There are many ways to move around Buenos Aires. The cliché indicates that tourists will take minibuses contracted by receptive travel agencies or, at most, a taxi. But there are other ways to get around the city if visitors have more time. A good option to feel the urban pulse is to camouflage oneself with “porteño” people and discover the capital as they do: through its arteries.

The porteño subway is not as long as those in New York, London or Mexico but its route is rewarding. It was inaugurated in 1913 and thus Buenos Aires became the most modern city in Spanish America. Its six subway lines–including the famous line H, recently inaugurated–were created following the alphabetic order, the line A is closer to the surface than the other ones. The underground allows people to discover all the downtown area and get close to other interesting places such as La Boca, San Telmo and Palermo.

Apart from its easy use, the subway is nice tour. Hidden among the daily hurries, there are more than 400 art works along the network; people can appreciate murals by important artists, ceramics and vitreaux. The old line A keeps its charm of Belle Epoque with its swaying cars that have mirrors. The other lines are more modern than the A, the newest stations are found from Olleros to Juramento along the line D and from Tronador along the line B. Such stations have huge and impressive spaces with information about the neighbourhood history. Furthermore, the Tronador station shows the glyptodonts remains found during the excavation.

The recently inaugurated line H is also known as “Tango’s tour”. Its first five stations, from Pompeya up to Once, have murals that pay homage to the most outstanding artists such as Francisco Canaro, Azucena Maizani, Julio De Caro, Osvaldo Fresedo, among others. These works were painted by important contemporary artists: Hermenegildo Sábat, his son Alfredo Sábat, Carlos Nine and Oscar Grillo.

Life under ground is not the same as on surface. In the tunnels for combinations with the downtown stations around the Obelisco, it is very common to find buskers who offer their skills at will. An urban legend tells that the Guatemalan musician Ricardo Arjona started his career in the porteño underground. It is also possible to find musicians and even actors on the cars presenting their performances for an applause or some coins.

Undoubtedly, to enjoy the subway, it is very important to avoid the rush hours, from 8am to 10am and from 5pm to 8pm. Those who take this challenge will find many and many people.

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Photoreport on the new subway line H — Metrovías — Subway map

Esta entrada fue escrita el Martes, Noviembre 6, 2007 a las 16:37 y esta en la categoría General, Alternative tourism. Puede seguir los comentarios de esta entrada mediante RSS 2.0. Puede escribir un comentario, o trackback desde su sitio.