Visit Buenos Aires in Argentina

Join Julie Conover and Mark Jennings on a visit to the Argentinean Capital, Buenos Aires.

Female: Bienvenidos are a passport to adventure from Patagonia. I’m Jill Canaver. Male: And I’m Mark Jennicks. Argentina is home to some of the greatest kings in the Southern Hemisphere. Female: In this episode, we’ll take you to the Switzerland of South America where we’ll ski the dramatic peaks of the Andes. Male: Hang on tight as we take you parapaunting high above beautiful Lake Mount Well Hwapy. Female: We’ll explore the stunning Argentine lake region where rainforest and waterfalls cling to the sides of snow-covered peaks. Male: Take a look at Argentine culture in her vibrant capital Buenos Aires where music is the answer like the passion that’s all up the people. Female: It all happens next to “Passport to Adventure”. The flight to South America is long; but, jet lag is minimal with a time-change of only two hours from the east coast to the United States. Argentina shares the tip of South American continent with its long slender neighbor, Chile. Our flight took us to the country’s capital Buenos Aires where this proportion of 40% of population lives. Male: Argentina is the melting pot of European immigrants. When the first Spanish came to South America in the 16th century, they brought with them smallpox and influenza which eventually killed about 95% of the indigenous population. Argentina’s European heritage is evident in its architecture and its people. Female: Mirtha Lopez is a native of La Voca, a rough-and tumble working class neighborhood originally settled by Italian Spaniards and French bask. Today, it's colorfully decorated buildings are one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. Mirtha: The story about this neighborhood is that a lot of Italian people came here a lot of years ago. They were very poor people and they work especially at the ports. That is the reason you can see a lot different colors because the rest cafés of these ships where we are brought to these houses and the people think with these peictures. So it has become a custom here and the people go wrong with this custom. Male: La Voca was once a Rock Es Barrio. Its bars and raffles are said to have given birth to the passionate tango. Mirtha: I was born here so, I can tell you that Buenos Aires is a very romantic place because of the buildings and because of the people. I like to dance tango because it’s a part of us. It’s e very sexual dance because you have two persons that are very close together and expressing their feelings. Female: In the early 1900’s, the tango was the music, song, and dance of the middle classes in Buenos Aires. The passionate nature of the Argentine people is expressed in the lyrics. Male: Today, there are numerous clubs throughout the city offering everything from dinner shows to lessons.