HIGH NOTES IN BUENOS AIRES

I bet by now you can't tell I enjoyed this trip? We are approaching the end of the posts, otherwise we could be here all month!!! As you can imagine there is much culture in Buenos Aires.Buenos Aires is a cultural and economic melting pot where influences from all over the world can be seen, which surprised me. For those that are interested there is an absolute wealth of activities and areas to take in and I would recommend in the region of a week or two to see them properly. But when it comes to art and dance there is no shortage of either. We did see some tango's in the streets, not to mention in private! While we didn't see a opera or ballet, I forgot my gloves and opera glasses,  we did go see the main opera house, Teatro Colón . Saying it was spectacular was a understatement.

Our tour guide told us that the main opera house in Buenos Aires, is ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic, and is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world. The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped, has 2,487 seats, standing room for 1,000 and a stage. The low-rise building has 6 floors above ground and 3 below ground, 7 elevators with a façade of applied masonry. It has a large central chandelier with 700 light bulbs. The original architect was the Italian Francesco Tamburini; after his death it was completed by the Belgian architect Julio Dormal. The original auditorium "had eight boxes with metal grilles and a separate entrance, so that those in mourning could still attend performances, but remain dignifiedly sequestered from public view". Who knew? But the places was just massive.

The National Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum in Recoleta, Buenos Aires.

The museum has its origins in a marriage in 1897 between two prominent, wealthy members of turn-of-the-century Argentine high society. The couple commissioned French architect René Sergent in 1911 to design a mansion for Errazúriz's future retirement from the diplomatic corps, in which he had been Ambassador to France for a number of years. The ornate Neoclassical structure inspired the Bosch family to commission a similar palace nearby which today is the United States Ambassador's residence.Completed in 1916, the couple devoted the following two years to decorating the palace, purchasing a large volume of antiques and other objets d'art.

When Mrs. Errazúriz died in 1935, however, the widower bequeathed the mansion to the Argentine government, on his son's and daughter's advice. The National Museum of Decorative Arts was established in 1937.The museum maintains twelve exhibit halls and nine permanent collections containing over 4,000 objects including: painting, room décor, Asian art and sculpture. Truly stunning.

I adored this picture...of all things. I tried to swipe it, but was frisked. Again. 

Another museum we visited was the National Museum of Fine Arts. If you ever get to Buenos Aires and have the time, it is rather interesting to catch if you can.

The ground floor of the museum holds 24 exhibit halls housing a fine international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century, together with the museum's art history library. The first floor's 8 exhibit halls contain a collection of paintings by some of the most important 20th-century Argentine painters. The second floor's two halls, completed in 1984, hold an exhibition of photographs and two sculpture terraces. There is also many well know painting from French, Mexican, Dutch, Flemish, and Scottish painters.