By Lawrence Selby – Guest blogger traveling in Montevideo.
I never did find Evita's grave. After two days of aimless wandering around Buenos Aires, I ended up more or less by chance in the splendid but eerie La Recoleta cemetery in the Barrio Norte. It's a beautiful place, though perhaps beautiful is not the best word to describe the cemetery; it's stately, peaceful and somber. The cemetery is a mazelike park with rows of grand ornate tombs and sepulchers. There are many cats prowling around the great tombs where a number of the prominent historical Argentineans and their families are apparently buried. Being the ignorant American that I am (or estadounidense to be more precise) the only historical Argentine that I know of are Evita and Juan Peron and Maradona, of course (though he's not dead yet). There are no special signposts to her grave so it's not easy to find. I couldn't help but think that perhaps the Portenos (the people of Buenos Aires) don't want to celebrate Evita's notoriety at the expense of other more worthy people and families from Argentina's past?
Buenos Aires is a great city for wandering. I didn't use public transportation or taxis, preferring to walk instead. Though I did miss some of the prominent sights and barrios such as the wealthy Palermo district (to the north) and the famous La Boca barrio (to the south), I was able to cover a lot of ground and see much of the city and many of the tourist areas. The city center where is stayed is home to many of the historical monuments, theaters and grand boulevards. Calle Florida (discussed in the previous blog entry) is also in the central district and a main pedestrian thoroughfare and shopping area. The barrios to the north tend to be more upscale and largely residential. Retiro and Recoleta (where the cemetery is) are two of the northern barrios within striking distance from the city center. The southern barrios, such as Montserrat and San Telmo, are more historical, colorful and seedier. I believe that San Telmo is home to the tango, as there were many street performers, exhibitions and seemingly all things tango in that barrio. I won't even try to discuss all the prominent buildings, churches and monuments as I didn't really know the historical significance of most of them (this really was a whirlwind tour) and the photos will do them much better justice (I hope). Suffice to say that Buenos Aires is a great city and the look and feel of the city and its people is very European.
I don't want to paint a picture of Buenos Aires as paradise on earth, though. I did see obvious signs of the economic meltdown that the country went through recently. I saw quite a few homeless people and stray dogs on the streets. In some parts of the city center and San Telmo it was impossible to walk 50 feet without being handed leaflets and/or being asked for money. This is despite the fact that I tried not to attract much attention and am sure that I don't stand out as an obvious tourist. There was quite a lot of graffiti around and some of the grand buildings seemed a bit run down (including the Parliament). Walking around the different neighborhoods, the disparity between the haves and the have-nots was not difficult to notice. In all fairness though, these observations could be made about almost any other large city in the world. I would love to go back again someday with some friends and walk around a little less and enjoy the city a lot more.
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