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La Recoleta and Palermo

La Recoleta is a cemetery that was created in 1922 next to the Virgen de Pilar Iglesia. It is the location of mausoleums of the rich, including the remains of the famous Eva Peron, and covers four city blocks. Each mausoleum is unique, though some do look repetitively the same, but, in general, they have slight difference in colors, age, style, ornamentation, and size. I think I spent at least an hour and a half walking around the cemetary. It was very peaceful, but I felt a bit odd being a tourist in a cemetary. There was a funeral that day, and I was surprised to see that this historic site is still being used. But 1922 wasn’t so long ago, so these houses for the dead will have some action for generations.

I’m now eating great Mexican food at a place in Palermo. Palermo Viejo is like the Soho of Buenos Aires. I just came from sharing a beer or two with some people from Panama and the US (my first real US-born traveling friend, I think), after an afternoon of walking through this hip little barrio and window shopping. BA is know for its shopping, as the peso took a major dive in 2001 and is still trying to recover. It is said to be the most European city in South America, and its fashion is one of the major reasons why. It is cheaper to buy here than in the US, for sure, but, as a friend noted tonight, you get a false sense of spending when the value is less—yes, things are cheaper, but you end up spending more than you planned exactly because of that.

Tonight I kind of feel like taking it easy and not going out. But we’ll see how long that lasts. When you only have six or seven nights in a place, it seems a shame not to go out on every one. At the very least I can try not to make my buenas noches a buenos dias. Famous last words, though, right?

November 16th, 2007 Posted by Jessica | Blog | no comments