♪ ♪ (Rudy Maxa) It's 2 a.m., and the night is still young in this city that never sleeps.

♪ ♪ I'm trying to learn the dance that speaks of the soul of a nation, a dance that turns ordinary life into high drama here in Buenos Aires.

(woman) "Rudy Maxa's World," proudly sponsored by The Leading Hotels of the World.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (Rudy) The most European city in the Western Hemisphere, Buenos Aires infuses Old World sensibilities with Latin energy and panache.

Casually sophisticated cafes harbor the passions for tango, and futbol.

Avante galleries sit next to colonial buildings on cool, leafy streets.

Argentina's largest port and the capital, Buenos Aires, lies at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, which separates Argentina from Uruguay.

At the end of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was one of the richest cities in the world.

Its agricultural bounty supported a cultural scene that rivaled London and Paris.

The 20th century though, was not so kind with a succession of military dictatorships followed by a spectacular economic crash.

Determined to retain their cultural heritage amidst hardship, Porteños as these port city residents are known, have created a vibe that captivates all who travel here.

Porteños have a penchant for personal expression from their refined sense of style to their eclectic art scene.

Porteños live their lives with passion and flair.

[an orchestra plays a tango] Nothing captures the psyche of Porteños as much as that seductive dance, the tango.

♪ ♪ The dance grew up in brothels and on the street corners of rough barrios, evolving into suggestive, aggressive coupling of straight-backed macho men and swooning, leggy women.

Couples act out a drama of passion, regret, sorrow, and fleeting joy.

Jorge Borges, Argentina's great writer, said of tango music that it moves us to "lament misfortunes we never suffered and wrongs we did not commit."

♪ ♪ [applause] Speaking of misfortune, my partner has the unenviable job of having to try to teach me to do the el ocho oscilante.

We go together.

1...2...3... 4...5... Good!

6... 7...8.

Very good!

You got it.

♪ ♪ (Rudy) Milonga is a form of music with African roots that evolved into the tango.

It's also the name for the halls where the tango is taught, practiced, and performed.

Buenos Aires milongas vary from the super chic to old-fashioned neighborhood gatherings.

There are strict rules of conduct.

An invitation to dance is often a smile across the room or a nod of the head.

Stepping on toes or bumping into other couples is bad form as is conversing while dancing.

♪ ♪ The star of tango music is the bandoneon, an accordionlike instrument developed in Germany as a kind of portable organ for small churches.

German immigrants brought the instrument to Argentina in the early 20th century.

♪ ♪ Extremely complex and difficult to play, the bandoneon is its own mini orchestra and a resident underpinning to the heartfelt tango.

♪ ♪ [applause & cheers] It's hard to imagine that a few short years ago, this city was in the throes of a devastating financial crisis.

In 2001, Argentina suffered hyperinflation and devaluation of the peso.

It cut the country's wealth in half.

Today a stroll through modern downtown shows signs of growth and prosperity.

Porteños exude casual confidence as they march toward the future with an optimism that belies their troubled past.

Looking good is important in Buenos Aires.

This is not a city of fashion slackers.

Everyone strives to be smart, shapely, and sexy.

From funky and retro to elegant and refined, Porteños like to cut a good figure.

And cut, they do.

One in 30 Argentines has tucked a tummy or lifted their face with plastic surgery, and more and more foreigners are taking plastic surgery vacations to the capital.

But being beautiful on the outside isn't enough.

Argentines have more psychoanalysts per capita than any other city in the world.

The trendy barrio called Palermo is nicknamed Viejo Freud for all the psychologists who live here.

Many wealthy Argentines take their analysts on vacation with them.

And if you have a dog in Buenos Aires, it's the trendy imperative to have a dog walker Technically the walkers are licensed by the city and limited to 8 dogs.

But 8 seems to be the bare minimum here.

These walkers are pros, casually rounding up a dozen unleashed dogs in a city park.

[barking] Counterintuitively, Argentina's recent financial collapse spawned a whole new generation of artists in opera, film, and painting.

Palermo is the Bohemian chic barrio-- cafe-dotted streets mingle with art galleries and boutiques.

Buenos Aires has long been a center for writers, actors, and painters.

The singer Carlos Gardel introduced the melancholy tango to a worldwide audience.

The writer Jorge Luis Borges depicted human frailty, angst, and disappointment in poems and stories.

During the darkest period of Argentina's economic turmoil, the city continued to allocate 5% of its budget to the arts, even though the city's overall budget declined.

Appetite is the name of an up-and-coming gallery with edgy work that's also known for its rocking exhibition openings.

Owner Danila Luna tells me about art after the financial crisis.

There's a lot of new emerging artists in the last maybe 10 years, and also there's a lot of new emerging galleries.

(Rudy) Why?

(Danila) Mostly because the crisis that we had in 2001.

After that like, everything change in Argentina.

(Rudy) People couldn't afford art.

(Danila) People couldn't afford a lot of things, but at the same time, people started realizing that we had to do things.

So it wasn't so much about if people were going to buy it, but it was much more about people trying to get out of the crisis and start doing our own businesses, our own things.

(Rudy) So people had to do art.

