Charlie standing on a corner not too far from our hotel on yesterday's walk
Our goal yesterday was the Opera Colon (A famous opera house here). Unfortunately the English tour wasn't until 2 and we were jet lagged. Along the way we passed one of the many posters for the upcoming primary election next Sunday.
We spotted this guy. With a split last name one of which is Prat (so much for the west and east coasts of the US) and Gay (so much for the South), he'd have a tough time in the States. Nice looking, though
We ended up on Avenida 9 Julio (9th of July Avenue). The obelisk in the distance is a commemorative stele for the independence of Argentina.
Our hotel is very close to a local cemetery - La Recoleta. Wealthy families build mausoleums for loved ones, and are responsible for the upkeep. The result is an interesting, if a bit odd, place with loads of little "houses" for the dead.
Some of the "streets" are wide, some narrow. Not hard to get lost, but complicated all the same.
Evita is buried in this tomb - her birthday wasn't too long ago, hence the flowers.
On top of many of the tombs are statuary. After seeing the one below (and many others like it) all I could think of was the Dr. Who episode DON'T BLINK!
Jessica picked us up at 9 AM this morning. We have been to Buenos Aires before, and we had taken the walk yesterday, but Jessica filled us in on loads of Argentinian history, anecdotes, and local color. She is a wonderful guide.
We began near a memorial to San Martin the liberator of Argentina (as well as Bolivia and Peru) against Spain. Charlie and I are standing near the memorial below.
Our next stop was the Plaza Mayo - pronounced Mah Joe around here. Argentina was liberated in May. It's the site of the Argentinian equivalent of the "white house" - here pink house - Casa Rosada.
Evita gave a speech from the balcony on the left.
Facing the opposite direction on the Plaza is a large area that was called Marching Mothers. When the military junta deposed Peron, thousands of people were arrested and killed. The mothers, braver than most, tried to demonstrate to find out what happened to their children. Since demonstrations were illegal, they moved in a circle. Pregnant women who were arrested, gave birth to children. The children were given to "right thinking" people to raise, and the mothers were killed. The patterns on the ground below were the abuelas (grandmothers) scarves who tried to find out about their missing grandchildren.
We then went to the Tortoni Cafe. It's the oldest in the city and a great place. We're hoping to get some coffee here tomorrow.
Interior of the Tortoni Cafe.
The next stop on our tour was the La Boca section of the city. It was originally the home of Italian dock workers, but has become an arty, touristy, seedy section of the city. Lots of color, though, fun "creations", and interesting tin-wood-whatever housing construction. Here are a few photos of La Boca - with us and without.
Charlie is standing next to a "creation" that is supposed to be Boca's best soccer player. Apparently, soccer mad Argentinians root for Boca.
We drove around Puerto Madero, once a seedy dock district, now very upscale. We then drove around several embassies which tend to be located in the various sections of the Palermo district. Lovely large parks full of dog walkers and joggers. We came back to the hotel, and went out for lunch. For the last couple of days we've have mixed empanadas which we shared. They really make a nice lunch.
When we got back to the hotel we decided to walk back to Avenida 9 Julio for a closer photo of the Evita art on one of the buildings. Trying to get to it on foot reminded me of Soviet or Beijing walks - or our exhausting trek up the San Gregornio pass - it doesn't look that far away but.....
We did get this much of it. The other side has her smiling. We never made it to the other side.
Out for another, but smaller, dinner tonight in a little while. It's only 7:30 here, but dinner doesn't really get going until 8 - or later. Hasta la manana -
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