Day 91 – Recoleta
Ooh, fancy… (hands doing that frilly thing under chin). Recoleta is one of the posher parts of Buenos Aires, full of sophisticated ladies, many botoxed up to the brow, pulling labradoodles and other little muts on a chanel lead. Its where some of the best, and most expensive, bars and restaurants can be found.
Its also where the remains of the great of the good of society are laid to rest, in the mini-city of the dead that is El Cemetario de Recoleta.
And there is one grave that everyone who comes here wants to see – that of Eva Peron. But trying to find it, without a guide, in this maze of imposing granite shrines is easier said than done. I went there with Jag, from the hostel, and a German woman called Birgid who we met on the number 10 bus. (Yes, we managed to find some change for the bus. It’s not as bad as I thought, and was kinda hoping, it would be..)
Fuelled by a few empanadas in the nearby park, we began wandering around the streets – that’s what it looks like – of this fascinating cemetery. Writers, generals, political leaders, singers – they are all here. But unless you’re particular versed in Argentinian history, the names frankly meant nothing to me. Not that their graves, house-like with as much granite to withstand whatever may pass in the coming centuries, are unimpressive. Quite the opposite.
Looking along one of the avenues in the cemetery
After a half hour wander, inspecting the both lavish and sombre tributes – physical and written – to the great and the good and wondering whether their actual bodies were transfered to this above-ground graveyard upon death, we managed to find Evita’s tomb. This was after going down a number of blind alleys after other tourists who looked like they knew where they were going but didn’t have a clue.
Her grave itself is, in this place of grandeur, fairly modest. But the number of bronze plaques dedicated to this heroine of Argentinian society attests to her popular, well, popularity.
