On the east side of Plaza de Mayo is the Casa Rosada, the Pink House of Buenos Aires. This presidential palace dates back to President Sarmiento's time. The pink salmon color is said to have come from Sarmiento's attempt to bring peace between the Federalists and the Unitarists parties in his 1868-1876 term. The Federalists were the "red" party and the Unitarists were the "white" party. Another more interesting theory is that the Casa Rosada is pink from the use of bovine blood as a coloring agent. Whichever story is true, the building is certainly pink! Eva Peron (Evita) rallied the Argentine people from the balcony of the Casa Rosada, as did her husband Juan Peron and many other politicians who have convened throngs of Argentines in the Plaza de Mayo over the decades. If you see the movie, "Evita", the Plaza de Mayo was the setting for many of the key scenes.
The colonial Calildo, with an interesting artisans' market in the courtyard, is the town council on the south side of the Plaza.
Buenos Aires is a city of districts, and exploring each of these distinct areas is fun. You can either take an organized tour to get an overview of these areas, or take one of the black and yellow radio taxis, which are cheap and plentiful, to navigate quickly around the city.
