Travel Reports
Buenos Aires
Check out Buenos Aires for serious bargains and bars that could happily fit into any European metropolis.
The Argentine football industry hasn’t really worked out the potential of the pink pound yet. At La Bombonera Stadium, accessed via some very narrow side roads through the working-class area of Boca (as in “mouth” – in this instance of the River Plata), the tourist shop, sadly, has no posters of the boys in their kit; not so much as a semi-nude calendar, à la Dieux Du Stade.
And I was starting to think the same of the “export” tango show, held at the stylish Carlos Gandel nightclub (named after the famed tango crooner of the 1920s) – until halfway through. For although we initially saw every variant of tango, scintillatingly performed by mixed couples, from traditional through to modern dance interpretations, late on two tall, well-built men, handsome and seductive in their black suits and sultry Latin looks, danced cheek-by-jowl. But then, tango began life with poor, frustrated migrant men dancing together in an exaggerated way while waiting their turn for some “recreational relief” in squalid brothel towns. Which begs the question; why didn’t they go the whole humping hog with each other in the first place? Or perhaps they did.
There’s certainly plenty to go around in this elegant, hot and sultry, somewhat-down-but-not-yet-out metropolis. At Contramano’s Cellar Bar (Av. Rodriguez Pena 1082) a hunky stripper joyfully displayed his wares, but I couldn’t help but think it felt incongruous to have so many hardcore porn screens dotted around – as if they had to remind us of the reason for our being there; as if there’s no other means for social contact, and as if they just had to prove how “liberated” they’ve become.
It is, of course, a syndrome common to many former Latin dictatorships. Nevertheless, it’s useful that all official tourist brochures throughout Buenos Aires now contain extensive gay and lesbian listings. And I quote: “European glamour and Latin blood are the ingredients of a cocktail that can lead you to the edge. Experiencing Buenos Aires nightlife is an intense game of forbidden desires… Give free rein to your whims and remember that everything can happen around the corner, where a thousand ways to love are anxiously waiting for you”.
I can’t imagine the UK Tourist Board getting so steamy under their collars. My trip to La Bombonera took place on a city tour, by lumbering bus, which punctuated bouts of shopping. It’s no secret that Buenos Aires is bargain-rich right now. The collapsed peso gets very good value for our bloated pound.
I’d based myself in the posh, upmarket Recoleta district, at the four-star Wilton Palace Hotel (Av. Callao) where vertigo-inducing views from the 18th floor roof terrace can be bagged for around £40 per night. This was ideal for my favourite retail-therapy area, the Av. Santa Fe. Look out for the many shops displaying the word “Liquidacion”, where you’ll find even greater discounts. I managed to pick up a stylish, cream linen-mix two-piece suit at Magowens’ store for just £65 (less than a third of UK Oxford Street prices) while a few doors down the former Majestic Palace Theatre is now a vast and inviting DVD/bookstore with bargains that blast our three-for-twos to dust. In fact, there’s a lot of good quality clothing and other stores the length of the street all offering excellent value. Look out especially for quality leather jackets and silver jewellery. And although I couldn’t track down the national pink rosada stone in cufflinks, other pieces make an eye-watering gift for a female friend.
Recoleta is also home to the monumental necropolis or cementero, where Eva Peron’s tomb is tucked away. On the city tour I’d already visited the imposing edifice of Casa Rosada (Pink Palace) in the historic Plaza de Mayo square from whose balcony Evita, in her dazzling diamonds, triumphantly hailed the million “shirtless ones”. How the rich, ruling elite hated her – a backwater slum-child rising to such a pinnacle of power – by contemptuously branding her a “whore”. But Evita was brave. Behind the scenes she worked tirelessly to help the lot of the poor, from whence she had sprung, by improving working conditions and social welfare. Arguably, her key achievement was in obtaining the vote for women. And now, lying at rest in her marble tomb, the harsh, black granite was softened only by a single red hibiscus flower, placed that very morning by another mournful admirer.
Turning away from this melancholic scene I decided it was time to sail away, this time by train, to the outlying township of Tigre for a refreshing riverboat excursion on the vast Plata River delta; on which it was an exhausting 90°F. But when a cool breeze entered the tour boat and I trailed my hand in the water and gazed on the beautiful, green-forested shores, it felt a world away from the bustling hubris of the city centre. Holiday homes rest on stilts – in anticipation of future flooding – nestling behind lapping willow trees and reedbeds; small kids dive off even smaller jetties; a single heron flies, gigantic, far ahead. And yet, when we turned a bend in the widening river our guide pointed to the far-away towers of the old docklands area of Puerto Madero. The city was still there, only now newly rejuvenated with trendy hotels and boutiques.
