Last week a couple of friends from Brazil came to visit us and somewhere in a conversation they asked us if we would like to go to the Casino. We never had interest to go there, but we thought it could be amusing if we earned something.
The Casino Puerto Madero is inside two boats imported from New Orleans. It is a “floating casino” over the River La Plata waters, a way to be “inside the law”: the casino is placed in national territory, not Buenosairean, since by the Law 538 the private exploration of games of chance in the city of Buenos Aires is forbidden. In 1999 only one boat was inaugurated, the Estrella de la Fortuna, with 4 floors and 700 slot-machines, 130 gaming tables as roulettes and cards, bars and a restaurant called Sobreaguas.
In 2006 another boat called Princess was brought alongside as an ampliation of the casino: another 4 floors full of slot-machines and gaming tables, everything very well designed to seduce people with its blinking lights and to get the maximum of their money.
As my first time in a casino, I found everything very stupid. In first place, it is forbidden to enter the casino with cameras, so I only have these two external photos that are not of the best ones, I recognize. Secondly, there is a law in the city of Buenos Aires forbidding smoking in closed places, restaurants, etc. This is not respected on the casino, but since it is on “national territory” … Another thing, all the slot-machines are electronic, what make them extremely easy to be programmed to give any result but the winner one. We lost 20 pesos in these machines at an incredible speed. Thanks God we are self-controlled and this was our only bet in all the casino.
At the roulettes and card games floor many people lost innumerable chips, lots of stressed people, it was easy to notice their gambling addiction by their body language. We were there for one hour and in this time I only saw the roulettes tables earning much money and the slot-machines drinking the money as it was water in the desert.
It seems completely illogical to exist a place always crowded where the people are willing to lose their money. The most illogical is someone to find this amusing. It really didn’t please me and I don’t recommend this place. But if you still have some curiosity, you can visit the casino’s official website.
I encourage you to read the previous posts in this blog, certainty there are lots of other interesting destinations to go here in Buenos Aires.
Taxis in front of the casino
Where?
Elvira Rawson de Dellephiane s/n | Darsena Sur | Tel: +54 (11) 4363-3100
sepphora | 12:06 pm | Puerto Madero | “3 Comments”
The first time I heard the name of the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava was in 1999, at the university of Industrial Design. A professor said that we should know his work, because they were “pure design”…
Calatrava is worldly known through his works that generally have organic shapes and very dynamic structures with the appearance that can remind bones, ribcages, insect eyes… Inspired by the nature shapes, his works turn the landscapes where they are inserted a bit more organic.
Here at Buenos Aires we can see the only work of Calatrava in all the Latin America. It is the “Puente de la Mujer” (Woman’s Bridge), one of the five bridges that connects East Madero and West Madero. Its opening was in August 24th, 2001, few time later the reopening of Puerto Madero, being one of the most visited attractions in this district.
The Puente de la Mujer has 5 meters width, 160 meters wide and weights 800 tons. It has a pointed white shape which has a 39° of inclination with the horizon and which height is 34 meters. Attached to this “spine” are 19 stainless steel cables with 5 cm of diameter that sustains the moving part of the bridge, which rotates 90° and becomes parallel to the dock, clearing the path for the bigger ships.
These pictures were taken during the sun rise.
Where?
Puerto Madero | Dock 3
sepphora | 7:10 pm | Puerto Madero | “0 Comments”
This photograph was taken in January of this year. This day, we decided to photograph landscapes with the dawn illumination, forcing us to get up early and go by bike in the dark until the Puerto Madero district, about 10km away from where we live.
Getting there, the city still was waking, few cars were on the streets, a peace only seen on weekends at this time. This day, we took some beautiful photographs which will be shown in future posts.
Particularly on this picture, the sun starts showing itself behind the new buildings of Puerto Madero, illuminating slowly their silhouettes and one of the postcards of Buenos Aires, the “Puente de la Mujer” (Bridge of the Woman), work of the architect Calatrava, which I also will detail more soon…
The history of Puerto Madero is quite interesting. Back to mid XIX century two engineers, Eduardo Madero and Luis Huergo, tried to make concrete the dream of the habitants of this port city to finally have a port to communicate with the world. Each architect presented several projects to the government, and the chosen one was Madero’s. The construction begun at April 1st, 1887 and finished at March 31st, 1898, 5 years later Madero’s death. Everybody celebrated the sea traffic opening.
Between 1900 and 1905 warehouses of red brick were constructed by Wayss & Freytag using a project of the architect Charles Hawkshaw. These warehouses stored tons of grains that were exported, and they have three or four stages with cellar.
However, in the beginning of XXth century, the boats had increased their size and Puerto Madero was insufficient, leading it to a premature disposal only 10 years later your opening. For the half past century, the abandon situation made the red brick lose their color and the rats took place of the warehouses.
In November 1989, the president Carlos Menen signed a decree to recycle all the 170 hectares of the port. After this huge change, Puerto Madero was reopened on the year 2000, and today this is one of the most valued area of Buenos Aires, with buildings of great multinationals and where rich tourists live. Some particular universities are there with many restaurants and craze bars side by side, fighting for the tourists’ attention, next to cinemas and offices. Puerto Madero’s night-life is away from monotony.
sepphora | 11:50 am | Puerto Madero | “0 Comments”
wordpress | Buenos Aires Landscapes by MuvHaus © 2008
All images and texts presented here are copyrighted. Any kind of reproduction without explicit authorization is forbidden.