1.- Calle Museo Caminito (the Small Road Museum)
Of hardly 100 metres (300 feet) length and transformed into a pedestrian thoroughfare, it is a very small and eccentric street. There are neither sidewalks nor doors, only a few windows and an occasional balcony filled with flowerpots and clothes hung out to dry. Its colourful walls bear memories of Venice. There are many murals, ceramics and all kinds of ornaments.

There used to be an old railroad stem line here but it was deserted in 1920. It became a place overgrown with weeds until a neighbour planned to clean it up and open up a path to shorten distances, calling it the curve or "la curva". This became the "Caminito" used on a daily basis by Juan de Dios Filiberto, who wrote the famous tango with that same name together with Gabino Coria Pealoza, in 1926. The initiative to name the road "Caminito" came from no one less that a friend of the first mentioned, the painter Benito Quinquela Martn himself.

Today you will find singers dressed up as beaus or "guapos", accompanied by guitars and large concertinas, singing the tangos that made Carlos Gardel so popular, while some tango dancers dazzle the visitors and passer-bys with their sinuous "milonga" steps.

Mondays through Sundays, from 10 AM till 6 PM, the musical numbers are accompanied by painters that show their art and paintings, allusive to the tango and the barrio. It is an Open Air Art Museum since 1859.

2.- The Proa (ships bow) Foundation
Not far away from Caminito, on Pedro de Mendoza Av 1929, you will find this organisation. It is an old mansion that used to be a customs house and where today you will find contemporary paintings and architectural designs by famous artists.
From the terrace on the first floor there is a pleasant scenic view of the Riachuelo. On the second floor there is a patio with natural daylight especially arranged for reading. We recommend to take a guided tour, phoning 4303-0909. Opening hours are Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 AM till 7 PM.

3.- Vuelta de Rocha
This place used to be called "Plazoleta de los Suspiros", (the small plaza of sighs) because the Genovese immigrants used to gather here to reminisce about their homeland and their origins. This is the place were the naval squadron commanded by Guillermo Brown during the war of independence was based. The name Vuelta de Rocha (around the corner of Rocha's place) was taken from Antonio Rocha, who was the owner of this area in 1636. It has been declared a place of National Historic Interest. From here you will have a very good view of the port and of the Riachuelo, of La Boca, and the Puente Avellaneda Bridge.

4.- The La Boca Museum of Fine Arts.
Inaugurated in 1938, it is located on Avenida Pedro de Mendoza 1835, and is consecrated exclusively to Argentinean artists. It was with this condition that the painter Benito Quinquela Martn donated the area. In this museum you will find the favourite paintings of this artist: "Crepsculo" (Nightfall), painted in 1922. Seven years later when Quinquela Martn took his exhibit to Rome, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) wanted to buy the painting, and went as far as offering him a blank cheque, but the Argentinean painter never sold it. Finally the Italian Duce choosed another painting: Violet Moment, "Momento Violeta", which can be seen today in the Museum of Modern Art in Rome.

In the La Boca Museum of Fine Arts you will also find the paintings or sculptures of Argentinean artists such as Victorica, Svori, Spilimbergo, Lacmera, Fader, De La Carcova, Forner, Castagnino, Yrurtia, Lagos, Briano, and others. There is also a quite interesting exhibit of ship figureheads and model ships.
On the third floor, properly conserved one can see the home and atelier of Quinquela Martn, where he lived until his death in 1977. Opening hours are Tuesdays through Sundays, from 10 AM till 5:45 PM.

5.- Teatro de la Ribera - The Riverside Theatre.
This theatre was built in 1971 close to the La Boca Museum of Fine Arts. All the seats in the theatre were given different colours, using the characteristic colour scheme of the old barrio of La Boca.

6.- The Old and the New Avellaneda bridges
El Viejo Puente, the old bridge, is an an iron construction that symbolises the barrio of La Boca. Built in 1908, it isnow dormant. Crossing the Riachuelo, it used to connect the city with the Province of Buenos Aires.
El Viejo Puente and the graveyard abandoned where old ships are put to sleep can be seen from the boulevard bordering the Riachuelo. From the well-known Vuelta de Rocha there is an attractive perception of the old bridge.
At the bottom of the bridge the visitor can rent a boat to cross the Riachuelo, just like in the old days. It is now a National Historic Monument.
In 1940, the new bridge, the Nuevo Puente, replaced the old one.
The electric escalators of this modern bridge will give you a panoramic view over the Barrio de la Boca. On the river there is a group of boatmen that connect both banks, taking people across from La Boca to the Maciel Island.
The new Avellaneda Bridge is named after the Argentinean president Nicols Avellaneda (1874-1880), who finished the conquest of Patagonia (1879) and who made Buenos Aires the federal capital in 1880.

7. The Club Boca Juniors Stadium
Since 1940, the La Boca barrio neighbourhood is host to the football (soccer) team that is, perhaps, the most popular en Argentina: Boca Juniors. Its home stadium is called "La Bombonera" or the box of chocolates due to its shape: its galleries are located in order to allow for as big a capacity of spectators as possible in a reduced space.

Designed and built by the Slovene engineer Victor Sulcic, its official name is Estadio Alberto Jos Armando, to honour the president of the club during the nineties. Its installations were remodelled in 1996. If you are going to buy tickets to a game we recommend to buy a seat in the stalls.

Around the stadium, in 1997, the Argentinean artist Rmulo Macci painted a series of panels commemorating the celebrations in La Boca, all in Italian style. Some of the most important are "The panel of the fireman and the mermaid", "The panel of the artists and friends of the painter Quinquela Martn", "The she wolf and the Romulus and Remus twins" and "The panel of the flag in blue and gold of the Boca football team" which, according to legend, assumed these colours when its creators, locals from the barrio, saw a ship in port flying the Swedish flag and appropriated it to use it as the team's device.

You can find the panels on Brandsen Street, 805, close to Del Valle Iberlucea Street, the railroad lines of Ferrocarril Roca and the prolongation of the Aristbulo del Valle St. Maybe it is not a place to visit, but there is no harm in mentioning it.

8. - Casa Amarilla - The Yellow Mansion
This gaudy building is a copy of the house where the Irish admiral Guillermo Brown lived. He was in Command of the Argentinean fleet during the Independence war against the Spanish Crown in 1810, represented the United Provinces during its war against the Empire of Brazil in 1826 and during the French naval blockade of the Ro de la Plata in 1838. The mansion was open to the public in 1983 and is host to an institute for historical studies. It is located on Almirante Brown Av 400.

9. - The Wax Museum - Museo de Cera
The wax figures on display show the country's most famous men and women. Displays and scenery showing historical episodes and anecdotes make up the framework of the exhibits, thus showing them off in a more natural context. It is to be found on Del Valle Iberlucea Street 1261. Tel.: 4303-0563

HOW TO GET THERE
Bus lines2, 9, 10, 20, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 33, 46, 53, 54, 61, 64, 86, 93, 126, 142, 143, 152 and 159.