituto de Arte Gráfico; many locally-famous artists were his students. Spilimbergo's pictures were widely exhibited in Latin America, the United States and Europe. He died in the small Argentine town of Unquillo.
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Demetrio Urruchúa (Argentine, 1902-1978)
"La Fraternidad" ("Fraternity")
"Calm and harmonious. This mural represents the relationship between the different races and sexes. An allusion to a community of races is made thorugh the hugs observed. However, the mural also represents individualism, a lack of communication and indifference. Maternity is also represented by a pregnant woman and another woman who has already had her baby."
Further information:
Urruchúa's passion for drawing and painting began in childhood. With a self-taught artistic training, he traveled to Buenos Aires, seeking to develop his great vocation. Parallel to his work as a painter, he developed into a sought-after teacher. He was very particular, with a strong character and unquestionable honesty, an enemy of academic teaching and a leader of great personalities in art. Draftsmen, engravers, and painters who would later become renowned figures, as well as writers such as Ernesto Sabato, frequented his workshop-school.
He exhibited for the first time in 1931 at Amigos del Arte, which was followed by an extensive career that would lead him to exhibit in Argentina and abroad. His works are in private collections as well as in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Due Mondi Gallery of International Art in Rome and in the Municipal Museum of Montevideo.
In 1939, Urruchúa held an exhibition of prints organized by two of his students and colleagues. They were also promoting a project for the creation of a large fresco in the library of a Buenos Aires university- Urruchúa's first foray into the medium. The monumental (75 feet by 7 feet) mural, whose theme was "Woman as Man's Companion" received huge acclaim.
He was essentially a realist painter and all his work marks a commitment to the social, to justice and against the oppression and horror of wars. From WWII to his death in 1978, he was one of Argentina's most famous artists, and one of the world's most famous muralists.
In investigating his life, I discovered that he, too, worked on the murals at Galerias Pacifico. In fact, I have found record of his having created a fresco entitled "Fraternity" for that project. This leads me to wonder about the same-named panel here. Was his original panel moved here? Is this a copy of his work from a couple of blocks up the street. I am certainly curious, and if you are too, come back to this page in a couple of months, as I have made inquiries on the subject, and hope to have an answer sometime soon (this having been written in August, 2020).
Fred took numerous pictures of large areas of the ceiling here in Galeria Jardin, and you might want to have a look at some of them:
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We left Galeria Jardin and went back out to Florida Street where we had a discussion as to where to go next and how to get there. Marcelo asked if we had seen the San Martin Monument, which we had not, and the Teatro Colon, which we had. We decided to walk back towards the apartment, stopping off again at the Recoleta Cemetery (since the weather was much nicer now than on our bus tour visit). We would go up Florida to the San Martin Monument, then over across Avenue 9 July and then on to Recoleta.
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Just a block up Florida, we passed a building we'd seen (and photographed) four days ago. Now I can identify it as the headquarters of the Centro Naval, a club founded by young naval officers in 1882 and which is now one of the country's premier social clubs with four locations in the city. The building was designed by the architects Gaston Louis Mallet, originally from France, and Jacques Dumant, from Switzerland. The building is an excellent example of the Beaux-Arts style in Buenos Aires.
The building has an eclectic facade with an art nouveau entrance that utilises iron and bronze made from melted down canons that were used in Argentina's battle for independence. You owe it to yourself to have a look at the buliding's beautiful front doors made with that iron and bronze. As a matter of fact, even the ventilation grates are pretty neat! We did not go in (one needs to be a member for that), but Marcelo mention that the sumptuous interiors show a marked Belle Époque influence.
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As we walked along the park to the northwest, on our left was this grand marble building- the Círculo Militar- which is one of the most beautiful in all of Buenos Aires. It seems to have been plucked out of France's Loire Valley. It was built as the mansion of the Paz family, the owners of the newspaper La Prensa; the family was one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the whole country. Some still call this building by its old name- Palacio Paz.
Its current name, Círculo Militar, is for the society of retired military officers who bought the building in 1938. The structure was built in stages spanning from 1902 to 1914, under the direction of the French architect Louis H. M. Sortais. Family patriarch José Clemente Paz, commissioned the palace but died in 1912 and never saw its completion. Marble and other materials throughout the building were imported from all over Europe.
