Land of Silver

Following a flight from Mexico wherein I suffered through 27 Dresses and quite enjoyed Enchanted, Buenos Aires led me to encounter Bef, Chris, Jon and Leila. The hostel we were in had security like MI5 headquarters, no labelling of any kind or indication where it is, innocuous door on the street, two different doors to be buzzed open and stairs to be climbed to get in. Luckily the taxi knew the story, and once inside it was fine.

The first day involved a lot of walking around the centre. A LOT of walking. We did see most of the major monuments etc, inluding the Palais Rose at Plaza dde Mayo, the big obelisk (can´t remember what that stands for) and several equine statues.

We also wandered through the Ricolleta (sp?), cemetary wherein Argentinas finest are entombed. We did see Eva Peron (or rather her grave), along with everyone else - the large crowd around her indicated I wasn´t alone in thinking she was the only buried dignatary I´d heard of. (Unless any of their 86 World Cup Squad have met an untimely end...)

But the cemetary as a whole was awesome, easily the best I´ve seen. It was avenues and streets of looming tombs upon looming tombs, all adorned with statuary or mosaics, many quite ornate; and even the stark austere tombs had a mystery and menace to them. Add in the army of cats who patrolled the graveyard, and it was a place layered with atmosphere, great fun to wander through. I don´t know if I´d be game for it at all in the evening though.

Ciao (wrong language I guess but hey).