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| Tango, Tango, Tango |
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| Yeah for Sandals! |
First stop was the statue of Eva Peron.
Eva was the first lady of Argentina and a champion for human rights and women's suffrage. She died at the age of 33 of cervical cancer and is regarded as Argentina's most important woman and has become quite a folk legend.
When Hugo told us he was taking us to a large cemetery Ricoleta, we did not know what to expect.
From the outside, these tombs look small, but there are stairways that lead to underground tombs, often 4 stories deep. This is the cemetery for Argentina's presidents, military, dignitaries, and the wealthy. One of the tombs was of a very rich pirate. Note the skull and crossbones on the bottom of the door.
There are many stories for all of these tombs. This young woman died in an avalanche in Europe. On the same day her dog died in Argentina. It is forbidden to bury pets in the cemetery, but her father paid a considerable amount of money to reunite his daughter and her pet in this tomb.
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| A wealthy man and his wife were known for their hostile, opposing viewpoints, and is artistically depicted on the top of this tomb. |
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| Very Quiet! |
"Evita" Eva Peron is also in her families tomb here.
Eva's tomb is the only one with flowers. Most of the tombs because of their age, have few remaining relatives to bring flowers.
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| Remnant of a single flower |
When the entire family dies out, there is no one to care for the tombs and they decay,
but are never reused by other families. It's a very quiet neighborhood.
We as human beings are so self-important, that we think we need fancy graves, and within only a few generations, nobody really cares. Looking down from the airplane, we are smaller than grains of sand, but in our minds we are the size of the sun.
We drove though many parts of Buenos Aires taking in the sights and stories. Hugo took us to the La Bocca, the mouth of the river,
and a district known for its colorful immigrant population and the Tango.
La Bocca feels a bit like New Orleans with its colorful homes and terraced buildings. Fanciful statues of important people look down from the balconies.
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| "Eva Peron" is in the center. |
Many of the original buildings are made of corrugated tin and colorfully painted, no neutrals here.
In America we have dancing hotdogs and chickens with big arrows advertising restaurants. In Buenos Aires, Tango dancers, advertise restaurants.
La Bocca is safe during the day, but we were warned it is very unsafe at night. Once Hugo had guided us through La Bocca, he dropped us off at the Sunday Market. It is a mile long street of vendors and performers. By l2:30, it started to rain so it was a perfect time to duck into a restaurant for lunch. We enjoyed a terrific meal of roast pork, garlic spinach, potatoes, and a rich Malbec wine.
It was still drizzling when we paid our bill and headed back outdoors. Vendors were beginning to uncover there wares and the musicians and buskers came out from under the slim awnings to amuse the street crowds.
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| Need a feather duster? |
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| Puppeteer |
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| An adult theme of a drunken bum but the kids loved it anyway. |
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| The Garage Band |
Many other artists were displaying their work. Not sure what one does with a flattened bottle. Personally I like them full!
Our day was complete when on the way back to the apartment,
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| We take the Green Line back to Palermo |
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| He received quite an ovation. Some people gave him a standing ovation...as they exited the train. |
Once we returned to our apartment, we kicked back and relaxed. Tomorrow, we will see the sights that we can walk to from Palermo and we might even play some golf.