Most rooms are reminiscent of Versailles, especially the bedrooms and the gold-and-white music hall with an ornate parquet floor and windows overlooking the plaza, while other rooms are in the Tudor style. The unusual Presidential Room, a male retreat, is lit by strange chandeliers decorated with naked hermaphrodite characters with beards and breasts, whose faces contort as they are lanced through their private parts. Eight elevators serve the four high-ceilinged floors; the palace is actually eight normal stories tall. The most impressive room is the round Hall of Honor, which sits under an interior rotunda and even has a balconied second level overlooking a stage. It was a private mini-opera house, covered in multicolored marble and gilded bronze, used now for conferences. Walking along the street, we passed the arched and gated entrance to the interior courtyard.
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This monument to General San Martín, recognised as the liberator of Argentina, was created in 1862 by French sculptor Louis Joseph Daumas. It was the first equetrian statue in the city. The German sculptor Gustav Eberlein designed the red granite base and the four corner sculptures in 1910; these represent landmark moments in San Martín's campaign for the country's independence- "The Departure to War", "The Battle", "The Victory" and the "The Return of the Victor". The figure of Mars, god of war, can be seen at the front of the platform, and on the other three faces, there is a series of bas-reliefs depicting different battles.
José de San Martín (1778-1850) was the greatest hero of the Argentine War of Independence and is also recognised as the liberator of Peru and Chile. Between 1813 and 1818, San Martín, an outstanding general and strategist, led crucial moments in the fight for independence, defeating Spanish troops at the Battle of San Lorenzo, reorganising the Army of the North, becoming Governor of Cuyo, and creating the Army of the Andes, which he led across the mountains into Chile to liberate the neighbouring country from Spanish rule before moving north to liberate Peru in 1820. The entire square was renamed in his honor in 1878- the hundredth anniversary of his birth.
We continued our walk northwest towards Avenue 9 Julio, passing numerous beautiful old buildings and also quite a few sculptures sprinkled around, sculptures like this one- a Pietà (Pity)- (a composition with Mary and Jesus). The inscription on the base translates to "What do you suffer, compare if your pain is greater than mine".
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If you would like to see a closeup of the sculpture, just click on it in the picture at left. And if you would like to see where you are, click on the golden shield.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informally referred to as the Chancellery, is the Argentine government ministry dealing with the foreign relations of Argentina, including foreign policy, international development, international trade, and so on. It is Argentina's second-oldest ministry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was originally headquartered here in San Martín Palace. Completed in 1905, it originally belonged to the wealthy Anchorena family, and was bought by the Argentine government in 1936. Since 1993, the Ministry's main offices have been housed in a more modern building nearby; this building remains in use as the ceremonial headquarters of the Ministry.
We continued walking northwest, and eventually came to and crossed Avenue 9 Julio.
Recoleta Cemetery- Our Second Visit
Crossing the broad Avenue 9 Julio, we continued directly northwest towards Recoleta Cemetery.
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We hadn't had much time to walk around this park on our first visit four days ago, but we did today- before we went into the cemetery itself.
One sculpture that we had missed was this version of La Pietà. The artist was Argentine sculptor Agustin Riganelli (1890-1949). His work reflects concern for the marginal classes and economic and social problems. He was a member of the group Artistas del Pueblo, formed in the second decade of the 20th century. Of humble origin, it was not easy for him to achieve recognition but his artistic quality prevailed, he received various awards and today he is a benchmark of Argentine sculpture with two or three other sculptures around the city.
We have arrived in a park which is now called the Plaza Juan XXIII (John the 23rd). The park received that name in 1975 in homage to Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (Pope John the 23rd), Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church between 1958 and 1963.
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Now you've probably seen this kind of thing before; certain species of tree can have very low limbs that extend out almost parallel to the ground. If these extend out far enough, just their weight will break them. So they either get cut off or, as here, supports are fitted underneath to hold the branches up. The amazing thing here was that I counted ten of these supports all around the tree.
But, even beyond that, there was something else unusual about the tree and its supports. Look just to the right of the foreground support, and you will see what appears to be someone playing around, perhaps to have his picture taken, by seeming to hold up one of the large branches. But all is not quite what it appears, as you will find out if you click on that male figure.
