Iguazu Falls
These magnificent waterfalls are located to the east of the place where the Iguazu and Parana rivers merge. Every second, 5,000 cubic meters of water fall into the abyss from a height of 70 meters. Nearby are the ruins of the missions of the Jesuit monks. Of particular interest is San Ignacio Mini, a church built in the Baroque Guarani style. Above the waterfalls, the rivers are convenient places for water sports. The waterfalls are located in the Iguazu National Park, which covers an area of 55,000 hectares covered with subtropical forests, which are home to a great variety of wild animals (including monkeys).
Buenos Aires
The Argentine capital Buenos Aires and its suburbs are home to 40% of the country’s population. The city is located on the banks of the Río de la Plata in the Federal Capital District. The heart of the city is considered to be the Playo de Mayo square, the traditional center of the active life of the townspeople. The nearby 9th of July Avenue is known as the world’s largest shopping district.
There is something to see in Buenos Aires, this is the Metropolitan Cathedral, which houses the grave of José de San Martin, the national hero of the country during the struggle for independence; and the famous Teatro Colon. Be sure to visit the museums of the Argentine capital: the National Museum of Art, the Cinema Museum, the National Historical Museum.
Buenos Aires of the 21st century is a modern city with high-rise buildings, including skyscrapers in the center, which house business centers and offices of large companies. But the general building retains the features of the colonial period, which is characterized by a main square with access to the sea and a rectilinear configuration of the streets. The city is rich in greenery, parks and boulevards. However, numerous poor neighborhoods and slums contrast with the fashionable areas of the center and suburbs.
Colon Theater
The architectural appearance of this Opera House brings together many elements of various European schools into an artistic unity. It is like a heritage of cultural expansion, which the Old World gave to the New World. One of the world’s most beautiful opera houses with superb acoustics, the opulent Renaissance façade of the Colón Theatre, proudly looks out over Avenida Nueves de Julio in Buenos Aires. Its construction began in 1890 and after numerous bureaucratic delays in financing and political complications in the life of the country, it was completed only 18 years later. The opera building was supposed to become a symbol of the new Buenos Aires – the city, which in 1880 was declared the capital of Argentina and after that began to grow and develop rapidly.
The opera scene had a glorious tradition in Buenos Aires, established as early as 1825 with the first production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. As the city developed, new theaters arose in it. The idea of creating an opera house that would overshadow all the other opera stages in the world was the first to dawn on the Argentine engineer Francisco Tamburini. But soon after the start of construction work, in 1892, he died. Only on May 25, 1908, the opera was opened with the solemn premiere of Verdi’s Aida.
The architectural appearance of this building is defined by the combination of Italian Renaissance style with attractive elements of French architecture and German love for meticulously finished details. However, the impressive façade of the theater is almost immediately forgotten when one sees its breathtaking interior decoration: marble staircases, classical columns, sculptural groups and vaults trimmed with gold leaf. The Golden Salon (Salon de Oro) amazes with its splendor. It is literally immersed in golden radiance and iridescent tints of crystal chandeliers. The auditorium, whose decoration is dominated by gilding and purple velvet, is designed for 2,500 seats and 1,000 standing places. However, there are only 632 seats in the stalls, placed so spaciously that ladies in magnificent evening dresses can easily walk between the rows, without forcing already seated spectators to stand up. Lodges and balconies are arranged in seven tiers, the topmost is called ‘Paradise’ (El Paraiso). And just above it, the arches of the dome, painted by the Argentine artist Raul Soldi and crowned with a grandiose crystal chandelier, are already stretching.
The auditorium impresses with its size, but they are inferior to the volume of the stage. The stage box has recently been reconstructed and is now arranged in such a way that the orchestra and the ballet ensemble can hold parallel rehearsals in it: a soundproof metal curtain allows them not to interfere with each other. Along with opera performances, there are drama and ballet performances. In addition, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, ballet troupe, orchestra and choir of the Opera House perform on the same stage. The theater has its own theatrical workshops, where scenery and stage models, costumes and wigs, props and props are created. Under the three-story stage are rehearsal rooms, workshops and a wardrobe fund, where more than 16,000 costumes and 30,000 pairs of shoes are stored.
EXCURSIONS SHOW
The most interesting excursions are considered to be the “Gaucho Fiesta” – tourists can make a day trip from Buenos Aires to nearby estates and visit the gaucho fiesta, where they will be offered fried meat with red wine, and then they will demonstrate a rodeo. Rodeo includes an exercise of sortiha, when a rider at full gallop tries to hit a small hanging ring with a needle – and “Tango Show” – acquaintance with the life, cuisine, customs and music of gauchos – Argentine cowboys, an entertaining performance in which the best dancers participate country.
TANGO SHOW
Time and place of birth – poor emigrant quarters of Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century. Origin – from the people: the progenitors were the Argentine folk song and milonga dance, the German waltz, the Polish mazurka, the Spanish habanera and the ritual dances of the Indians. Add to this the emigrant environment and the suffering of people who arrived in Argentina in search of happiness, longing for the abandoned homeland, the torment of love, the joy of hope and the bitterness of disappointment. Therefore, tango is much more than just a dance┘
Tango is music. At first, emigrants played on the streets on those instruments that they brought with them from their native places: violin, flute, harp. Then the harp was replaced by the guitar. And soon the bandoneon was added to these instruments, which became the main expression of the soul of tango in music for all subsequent years. You will hear everything in tango music, it is not for nothing that it is so different: passionate or cold, cruel or tender, sincere or false, filled with longing and suffering or bursts of joy and fun.
Tango is poetry. Simple portenos expressed their feelings in the words of the tango. Therefore, not even every Hispanic can understand the words of tango, because most of them are written in lunfardo – jargon, in which all the languages of the world are mixed.
