Helado in La Boca

Ice cream in ‘The Mouth’.

La Boca is a famous barrio (neighbourhood) of Buenos Aires, known for its colourful buildings and as the home of Boca Juniors football club; one of the world’s most successful. This district originated as a stronghold for immigrants arriving in Argentina and still today attracts visitors from countless nations who browse the art and dodge the forward tango dancers who want to charge a premium for a photo.

North of La Boca is San Telmo, another district popular with tourists and where I stayed during my 2018 visit. On Sundays a huge street market stretches for approximately twelve blocks from San Telmo to the Plaza de Mayo, on which stands the Casa Rosada. We strolled the length of it, admiring the knick-knacks which I resisted buying as I can’t really transport across multiple continents, and fuelling up with a choripan (chorizo and pan (bread) snack; unoriginal name) halfway along.

At Plaza de Mayo demonstrations were taking place for International’s Women’s Day, this one specifically about legalising abortion which is illegal in most cases in Argentina. I hope the spirited rap has an impact in raising it further into the political agenda, although I was a little confused in general as Mozambique has a public holiday for International Women’s Day next month, in April.

I’ve become obsessed with a delicious and good value ice cream place a block from Erlyn’s apartment. In the evening to escape the heat of the flat we took a stroll and ate small vats of it whilst sitting in a park. Sunday nights don’t get no better.