This is going to be our second visit to La Recoleta Cemetery; we were here on our bus tour four days ago. On the album page for our first visit (December 3) I gave a lot of historical and background information about the cemetery, and I don't want to repeat that all here. But if you haven't visited that page, you should know that Recoleta is one of the iconic locations in Buenos Aires- for a number of reasons.
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So wherever you wander in the 14-acre site, no matter which of the 4691 vaults, all above ground, you visit, you are going to see something unusual or beautiful or historical- or sometimes all three. A telling factoid is that one in every fifty of the crypts in this cemetery have been declared National Historical Monuments by the Argentine government and are protected by the state.
The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Doric columns. The cemetery's marble mausoleums, many decorated with statues and sculpture, span styles as diverse as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Neo-Gothic. Most of the materials used were imported from Paris and Milan.
The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. These mausoleums are still being used by rich families in Argentina that have their own vault and keep their deceased there. While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. In spite of that, the BBC hailed Recoleta as one of the world's best cemeteries, and CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world.
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We took quite a few good pictures and, once again, putting them in a slideshow will make it easy for you to cycle through them at your own pace, without having to click on a whole bunch of thumbnails.
If you will click on the image at right, the slideshow will open in a new window. As usual, move through the pictures (sometimes there will be multiple images per slide) using the forward and backward arrows in the lower corners of each slide. You'll know when you have gotten back to the beginning if you refer to the sequence numbers in the upper left.
We hope you enjoy this second walk through the amazing Recoleta Cemetery.
The cemetery was our last stop on the tour that Marcelo had planned for us today, and it was nice to see it again on a prettier day. Sadly, we now had to return to the apartment to prepare to leave Buenos Aires this evening.
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I made a movie once we turned northwest on Avenue General Las Heras to try to capture the vibe of the area we were walking through (which, being the Recoleta barrio, was decidedly upscale). You can use the player at left to watch this movie.
A few blocks along I took my last picture of the cruise vacation, Fred and a monument to Marshal Las Heras, Argentine Field Marshal, born in Buenos Aires, who fought in the Wars for Independence. The street we are walking on is, in a way, named for him, as it is named for the town to which it eventually goes- General Las Heras- which in turn was named for the Field Marshal.
Our apartment was on this same avenue, about a mile northwest, so we had a pleasant walk back to it. Once there, we had a chance to visit with Marcelo some more, and he helped Greg arrange for the car to take us to the airport about 6PM.
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The ride to the airport took us on a zigzag course through city street and then to an expressway heading south. When we went to Iguassu Falls, we flew out of the in-city airport just a mile or two from the apartment. The huge international airport is about 30 miles south of the apartment.
Once we got there, about 7PM, we found the airport typical of large airports and so not particularly photogenic. I went ahead and put my camera away. Check-in was smooth, the waiting areas were quite nice, and the boarding process at 830PM also went smoothly, Fred and I taking the two seats we'd chosen months earlier.
The flight home, a ten-hour affair, was also as pleasant as any ten hours in a long metal tube can be. There were plenty of movies to watch and games to play, and a couple of meals to eat. No pictures, as it was dark when we left and dark when we arrived in Dallas at 7AM. We were a little bleary-eyed, but we hopped in a cab and by eight-thirty had dropped Greg off and were back home.
Yet again, we looked immediately back on this cruise-vacation as being a once-in-a-lifetime experience, although in the last few months I have relived it as I have worked on the album pages for it. I look back on the places we saw, and realize that it is highly likely I will not see some of them again- Dakar, Recife, and Montevideo, for example. We would like to visit Ronda again, and stay a while to explore, and we have already talked about coming back to Buenos Aires. But that's the way it seems to be on all our trips- we uncover gems that certainly worth more of our time.
Greg won't be letting any moss grow; he has another cruise planned in the Far East next February (although, as I write this in August, 2020, I of course know that cruise didn't happen). As for Fred and I, we will probably do what we've done in the past and give it a while before considering another cruise (or long-distance vacation.
As for today, Sunday, we won't have much chance to rest. We have time enough to unpack and time for a short nap, but we are meeting Prudence and Nancy in Fort Worth this afternoon. We will have much to tell them.
You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.
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December 8, 2019: The Renoir Exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth |
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December 6, 2019: A Tour of Iguassu Falls |
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Return to the Index for 2019 |
