Day two in Buenos Aires began with a short walk to visit
to the Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosada (Pink House) is located. The
significance of that location is where Eva Peron addressed the masses when
First Lady of Argentina. There are other government buildings surrounding this
plaza and they even had an “Occupy Buenos Aires” encampment on the grounds.
After that we visited the Cathedral Metropolitano where the remains of General
Jose de San Martin is located. He was often called the George Washington of
Argentina and is a very famous person and even has two permanent military
guards at the entrance. 
Continuing our morning walk we headed over to Puerto Madero where the old city harbor was located in years past. It now houses a yacht club and many upscale hotels and restaurants. This location also has the very beautiful Puente de la Mujer (Women’s Bridge) that provides one of the many crossings of the harbor. This is only a pedestrian crossing but was designed as a swing bridge so that large vessels could pass.
We next caught a cab and headed over to the colorful area of
Caminito in the La Boca district. This community has the aura of a street
bazaar with many shops selling art and always the proverbial tango dancing. We
had lunch in a local bar and then headed by cab to the Cementerio de Recoleta
where all the important people from Buenos Aires are entombed. 
One of the most
famous occupants is Eva Duarte (Peron) who was the inspiration for the musical
Evita. Her crypt is not fancy in comparison to the others but is a very popular
stop for tourists. In many of the crypts the caskets of the deceased were
clearly visible through the gates or glass windows that you could peer into. It
appears that the surface capacity of the cemetery had been reached. 
A short walk away went to see the Floralis Generica which is
a 66 foot tall steel and aluminum generic flower that actually opens and closes
each day. Adjacent to the “tulip” is the very large Faculty Building of the
University of Buenos Aires. We returned by cab to the area by the hotel where
some last minute shopping took place. 
After a short rest we headed back to Puerto Madero where we
took some late day shots of the Women’s Bridge and then had another great steak
dinner at Cabana Las Lilas located on the waterfront. We walked back to the
hotel via the plaza where was located for some night time shots of the Pink
House.
As we walked around Buenos Aires it was apparent that they have no personal injury lawyers as the streets and sidewalks are in need of repair in many places. It's still a beautiful city but it is showing signs of age.Tomorrow we are off to Ushuaia where we will begin our trip to South Georgia on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment