Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

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Not many cities can rival Buenos Aires for public art in the streets. From huge graffiti murals to some of the most recognisable sculptures in the world, Buenos Aires really does have it all. One of the jewels in the public art crown, missed by many tourists, yet a stone’s throw from Recoleta Cemetery is the Floralis Generica.

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Designed by Argentina architect Eduardo Catalano (famous for the Catalano House and the US Embassy in Buenos Aires – possibly the ugliest building in the city), the Floralis Generica was created in 2002 from stainless steel by aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Catalano conceived it as a kinetic sculpture and the flower opens in the morning and closes at night when the central stamen emit an eerie blue glow. At least it’s supposed to. The mechanism has been broken for the last few months and the flower is forever open – and Lockheed Martin no longer operate in Argentina so there is apparently no way of fixing it.

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Local Tours meets the world

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I’ve met Ande a few times at the quiz and a few weeks ago she contacted me to see if I’d mind answering some questions for her Porteño Corner page. I didn’t mind in the slightest, and here are the answers.

And would you believe that in the space of 24 hours, my answers to another set of questions appears somewhere else! Thanks to Stephanie of thetravelchica.com!

Buenos Aires Waiter’s Race

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Every so often you come across one of those little quirky things that serve very little practical purpose but are different enough to put a smile on your face and brighten the day up for an hour or two. One of those events too place last Saturday on the Avenida de Mayo in the centre of Buenos Aires, the 8th Annual Waiter’s Race.

Buenos Aires Waiters Race

Buenos Aires Waiters Race

Glasses, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Glasses, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

The concept is very simple, waiters from all over Argentina race down the Avenida de Mayo, loop round the Plaza de Mayo and back up the Avenida, covering 1,600 metres carrying a tray with 2 bottles and a full glass.

Bottles & Glasses, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Bottles & Glasses, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

The Ladies are Off! Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

The Ladies are Off! Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

That’s it, as simple as that. Obviously, you need to finish carrying what you started with, so dropping your drinks slows you down which means that the better waiter you are, the better your chances of winning – it’s not all about speed!

The Off, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

The Off, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

The Ladies, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

The Ladies, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Finish line in sight, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Finish line in sight, Buenos Aires Waiter's Race 2011

Think Pink

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It’s one of the most recognisable sculptures in the world, and only 22 casts were made from the original mould. Of those, only one is in South America, sitting in Plaza de Congreso in front of the National Congress Building.

However, in a sad reflection of what happens here if it ain’t fenced off, Rodin’s Thinker recently got a new, temporary, colour.

Rodin's Pink Thinker, Buenos Aires

Rodin's Pink Thinker, Buenos Aires


I saw it on a tour a few weeks ago, snapped the above pic, and within 2 days it was scrubbed clean – impressively fast for this city where graffiti scrawled on the main Cathedral is often left for weeks on end. However, according to this article, in their haste to blast the pink off with water, the city Government may have caused irreversible damage to the sculpture and its original patination. Nice try…

El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

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Towards the end of the 19th Century, after a series of increasingly serious disease outbreaks (in 1871 Yellow Fever wiped out nearly 10% of the city’s inhabitants), it was decided to do something about the quality of the drinking water. Work began in 1887 on a central pumping station which when finished in 1894 turned out to be one of the most flamboyant architectural works in a city not known for its understated buildings. Officially named El Gran Depósito Ingeniero Guillermo Villanueva it soon became known by a much more fitting and stately name, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (The Palace of Running Water).

El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes


Main Entrance, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Main Entrance, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes


Palace may not be overstating things. It may well have contained 12 enormous tanks with a total capacity of 72 million litres of water, but it’s the exterior that truly grabs the attention. Decorated with 400,000 ceramic and glazed terracotta tiles made by Royal Doulton in England and sporting the coats of arms of the 14 (at the time) Argentinian provinces, it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer effort put into a public utility building.
Side Entrance, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Side Entrance, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes


Window Detail, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Window Detail, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes


Whilst its water-pumping days may be over, it still houses the Buenos Aires Water Company’s offices as well as a small water works museum. It can be found on Avenida Córdoba, a couple of blocks from the Callao subte station on Line D.
Main Facade, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Main Facade, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes


Detail, Main Facade, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Detail, Main Facade, El Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

The Lions Of South Kensington

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On the last morning of our long weekend in London we headed to one of my favourite spots in London, the Natural History Museum. For me, it’s what come to mind when you picture a museum – from the rooms filled with fossils and precious stones to the stuffed animals and the entrance hall filled by the dinosaur skeleton, it has it all. This time however, my eye was drawn to the outside of the building, in particular the sculptures on the facade. When it was built, the Victorians believed they were building a cathedral to knowledge, and looking at the work that went into the decoration of the museum, you can see what they meant.






The Increasing Cost of Travel in Argentina

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I recently came across an old notebook I’d carried with me on my travels when I first arrived in Argentina and tucked inside the back cover were some tickets from bus journeys I had taken. Travelling by bus had been such a big part of my trip around South America that it was nice to be reminded of the distances and experiences that these tickets represented. A couple had the prices on them, so I decided to conduct a little experiment.

That Argentina has been experiencing heavy inflation these last few years is no secret. Whilst the government has gone out of their way to deny it, even fining agencies who dared publish figures which disagreed with their own, living here it’s impossible not to notice prices increasing on a monthly basis. So having the prices from the past in front of me, I thought I’d take a look at how they have changed.

In March 2009 I travelled from Rio Gallegos to Buenos Aires, a journey of 36 hours which cost me 500 pesos. The same journey today according to plataforma10.com would cost 810 pesos – an increase of 61% over 28 months. Given that unofficial estimates of inflation have been around the 25% mark for the last couple of years, that’s not too bad.

Other, shorter and probably more popular routes have however suffered much more heavily. Looking at the tickets from my parents trip last October, the cost of Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn has increased by 62% in just 10 months. In the 31 months since I travelled to Puerto Iguazu, the cost of a Cama class ticket has gone up a whopping 154% from 185 to 471 pesos.

The most heavily affected by this type of inflation (which applies to everything, not just travel) is the Argentinian population who will be able to buy less and less as rent, food and transport take up more and more of their salaries which are not increasing by the same proportion as prices. However I do see another side effect which will be to affect tourism. As exchange rates have varied very little in the last few years these type of price increases are making Argentina twice as expensive to visit as it was only 2 years ago.

Flights to Argentina from Europe and North America are not cheap and the relative inexpensive costs (lodging, transport & eating) once you are here compensated for that making a holiday here a realistic proposition. The more those prices increase the less viable Argentina will become as a destination, something which will hurt both the travel industry and the economy as a whole.