A couple of days ago, I shared a post about my favorite building in Buenos Aires, the [Palacio Libertad](https://hive.blog/hive-163772/@cristiancaicedo/buenos-aires-most-beautiful-building-engoresp), and I mentioned that it was a place I visited several times during the weeks I spent in the Argentine capital. With so many places to see and things do, the fact that I returned to the same place is proof of how much I enjoyed it. There was another place I also visited several times during those days: the new and very striking neighborhood of Puerto Madero. >Hace un par de días les subí un post sobre mi edificio favorito en Buenos Aires, el [Palacio Libertad](https://hive.blog/hive-163772/@cristiancaicedo/buenos-aires-most-beautiful-building-engoresp) y mencioné que fue un lugar que visité varias veces durante las semanas que pasé en la capital argentina. Con tantos y tantos lugares que ver y tanto por hacer, el hecho de haber vuelto al mismo lugar es una prueba de lo mucho que me gustó y hubo otro lugar que también visité varias veces durante esos días. Se trata del novedoso y muy llamativo barrio de Puerto Madero. Buenos Aires is divided into 48 official neighborhoods, and you've surely heard names like Palermo, La Boca, Belgrano, Recoleta, San Telmo, and the aforementioned Puerto Madero, which is a port, but no longer one. How so? Let me tell you some history. Previously, a couple of centuries ago, the city of Buenos Aires ended more or less at the height of the Casa Rosada, behind which—to the east—you could see the Río de la Plata, which, due to its shallow depth, represented a good defense for large ships that wanted to attack the locals from that side. As time passed, this shallow depth also became an obstacle to trade, and for that reason, a port designed by Eduardo Madero was built there—hence its name—but after a few years, the place was already inefficient in the face of the increasingly large ships. For this reason, a new port was built further north of the city, near Jorge Newbery International Airport. In the now former Puerto Madero, the idea of ​​utilizing that area in a different way began to take shape, and although the ferry port for Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento is currently located there, the truth is that Puerto Madero is only a port in name.  |  --- | ---  |  >Buenos Aires se divide en 48 barrios oficiales y seguramente habrán escuchado algunos nombres como Palermo, La Boca, Belgrano, Recoleta, San Telmo y el ya mencionado Puerto Madero, que sí es un puerto, pero ya no lo es, ¿cómo es eso? Les contaré algo de historia. Anteriormente, hace un par de siglos atrás, la ciudad de Buenos Aires terminaba más o menos a la altura de la Casa Rosada, tras la cual - hacia el Este - se podía ver el Río de la Plata, el cual debido a su poca profundidad representaba una buena defensa para los barcos de gran tamaño que quisieran atacar a los locales por ese lado. Conforme pasó el tiempo, esa poca profundidad se volvió también un obstáculo para el comercio y por esa razón se construyó allí un puerto que fue diseñado por Eduardo Madero - de allí su nombre - pero a los pocos años el lugar ya se encontraba ineficiente ante la cada vez más grande envergadura de los buques. Por esta razón se construyó un puerto nuevo, más al Norte de la ciudad, cerca del Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newbery. En el, ahora antiguo, Puerto Madero se comenzó a gestar la idea de aprovechar esa zona de otra forma y aunque en la actualidad allí está el puerto de los ferrys que viajan hacia Montevideo y Colonia del Sacramento, la verdad es que Puerto Madero sólo tiene de Puerto el nombre.  |  --- | ---  |  # It is curious, poetic, and tremendously surreal that what was once intended for commercial purposes and lacked any aesthetic appeal has now become one of the most expensive and exclusive neighborhoods in the country and the continent, and that where warehouses, ships, and customs were once planned, there are now office skyscrapers, residential buildings, and luxury hotels, all overshadowing the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, which provides the neighborhood with its natural beauty, right between the buildings and the Río de la Plata. >No deja de resultar curioso, poético y tremendamente surreal que lo que otrora fuera destinado a fines comerciales y que no tuviera ningún tipo de estética, se haya convertido ahora en uno de los barrios más costosos y exclusivos del país y del continente y que en donde antes se había previsto que hubiera galpones, barcos y aduanas, ahora existan rascacielos de oficinas, habitacionales, hoteles de lujo, todos haciendo sombra a la Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur que le brinda el aporte natural al barrio, justo entre los edificios y el Río de la Plata. The first thing you notice about Puerto Madero are those tall buildings that can be seen in the distance from almost any moderately elevated part of the city, and which become gigantic as you get closer. But the neighborhood's icon is the now-famous bridge called Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge), designed by Santiago Calatrava (Spanish) and which, according to him, represents the schematic image of a couple dancing tango. Honestly, I don't see it. I mean, yes, I can force myself to see it, but when I approached the bridge, walked around it, looked at it from every angle, it didn't look like a couple dancing tango; rather, it looked like a phallic shape, which is ironic for a place called Women's Bridge. Do you see the couple dancing tango? Anyway, this is the busiest place in the area, where everyone wants to take pictures and look at the lights of the buildings and restaurants around the port. It's truly a very pretty, family-friendly place, and the bars and eateries around it offer a variety of options to suit everyone's taste. There's even one—which really catches my eye—that's literally over the water, which helps reinforce the exotic image of the place. As I've seen on other bridges around the area and the port, couples in love leave padlocks with their initials as an offering for a lasting and solid relationship. Where did this custom of ours come from?       |