(Danila) Yes, yes.

Well, art here is about that.

You had to do it.

If not, It's so difficult to do it that you don't.

There's no other reason to do it.

(Danila) Yes.

(Rudy) Danila tells me she only exhibits artists who has an appetite, a real passion for making art.

She's attracted by the marriage of technology and art and calls it "cyber hot esthetics."

♪ ♪ Malba Fudación Costantini is a museum dedicated to modern Latin American art.

♪ ♪ This colorful, playful collection dazzles with works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Fernando Botero, who famously inflates his subjects.

Argentine surrealist Xul Solar occupies a niche in the museum.

Solar painted in the early 20th century, an eccentric who invented his own language.

Though abstract, mystical, and confounding, his paintings are also charming and innocent.

♪ ♪ In Buenos Aires, you don't have to stop being fashionable and famous when you die, not at least if you can get a spot here in La Recoleta Cemetery.

This is where the elite are laid to rest in monumental style.

Residents of this 5-star necropolis paid dearly for the privilege of lying side-by-side with presidents, generals, legendary beauties, great thinkers, and tyrants.

And just because the cemetery is full doesn't stop new residents from moving in.

Many a family fallen on hard times will pack up their ancestors and sell the family tomb for upwards of $40,000.

The notoriously snobby elite of Buenos Aires must roll over in their graves at the thought of common-born Eva Peron not only resting here, but being La Recoleta's most famous inhabitant.

Eva Duarte grew up in the countryside outside Buenos Aires.

At age 15, she moved to the city to pursue fame and fortune and eventually found her niche in radio soap operas.

She caught the eye of Juan Peron an admirer of Mussolini and a leader of a recent military coup.

Eva started broadcasting propaganda oor the military regime.

She devoted herself to Peron and to the poor and was revered among the working class.

As First Lady, Eva is credited with establishing universal health care and securing the right for women to vote.

In 1952, the country mourned her death from cancer with an outpouring of sorrow that continues to this day.

For a little snack, I'm trying out one of the cities many Parrillas, or grill houses.

Here ridiculously large tender steaks are served at ridiculously low prices.

At El Desnivel, families, football fans, and meat freaks rub elbows under fluorescent lights as cooks gill slabs of beef to absolute perfection.

This is the appetizer, the starter!

♪ ♪ We're still in the appetizer part of this lunch.

♪ ♪ Oh-ho!

Gracias!

What a surprise, more meat!

I think this is the main course.

I have to push this annoying salad out of the way to give room to the meat.

A little chimi churana which is red peppers and herbs and olive oil.

♪ ♪ Umm!

♪ ♪ Argentines are for the most part quite slender so they must be onto something with their diet of meat, wine, pastries, and ice cream.

Did your father start this?

Father and mother.

Did you work here as a little boy?

[woman interprets] Five years!

From 5 years old until today.

How old are you today?

[interprets] [speaks Spanish] 75 years old.

It's been 70 years since he's here.

Do you make all your ice cream right here?

[interprets] Yes, yes.

So you've been working in this store for 70 years!

[interprets] So you must be good at ice cream!

[interprets] [speaks Spanish] Clients must say that.

I say it!

This is great ice cream!

Gracias!

Don't mention it!

[all laugh] (Rudy) Italian immigrants brought ice cream to these shores.

in cities' "heladerias" serve up creations like pears in burgundy and figs with walnuts.

But my favorite is Dulce de Leche, a flavor based on Argentina's legendary caramel sauce.

♪ ♪ Scannapieco, one of the city's best, offers Dulce de Leche to die for.

I'm hooked!

♪ ♪ Immigrants from southern Italy, Spain, Germany, and eastern Europe completely transformed Buenos Aires in the late 19th century.

Here in the La Bocca neighborhood, you can still feel the presence of the working people who idolized Eva Peron and created the tango.

In just 35 years between 1870 and 1915, waves of immigrants increased the population of Buenos Aires 7-fold, from under 200,000 residents to more than 1 1/2 million.

Immigrants from Genoa settled in La Bocca.

The tango emerged here with Italian slang as its language.

♪ ♪ It's estimated that people of Italian descent comprise more than half of the city's 12 million inhabitants.

Italian cuisine now dominates the Buenos Aires culinary scene.

Ah Gracias!

Clearly there is a lot of Italy in Buenos Aires.

[loud cheering] Bocca is also home to the Boca Juniors.

Argentina is crazy about futbol, and the rivalry between the 2 city teams, the Boca Juniors and the River Plate is one of the fiercest in the sport.

If you support River Plate, don't wander into this Boca Juniors bar.

[chanting in unison] [very loud cheering] ♪ ♪ The Boca's Juniors Museum at the stadium has a colorful collection of jerseys, pictures, video clips, and memorabilia of great Boca victories and stars in the past.

♪ ♪ Diego Maradona who was born in the slums of Buenos Aires led Argentina to 2 World Cup victories, enjoying Eva Peron as an idol of working class Porteños.

The most frequently asked question in Buenos Aires is, "are you a supporter of Boca Juniors or River Plate?"

Boca or River?

Boca!

Boca or River?

River, River!

