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Buenos Aires was designed with inspiration from the wonderful streets of Paris. Walk around it and you will find a city littered with beautiful, expansive Parisian avenues surrounded by charming buildings.
But ‘Avenida 9 de Julio’ is impressive in a thoroughly different way. The widest street in Buenos Aires has no less than 9 lanes of near constant traffic in both directions and at its center is the city’s most iconic monument.
The massive avenue stretches 3km through the city centre. By far the most beautiful stretch being from the Obelisco to the theater Colon.
The Obelisco
Buenos Aires phallic concrete obelisk was erected in 1936. On its completion, the Argentineans instantly heralded it as an eyesore, a complete failure and demanded it to be torn down. However, over time its critics subsided and today it is one of the city’s most famous landmarks and part of the city’s instantly recognizable skyline.
My favorite view of the Obelisk
For a fantastic photo of Buenos Aires, try my favorite view of the obelisk (this could be my favorite view of the whole city), seen as you walk up from the famous Plaza de Mayo along the Avenue Roque Saenz Pena.
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We walked up this street one quiet Sunday and from this viewpoint the obelisk is perfectly framed by the beautiful French styled apartments that line the Avenue Roque Saenz Pena.
Once we reached the 'Avenida 9 de Julio' we were stood right in front of the monument, which is a great spot to take a famous postcard style picture of the widest street in Buenos Aires with the obelisk in its center.
From here it was just a short walk up to one of Argentina’s most important cultural buildings.
‘El Teatro Colon’, one of the world’s finest concert halls
From outside, the theater Colon’s grand Italian architecture is so impressive that it rivals some of Italy’s finest buildings.
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The décor inside is as impressive as its exterior. The auditorium is considered to be one of the four finest concert halls in the world, not just because of its lavish scarlet velvet and gilt décor but also because of its near perfect acoustics. Argentineans have seen everyone from Pavarotti to Stravinsky perform here and they’re hugely proud of this amazing building.
When we visited, the theater was under renovation for its centenary in May 2008, until that time, they had canceled all tours of the theater and performances had been moved to the city’s other auditoriums.
My favorite time of the day to see the widest street in Buenos Aires
My favorite memory of the widest street in Buenos Aires was at night, it was at this time after the daytime traffic had disappeared that we saw ordinary Argentineans living their typical life.
It was a late hot Christmas night and we sped home along the avenue in a taxi. Its numerous trees were decorated with crimson red Christmas lights which were twisted around their trunks. Two scrawny kids leapt into one of the fountains trying to cool off from the intense heat as a group of old Argentinean men sat at one of the many bars, feasting on their late night steak dinner.
It is memories like these that make Buenos Aires an unforgettable vacation and one of the most magical times of my life.
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