Before you stretches an immense avenue lined with bare trees, as wide as a river, where cars and yellow taxis constantly speed by, so look straight ahead, where the road opens up as far as the eye can see.
Welcome to Presidente Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, the grand boulevard that crosses a large part of Buenos Aires, much like an elegant scarf draped over the city's shoulder. Do you feel that breath of air coming from the nearby parks? That throng of cars roaring, the cyclists, the joggers with their rhythmic steps? Here, modernity blends with history with a distinctly porteño charm, and it all begins, or ends, depending on your perspective, with the name of one man: José Figueroa Alcorta. He was a true jack-of-all-trades - he served as President of the Nation, President of the Senate, and then Supreme Court Justice, as if he enjoyed collecting all the badges of power in a sticker album.
But before cars rumbled on this asphalt, in the 19th century, there were train tracks here leading to San Fernando. Imagine the metallic noise, the steam, and those wagons running along the banks of the Río de la Plata. Then, little by little, the tracks gave way to ambition: the coast was filled in, the train was moved, and a majestic avenue was dreamed of, one that would guide the elite and families towards the great Tres de Febrero Park, Buenos Aires' green lung.
In 1910, for the centenary of the May Revolution, the brand new avenue was inaugurated, first named Avenida Centenario, like a child dressed up for a birthday. But it never stopped changing its attire: it quickly received the name of a dictator (José Félix Uriburu, for a very short period), before definitively adopting the name Figueroa Alcorta, its current mantle.
Throughout its journey, it offers a festival of contrasts and surprises. It originates in Recoleta, winding between monuments and museums - here the National Museum of Fine Arts, there the gigantic Floralis Genérica opening like a steel flower. You'll cross the famous curved concrete bridge, imagined by an architect in 1960, moved, destroyed, then rebuilt... This bridge has more twists and turns than an Argentine telenovela.
We move forward, and suddenly, it's Palermo, the chic neighborhood designed by Carlos Thays with his vision of a French garden: he wanted the aristocracy to stroll there without getting their shoes dirty in the mud. The villas of prominent families, sometimes replaced by modern buildings (because even palaces don't escape the harsh law of real estate), now host embassies and diplomats. Oh, and Tour Grand Bourg? A luxurious building whose style, bristling with French details, divided architects: some applauded, others rolled their eyes, muttering 'anachronistic!'
On the west side, you'll find the Alcorta Palace: guess what? It even hosted a circular Chrysler car test track on its roof! Car enthusiasts dreamed of it, and those who didn't like engines found solace at the Latin American Art Museum (MALBA), now a star of the cultural world.
To the north, greenery stretches out: the Planetarium, the Japanese Garden, the Mounted Police, equestrian clubs, and that mysterious Babylonian column offered by the Shah of Iran - a little touch of the Arabian Nights on the banks of the Río de la Plata.
And then, the road opens further, crossing brick bridges, flirting with English rails, caressing the lawns of the Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima, running alongside Plaza Armenia where swans swim... Which goes to show that here, even elegant birds enjoy a stroll.
And there you have it, you've walked, driven, and glided through time and space along one of Buenos Aires' most vibrant and surprising avenues. This is the end of our stroll! But rest assured, on Figueroa Alcorta, there's always something moving, growing, leaping towards the future... Perhaps even a next yellow taxi to catch, if you're in a hurry to tell everyone about it!