♪ ♪ Boca or River?

Boca!

Boca or River?

Boca!

Boca!

♪ ♪ Boca!

Boca!

Boca.

Boca?

Si!

Boca.

River, the best!

♪ ♪ Boca or River?

River!

River!

♪ ♪ In the heady days of tango when beef barons made their fortunes, visitors from Europe were beginning to discover the splendor of Buenos Aires.

A colonial style hotel was built to accommodate foreign guests.

The Alvear Palace Hotel was named for a general in the Argentine Army who fought for independence.

The European elegance begun back in the 1930's continues today.

♪ ♪ All guests have the services of a personal butler who can do everything from unpacking your luggage to running your bath.

Afternoon tea at the Alvear's L'Orangerie Restaurant is a tradition in Buenos Aires.

The tea selection covers 4 pages, and the pastries are as beautiful and elaborate as their names.

alfajores with vanilla, or fruits de passion petit pie.

Champagne?

Why not!

[POP!]

♪ ♪ That's beautiful!

Gracias!

The "Buenos Aires Herald" is the English language newspaper here.

A couple of stories-- BA's craze for psychoanalysis is headed more toward the use of antidepressants than talk therapy, and this town is so football crazy that many fans after they die have their ashes scattered on the Boca Juniors stadium grass.

♪ ♪ In San Telmo, one of Buenos Aires most picturesque barrios, tango dancers perform impromptu dances on the cobblestone streets.

And colonial buildings house lively outdoor cafes.

Street musicians belt out variations on the tango.

[singing in Spanish] ♪ ♪ The Sunday antique market in San Telmo teems with locals and tourists hunting for treasures from silver saddle accessories of gaucho days gone by to old telephones or modern crafts.

There's jewelry and junk and bits of Argentina's past all clumped together in sunny street stalls.

The San Telmo market closes with a bang.

♪ ♪ A procession of drummers appears and gathers a group of enthusiastic followers.

♪ ♪ [bandoneon plays] ♪ ♪ The glories of Buenos Aires were fueled by the bounty of the pampas, the vast grasslands to the south and west of the city.

In 1537, a Spanish party of soldiers abandoned its post and left its horses and cattle behind.

With few predators, a mild climate, and nutritious native grasses, these few animals grew into enormous herds.

And so the gaucho appeared, a nomadic horseman who rounded up cattle, owned only his horse and a knife and cooked his meat fresh on a fire.

In the grasslands outside of Buenos Aires, the gaucho way of life is preserved in huge ranches, or estancia.

At the estancia La Candelaria, guests can enjoy European splendor in a French style chateau while outside, gauchos grill up traditional "asado" barbeques and demonstrate their horse skills.

♪ ♪ Some 60 million cattle still roam Argentina's vast pampa grasslands, and the production of leather goods has long been an important industry.

But in the past, much of the tanned leather was exported to Italy for manufacture and design.

These days Argentines are competing with Italy to design and produce high quality, high fashion goods for a fraction of the price.

♪ ♪ At Rossi and Caruso, one of Buenos Aires oldest and most exclusive leather shops, you can have a leather jacket custom made and delivered in 3 days.

♪ ♪ Wow!

Wow!

♪ ♪ In Buenos Aires, dinner doesn't even begin until 10:00.

The clubs start around 2, and the partying goes on through dawn.

♪ ♪ It's not uncommon to see families with children arrive at a restaurant at midnight.

On weekends even at 3 or 4 in the morning, the city seems wide awake.

♪ ♪ I'm drawn once again to the Milongas to give the tango one more try.

♪ ♪ The tango has suffered the ups and downs of Argentina itself.

Wildly popular in the 30's and 40's, the dance went out of fashion in the 50's but appears to be hot once more as Porteños lament their recent economic woes and funnel past misfortune into dance.

♪ ♪ Buenos Aires itself is a passionate dance-- of artists and their new bold works, of dog walkers and their multiple canines, of stylish shoppers, cheerful carnivores, and rabid futbol fans.

Porteños embrace life, their tumultuous past apparently behind them, Porteños today live in one of the great cities of world.

There's an expression here "Borrachero del tango" or "drunk on tango," and this city is certainly high on this sensual dance.

Reporting from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I'm Rudy Maxa.

Ciao!

(woman) For information on the places featured in "Rudy Maxa's World," along with other savvy traveling tips, visit... To order DVDs of "Rudy Maxa's World" or the CD of world music from the series, call or visit... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Cc--Armour Captioning & Twin Cities Public Television ♪ ♪ "Rudy Maxa's World," proudly sponsored by The Leading Hotels of the World.

Quests for travel begin at LHW.com, where you'll discover a collection of nearly 450 unique hotels worldwide, Including the distinctive family of Taj hotels, resorts, and palaces.

Every quest has a beginning, online at LHW.com.

Additional funding for Rudy Maxa's World provided by Medjet.com, medical evacuation membership protection for travelers.

Take trips, not chances.

And by... Yokoso!

Or "Welcome to Japan."

And by Delta--serving hundreds of destinations worldwide.

Information to plan your next trip available at delta.com.

[orchestral fanfare] ♪ ♪