(Buenos Aires, Argentina)
I had heard about the Recoleta Cemetery before visiting Buenos Aires; it was on my list of must-see sights. Even though I had done a little bit of research on it, however, it was still astonishing to visit. It’s definitely something you have to see for yourself. Imagine an immaculately groomed neighbourhood in the heart of the city, with tidy houses lining the narrow streets…except that the “houses” are actually tombs! I have seen elaborate cemeteries before but nothing like this (the “main street” is shown at the top of this post).
It is described as the most expensive real estate in Buenos Aires. If you want to know the names of the city’s “old money” families, simply take a stroll here. However, some of the tombs have fallen on hard times: perhaps those families have lost their fortunes, or maybe there are just no more descendants to take care of the tombs. In any case, there is now an active resale market for “property” in Recoleta.
As the cemetery cannot expand, the tombs have multiple levels. The ground level is reserved for the most recently deceased. Those who died previously are generally moved downstairs. Yes, there are stairs in these tombs! It was utterly fascinating, even though we really did not know any of the famous names (other than Eva Peron – see my previous post) who are buried here.
That evening, we had one final meal with our tour group. Although our portion of the tour had officially ended earlier that day, most of the group was continuing on for another week in Argentina and Brazil. While we still had a few days on our own in Buenos Aires, it was great to have one more meal with all of the new friends we had met only one week before. It was very nice of them to invite us along.
We ate at La Cholita, an Argentinian BBQ restaurant on Avenida Rodriguez Pena in the Recoleta district, just north of Avenida Santa Fe. The neighbourhood is rather upscale but the prices and pretensions at this restaurant were low. As for the food quantity (and quality, it must be said), it was excellent and there would be no excuse for going away hungry. Interestingly, each table is covered with a paper “tablecloth” and jars of crayons to entertain yourself while you wait for your meal!
Not being a big eater of red meat, I opted for the brochettes. Even with the photo above of my brochette plate, it’s hard to show just how much food I was served, as even the lemon wedges and the fries were huge. I was convinced to take a photo at the end of my meal too, just to prove that I finished it. But I think our friend’s “about to dig in” photo gives a pretty good idea of the amount of food on offer.
We enjoyed a long (by necessity) and leisurely meal with our group. Once I’ve finished with my “on the road” posts from South America, I’ll be providing my (updated) thoughts on group tours. I’ve now been on three since mid-2014 and, even though I still believe in and focus on independent travel, there are definitely situations where group tours can play a valuable role. For now, however, stay tuned to find out what else we managed to do on our own in Buenos Aires!