There’s a fashion for boutique hotels of all persuasions. In April 2007 the Hotel Axel, Latin America’s first five-star gay hotel, will open (649, Venezuala). The five-floor building, located in the San Telmo district, is the brainchild of the group behind Barcelona’s stunning Axel. It will give the basic (men-only) Lugar Gay guesthouse a run for its money, although, to its credit, the Lugar does offer Sunday afternoon gay tango lessons.
When night falls it’s time for some high camp to highlight your stay – a trip to the internationally celebrated opera house of Teatro Colon situated halfway up the widest avenue in the world, Av. 9 De Julio. Completed in 1908 with a grandiose design, this was once the largest theatre in the southern hemisphere (before Sydney Opera House was built). The imposing foyer comprises imported red Sienese marbled colonnades encircling a grand white-marble staircase which sweeps majestically upwards to the grander, mirrored Gold Salon, as inspired by the Palais de Versailles. When you look upon one vast, gilded mirror, the gallery seemingly extends into eternity by the illusion of the mirrored reflections opposite. Book the imposing Presidential box within the grand arena, and you can gaze loftily down on each side of the theatre’s horseshoe arena, and up at the tiers as they rise in seven, gilded layers. But the real jewel in the crown is a gigantic gold-and-bronze chandelier suspended from the upper-painted dome. For me and my travelling companions the vast velvet curtain rose for a performance of Verdi’s Aida, and we discovered the acoustics were as fabulous as the surrounding glitz. And yet, the atmosphere is infused with a certain nostalgic sadness; not just with memories of great visiting artists, such as Maria Callas and Pavarotti, but also for the feeling of a recreated, idealised European transplant.
That was the guiding ethos of Buenos Aires 19th-century Golden Age: to recreate a truly European city. So, you’ll find the sweeping boulevards of Paris, the extravagant stone palaces of Madrid, the capricious elegance of inner Milan; all bundled together in a grandiose and utterly unique way.
It’s present in the simplest things – such as the gelato bar selling better-than-Italian ice cream, or the corner café with its choice of rich-red wines and pasta, a simple espresso coffee served with a mini macaroon. And it’s present on the burgeoning gay scene. In the expectant ambiance of The Titanic disco (Av. Santa Fe 2516), I watched a pulsating crowd of up-for-it Latinos dance the night away, then watched some more as they turned en masse as a handsome newcomer made his entrance. Dressed in white shorts and polo shirt with white trainers and sports socks highlighting his golden limbs, around his neck he wore a maroon polka-dot cravat, somehow reminiscent of a lost Parisian playboy of yesteryear.
It was a sharp reminder that, while you’re still in South America, the porteños (as Buenos Aires’ residents are colloquially known) have evolved their own distinct cultural fashion, blending European style with native vigour. Sometimes to quite disarming effect.
Getting There:
British Airways, Iberia and Aerolineas Argentinas all fly to Buenos Aires Pistarini from London airports. Check www.opodo.co.uk or www.airline-network.co.uk for fares and deals.
Also try Holiday Express Ltd, 30 Portland Street, London, W1F. Tel: 020 7851 0000 or e-mail info@holiday-express.co.uk
Accommodation:
Wilton Palace Hotel: located on the corner of Av. Callao and Av. Santa Fe. Tel: 00 54 11 4811 1818. www.hotelwilton.com.ar.
Lugar Gay: Clean if basic gay B&B in San Telmo district. Defensa Street, 1120. Tel: 00 54 11 4300 4747. www.lugargay.com.ar.
Art Hotel: Stylish European style boutyique hotel with 36 rooms, located in the Recoleta district. Azcuenaga, 1268. Tel: 00 54 11 4821 4744. www.arthotel.com.ar
Faena Hotel & Universe: Fabulously stylish and baroque boutique hotel designed by Philippe Starck and Argentine designer Alan Faena with 108 rooms, its own theatre and an extraordinary spa. Martha Salotti, 445. Tel: 00 54 11 4010 9000. www.faenahotelanduniverse.com
Play On:
The free monthly gay and lesbian guide La Otra Guir (LOG) is available in bars and discos across the city and provides good listings with full contact details.
For an exclusively gay tango dance club, try Marshail Milonga at Maipu 444, Tel: 00 54 15 61 75 79 45, or e-mail lamarshallmilonga@yahoo.com.ar.
Argentine Tourist Board, 5th Floor, 100 Brompton Road, London SW3. 020 7589 3104, www.turismo.gov.ar
Warwick Stanley