Day 6 - Don't Cry for me Argentina

Today we have a full day in Buenos Aires.  Apparently booking our trip 10 months in advance was not enough time to figure out what we wanted to do for the day, so, following a 5-minute review of several “things to do if you only have 1 day in Buenos Aires” websites, we headed out.  Our first stop was Recoleta Cemetery, the highlight being that it is where Evita (and many other famous Argentines) is buried.  Outside of that tidbit, we knew very little.  The cemetery is not a traditional cemetery.  It is filled with hundreds of wall-to-wall above ground crypts, like the cemeteries in New Orleans only the crypts here were much bigger and much more ornate. 

We could see inside of many of the crypts either because they had glass doors or the doors were broken.  The standard crypt had 1-2 coffins in plain sight and they often had a shelf that might hold flowers, photographs or other personal mementos.  

We did not catch the English tour, so don’t know full details, but it appears each crypt had a little staircase that led underneath it, which is where we assumed the rest of the family was stored and maybe the patriarch was in the coffin.  We couldn’t figure out how they would get coffins down the stairs, but each crypt also appeared to have a second grate that we are guessing might have been big enough to get coffins downstairs; or, maybe everyone else was cremated.  If anyone knows – please share!

We did not have a map and just wandered around assuming we’d be able to find Evita easily as it would likely be where a bunch of people gathered with cameras.  Luckily, we bumped into an English speaking tour group just as they were headed to Evita’s crypt so we followed.  I say luckily because as it turns out, Evita Peron’s crypt was located at the back of the cemetery in a small side row in a smallish crypt with her family (not married) name – Duarte.  Other than some flowers in front, it would have been impossible to know which one it was.  

We caught snippets of stories about her burial – apparently it was challenging to get her body to the cemetery in the first place, and then she was buried 8 meters down (standard is 5 meters) behind bulletproof glass to avoid any further issues with desecration.  I’ll have to read up on that as well. 

One cannot walk through BA, and especially anywhere that Evita is prominent, without having “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” running through your head constantly.  Damon has asked me to learn another verse.  Or another line…  The funny thing is – it isn’t just me.  We heard other people outside of Recoleta also humming or singing “the line”.

We left the cemetery to walk up one of the main Boulevards in Buenos Aires – 9 de Julio.  Named after Argentina’s Independence Day. The boulevard is the widest in the world and measures 140 meters across.  Crossing the street is longer than crossing a football field, including both end zones.  We were rewarded at the end with the famous Obelisk  marking the spot where the first Argentinian flag flew in 1812 and the not so famous 4 meter tall floral arrangement of “BA” where a selfie is an obvious requirement. 

Continuing up Florida street, the first paged road in BA, we hit Plaza de Mayo which houses a number of famous buildings including the Pink House (Casa Rosada), aka the President’s Palace, the Catedral Metropolitana, aka the National Cathedral and the Cabildo which was the government seat during colonial times. 

We found a little café to have lunch and then took a taxi to a popular tourist area called La Boca.  La Boca is an old artist area of town known for its colorfully painted buildings and marginally creepy wooden statues of famous figures hanging off the balconies or at ground level where you can take your picture with them for a fee, not to mention the many restaurants and souvenir shops.  

Our next stop, via taxi, was clear across the city in a park called 3 de Febrero.  They tend to name public works after significant dates for the country.  Bonus points to anyone who knows why February 3^rd is important...  The park houses a famous rose garden, El Rosedal de Palermo.  It is a stunning and well-maintained park and since I love to stop and smell the roses, we stopped and smelled a lot of roses.  

I haven’t mentioned the heat because, hallelujah, it was an enjoyable mid-70’s and sunny day.  As this was our last planned stop of the day and because my recently healed foot was expressing extreme displeasure at the amount of walking we had done, we taxi’d back to the hotel and relaxed.  No we didn’t – we both grabbed our laptops and worked.  Sigh.

A few random thoughts on BA in general.  We weren’t sure what to expect, city-wise, from BA.  We’ve been to a lot of cities and they all have their own unique vibe.  BA reminds me a lot of New York – only without the garbage and without the smell (sorry NYers).  The city is clean but the buildings are old. Some of them are run down and some are well kept.  There is no green space, and then you happen upon one of the many parks scattered throughout the city and there is a lot of green space.  Even though we only spent about 36 hours in the city, we both really enjoyed it.  One thing that surprised me was the number of dogs we saw.  Many dogs being walked on leashes.  Many dogs being walked off leashes.  And several feral dogs running around the streets.  Given the number of dogs and how little green space, I was impressed that there was no poop on the sidewalks! 

On the recommendation of my cousin who spent several months in BA, we walked to a local steakhouse for dinner.  During our walk, we had one horrific experience when an unleashed dog bolted across a street with no warning and was hit by a car right in front of us.  It was horrible.  Luckily, despite the solid hit to its hind quarters, the dog got up and ran to its owner and seemed to be okay, but I saw the whole thing and it was completely horrifying to me. 

The restaurant seemed to be a local favorite – very casual with rows of tables set up picnic table like.  Everything was in Spanish and we had a menu that showed a picture of a cow with all the cuts for reference and then they listed a page of meat options.  We just pointed at meat and pointed at a bottle of wine and hoped for the best.  They also served empanadas to everyone as an appetizer and I figured if our meat was as good as the empanadas, which were delicious, we’d be okay. 

 We were literally served meat on a plate and a mound of French fries.  Food was delicious and we left satiated and happy.  The plan was to grab dessert at one of the many bakery storefronts we saw on our walk over; however, because we are now true Argentinians and hadn’t gone to dinner until 8:30pm, everything was closed on our walk back.  We opted for a little chocolate and port back at the Hyatt on an outdoor patio and then went to sleep.