Well I finally got a good nights sleep, 11 hours of it to be precise. I felt guilty when I woke up and got out of bed at 11:30am, but my body is now onto Buenos Aires time so all is good.
Today I made the journey to Recoleta. A reasonably up market part of Buenos Aires that is more famous for its cemetery than anything else. I took the Subte (subway) halfway there and walked the rest. Apparently bus 17 is what I really wanted, but the walk was through lovely leafy streets, albeit busy with traffic and pedestrians also. By the time I got there I was quite hungry, especially given I’d missed dinner and breakfast I wondered how i survived. Now my nose was twitching, there was somewhere good to have lunch and sure enough a row of restaurants just across the park from the cemetery.
Not only were there restaurants but also a microbrewery. The Buller brewery is not as old as the area itself though having opened in 1999. Not one to turn down a microbrewery I sat down at a table outdoors. I had a nice cold pint of their Hefeweizen and a great steak. The Argentineans love their beef and my first taste of local cow was a positive one. A very delicious meal and I would recommend for anyone who visits to Recoleta.
Ok now onto the cemetery. I know some of you have been to Recoleta, but most have not. Recoleta is not your standard cemetery. Its a collection of mausoleums or tombs. Its for the rich and famous of Argentina, and each plot requires rent to be paid by the deceased family. Its apparently a highly sort after location for when you are gone. Its like a mini town with many distinct and exquisitely carved tombs.
Recoleta
The reason most visit though is to see the tomb of Eva Peron. Its certainly not the most grandest or largest, but definitely the most visited and certainly the one with the most flowers left there. The largest tombs seem to be those of past Argentinean presidents.
The place has a certain calmness about it. In fact I would probably feel calm walking through there alone at night without remembering some zombie movie I’ve seen.
I enjoyed Recoleta so much, that my new goal in life is to become famous enough or rich enough to have my own mausoleum somewhere.
Recoleta
After Recoleta I walked until I had enough and found another Subte station. I caught the Subte to the end of the line at Plaza de Mayo. Now if I had read my guide book, I’d have realised that Thursdays at 3:30pm is the time when protestors are about. Actually the plaza is a symbol of the Argentine independence from Spain. Also here are several buildings including the Casa Rosada (Pink house). Yes the USA might have a white house but the Pink house is distinctly pink. The presidential offices are located here and many speeches have been made from the balconies of the Casa Rosada. Yes Madonna sung from here too in the movie, but mainly because the character she was portraying was eva Peron, who rather than sing from the balcony delivered a speech instead.
Casa Rosada
OK I nearly forgot spanish phrase of the day. I’ve noticed obesity is not such an issue in Argentina. Portenos as the locals are known as are a reasonably attractive lot of people. But they all seem to smoke too much. I guess I’m used to the sterile smoke free environments in Australia. So todays phrase is “Portenos fuman mucho” or the residents of Buenos aires smoke too much.