The Paris of South America but Influenced by Many

Buenos Aires neighborhoods, even building to building in Buenos Aires feel very much like you are traveling through Europe, with many different influences from European countries. It’s known as the Paris of South America. A portion of the city was demolished to build La Avenida 9 de Julio (July 9 Avenue) to emulate the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The road is many lanes wide, flanked by a frontage road, which has shops and restaurants, the bus stops are in the middle with the subway stations below. At the same time, you will see Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and Austrian influences in the architecture, culture, and food and there is even an area that feels like the colorful area Bo-Kaap of Cape Town, South Africa,

In the late 1800’s extremely wealthy land owners built up an area of mansions and palaces. During the depression and then again during WWII families lost their wealth and many of the mansions were sold to other countries to house their embassies. A lot of countries, currently 84, have an embassy in the aristocratic area, and in turn, the extravagant homes are well preserved. The area is still a beautiful showcase of the wealth that was there from agriculture. Some ranch/farms were up to 1 million acres and the owners lived here.

Oh and the city is built on a huge river mouth which opens wide and flows into the Atlantic Ocean but you really wouldn’t know it. When a highway was built through the city the rubble was used to build a barrier wall in the river. It has naturalized with trees and plants but it blocks the city from the river.

We took a boat tour of the Rio de la Plata delta, which is one of the widest in the world. The homes that are built along the water trails are only accessible by boat. The house are known by name not by an address. There are 24 public schools in the delta and children ride the water ferries to and from school. There is a grocery boat that makes the rounds and even medical boats with doctors and dentists. Everything that is needed to live is delivered by boat. There is electricity but drinking water is delivered.