While Buenos Aires boasts that it is multi- cultural, accepts all backgrounds and is not divided into 'little towns' like Nueva York, this little part of town developed as a distinct Italian area.
"Boca" means mouth and it sits on a port that runs into Rio de la Plata. It's also considered the birth place of the Tango. Crime used to be high here, from the mafia they say as a joke. Legend says the first immigrants used leftover paint from their boat to paint their houses, and thus bright colors are continued even today. There are three main, very short, touristy streets of vividly colored metal houses lining the cobblestone streets. Walk around back to the railroad tracks and you can even explore one of the ancient, creeking houses that probably provided shelter to 5 families.
It reminded me of walking through Little Italy in New York with one restaurant right after the other and the waiters shouting at you and shoving daily menu specials in your hands. Prices are higher here of course, but it is a great place to see outdoor mini tango shows for free. (the other option is $US 25-100 for a "Milonga" (Tango show) near 9 de Julio street which includes a dinner, but is a major tourist trap.) After these mini shows, you are welcome to talk to the dancers and even take pictures with them (they love it!), capturing the seductive look of the Argentinean Tango. The streets also have amazing artwork of tango scenes to browse while roaming through the area.
Half of Argentina's population lives in Buenos Aires; about 40% from Italy and the next largest percentile from Spain. Thus, Argentinean Spanish is called "castellano", not espanol, and many italian words (and food!) have been blended into the language. Buenos Aires has its own dialect called "rioplatense", a slang called "lunfardo" from the once considered low class tango verses and heavy immigration from the Galician area of northweast Spain/Portugal, which makes Spanish in Argentina quite a bit different than textbook spanish.
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