In La Boca we were simply given some free time to wander around and check out the souvenir shops (the tango and the local football team were popular subjects for memorabilia) or take some photographs of the colourful houses and interesting art either on display for sale or attached to the buildings’ walls or balconies. Maradona was represented in a number of places, either as a piece of sculpture or as art painted on the walls; our guide was a fan of Boca Juniors and of Maradona so we kept a respectful silence as he praised the cheat.
We happened upon some train tracks running along one side of La Boca that I assumed were disused on account of their general condition. We discovered soon afterwards that this wasn’t the case as a train came slowly rolling through the district.
We’d been advised to stay very much in the colourful, tourist part of La Boca and not to wander away as it could be dangerous – there was a police car parked up as an additional protection for tour groups – and we duly did that. There was plenty to catch my eye and my camera’s sensor in our restricted zone as my wife and I meandered up and down La Boca’s pedestrianised areas admiring the buildings and the impressive amounts of street art everywhere. At one point a tango dancer approached me and asked if I wanted to take her picture; fearing an appeal following that for money I didn’t have on me (it was impossible to pick up Argentinian money before our cruise) I declined.
