The Streets of Buenos Aires

I don't carry my camera around in Buenos Aires. No one carries one, for safety reasons. I try to carry as little as possible but sometimes I have my cellphone.  These are some cellphone shots of Buenos Aires. While they are not my best photos, I tried to give a picture of an interesting city. I have posted photos on Facebook too, including some of these.

If we are talking about streets, I guess I'd better start with a photo of 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world. 16 lanes.  Located in the center of the city it takes two full lights to walk across it, no matter how fast you walk.
This shot shows the Obilisco, the symbol of Buenos Aires. An appropriate symbol for a city with such a macho vibe. 

A night shot of 9 de Julio. Both of these photos were taken from our balcony. 

Demonstrations are an almost daily occurrence in Buenos Aires and the Obilisco and 9 de Julio are a popular location for protestors. This is not a new thing, it is has been going on for decades.

There are several purposes. As a taxi driver told me, if they don't protest, their opinions will not be heard. They pick locations that will cause disruption of traffic and blocking 9 de Julio certainly does that. 

Nearby there are several walking/shopping streets.

The center of Buenos Aires has several pedestrian walking/shopping street. Similar to those in Europe.

Another walking street with a magazine kiosk. In the US people don't read newspapers and magazines as much as they do in many other countries. 

This is what a magazine kiosk looks like when it is shut up. 

The photos below requires a little explanation. Trash has been a problem in Buenos Aires for decades. Garbage is not picked up from buildings. Instead, people take their trash to containers in the street and trucks come by at night and empty them.
Cartoneros are people who roam the streets, going through the trash looking for recyclables, mostly cardboard. A conservative estimate is 15.000 people earn their living from picking through trash.  As you can see in the photo below they are don't always bother to put the unrecyclable trash back in the bin.

A cartonero pulling his load

 Now here is a quirky street shot. These guys pulled a sofa and bench out onto the sidewalk in Palermo on a summer Sunday afternoon to enjoy the good weather.

There are 48 neighborhoods or barrios in Buenos Aires. Several have markets on weekends and these elderly tango dancers are street performers in San Telmo. One wonders how many decades they have been performing.
As we walked by they invited people from the audience to dance with him and I danced briefly.  Unfortunately, Franklin didn't think to take a photo.

I am not sure which barrio this is. Belgrano maybe. This cobblestone street looks more like Europe than South America. 

Sorry it is not a great photo. It is hard to shoot with an iphone at night. But hopefully, you can feel the romantic flavor of this short street lined with outdoor cafes.