Sunday, January 07, 2007

Reserva Ecologica


So, at some point, the city of Buenos Aires invested all this money into a nice riverfront promenade, the Costanera Sur. Tile sidewalks, lamposts, railings. Then they built a sort of man-made peninsula jutting out into the river that completley blocks the river from the promenade, meaning when you go for a stroll on the promenade you look out onto a really smelly swamp.
The good thing is that they turned the peninsula into an ecological reserve. There's plants, birds, animals, a couple of trails and some alright shoreline, and it's a stone's throw away from downtown.

The perfect sunday afternoon activity, we decided to check it out today, as the temperature actually dipped below 30C. There were a ton of people, lots of families and picknickers, but it was stil nice to get a little closer to something resembling nature. The poor kids on the beach all wanting to swim in the definitely UN-swimmable water, but being chastisted by the rent-a-cop/forest ranger if they went in anything deeper than their knees.
The Reserva is located sort of between downtown and the neighbourhood of La Boca, a working class section fo the city. So most of the people hanging around in the reserve and on the Costanera outside seem to be from the Boca, and so things have a different feel than a Sunday afternoon in well-to-do Recoleta. Also, families with money can go to the beach for the weekend, whereas for many in the Boca, the reserva's probably the closest thing to a beach as they can get.

The best part of going to the reserve is walking along the Costanera to get there. It's packed with families out for a stroll, and barbeque and ice cream stands, people selling stuff and parked cars with their stereos blasting cumbia. There's a big plaza right before you get to the entrance to the park, and there's this guy who does this sort of pseudo-karaoke show with music encompassing all things Argentine. Tango, folk music, cuartetto, cumbia, rock nacional, chamame, he has it all. Sometimes he sings the songs, and sometimes he just acts as DJ.
In the afternoon when we went into the park, the Karaoke guy was going strong, with lots of people sitting around listening and dancing. It's cool when he plays folk music, because there's always someone in the crowd from the Northern part of the country who knows the accompanying folk dances and just gets up and danced for the crowd.

We came out of the park and went for a long leisurely dinner at a parrilla grill nearby, and when we passed by on our way home, things had turned into an open-air family dance party. The plaza was a dance floor, lots of people had a beer in hand, and couples were dancing to the cumbia and salsa the Karaoke guy was putting on. I would imagine things go at least until midnight.

The art of the Sunday afteroon at it's best. I always though Montrealers were expectionally talented at the art of the Sunday afternoon. You go by any park in Mtl on a Sunday and it's full of people just hanging out. Maybe they're reading, playing with their kids, drinking beer with friends, playing frisbee, walking the dog. Maybe they're going for brunch, or a sangria on a terrasse or an ice cream. Whereas Saturdays are about taking care of the details you don't have time for during the workweek, it seems like Sunday's really just about relaxing, enjoying the outdoors, and being with your friends or family.

Here, as well, they've got this art down to a T. And they take it one step farther, with seriously the whole city participating ( as opposed to Montreal where there there's still a good portion of the population hidden away at home on a Sunday afteroon), and with the maxing and relaxing going well into the evening. It's really about enjoying all that's enjoyable and wonderful and easy in life.

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