More views of the Andes during our two hour flight crossing a relatively thin bit of South America.
Bueños Aires, well what can I say? Without a doubt the most expensive
place I’ve ever been to; £7 for a litre of bottled water, a filter coffee
machine in the bedroom but you have to pay for the coffee -
£4. Still they do give you embossed linen and towels and leave a
chocolate on the pillow, but I know which I’d prefer. Also no
free internet hence my late post.
There isn’t an enormous amount to
report, the Argentines flattened all the Spanish colonial buildings c.1880 and
rebuilt the city based on Paris. So some very wide streets, loads of monuments
and plazas.
The famous Casa Rosada (President’s Palace or Pink House) where Juan and Eva rallied the people is in the main square.
Following the military coup in 1976 it is thought that up to 30,000 men were tortured and killed or simply disappeared during the next 7 years. Wives, mothers and grandmothers, each wearing a white headscarf, would protest in the square every Thursday asking what had happened to their sons and husbands.
These pavement markings serve as a permanent reminder of "Los Desaperecidos” (the disappeared).
Special Report for Wendy (it won’t mean a lot to anyone else) I asked at reception this morning if they could tell me where to find the BNA, with that she whipped out a map and lo and behold it was actually marked on there. It is next door to the Casa Rosada and has the largest doors in the city. Apologies for the poor photo but Ian was at risk of getting run over.
There are two interesting areas though; Recoleta and La Boca.
Recoleta is the most expensive area, similar to Rue St Honaire or around Mayfair. Expensive cafes outside which the Porteños (city dwellers) parade up and down outside with their furs, leathers and toy pooches. Within that area is the amazing cemetery where all the rich people erected family mausoleums, some of which are still having bodies added to now. Rows and rows of narrow passages lined with vault after vault and each containing multiple coffins. It reminded me of the City of the Dead in Cairo except that the buildings are twice the height, well maintained and they don’t have a million people living amongst them.
Eva Perón’s remains are here in the Duarte Vault having been recovered from somewhere else in the 70s.
We saw one statue and her image adorns the side of an office block, otherwise she doesn’t seem to be very well remembered in the capital city. She has a lot to thank Andrew Lloyd Webber for!
For dinner on our first evening Derek offered to organise a nearby restaurant as he recommended that we didn't venture out alone. Even though we are staying in the business area of the city, apparently it is very easy to get into trouble by just walking down the wrong street. We were more than happy to be shepherded and had an enjoyable meal in a typical Argentinian Grill (they do love their meat).
