La Boca

Today my sister-in-law Laura, despite the heat, set off to show me some neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Many things have changed for the better over 30 years.

La Boca (Mouth) formerly Puerto (Port) de la Boca was founded where the Riachuelo River flows into the Río de la Plata.

The area was mainly settled by Italian immigrants, many of them from Genoa, from 1830 onwards. They joined together in conventillos (multi-family houses) and painted them with the paint leftovers that the sailors brought with them. Most of them were built with corrugated iron and wood.

The port was later relocated and today it is a tourist attraction.

Tomorrow I will show you something else. For now, time to sleep.