Mention Buenos Aires and people think of different things –  tango, Recoleta and … La Boca. And it’s as colourful and vibrant as the photos suggest.

Our first visit was in the middle of the day – when the sun was at its harshest. This couldn’t drown out the colours though. And it was a stunning visit. So much so that we had to return for another visit on our last day in Buenos Aires.

Everything about La Boca was colourful.

This gentleman posed so beautifully while I had three attempts at getting the lighting right. I think he was a bit bored by my final attempt.

This was one of those times when I was really pleased I wasn’t any shorter. I had to stand on tippy-toe to reach over the fence for this shot. But she was too gorgeous to miss so I stretched as far as I could.

Him and his girl

But the back streets of La Boca show a totally different side to the area. The tourist area is brightly painted while the residential/business areas aren’t so colourful.

In the harsh economic conditions of the last couple of years, people have taken to collecting items such as cardboard and then selling it on to recyclers. This gentleman is waiting for the recyclers to open so he can sell his latest load.

We’d been warned of the dangers of visiting La Boca before the daily influx of tourists arrived – but we were well protected on our early morning visit.

Wherever we went, one or two police officers seemed to appear by magic. They took good care of us.

We were adopted by this pooch. He growled at anyone he didn’t like the look of.

The people of the area were proud of the achievements of “La Boca Juniors”. We passed their stadium a couple of times while driving around. The murals on the sides of the building were painted in the team colours.

Courtesy of ‘Ramblings from Marianne’

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