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Published: April 17th 2008
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Cemetery
I dont fancy living in this village. Would be dead boring. It must be said BA is a city that grows on you until you can’t get enough of it. When we first arrived in transit to Iguazu falls for the day we liked the city but it was really just another European feeling city.
So yesterday we went out to explore what this place was all about. There is so much history and along with this comes a great "tick list" to work our way around.
So after having a quick breakfast in the hostel next to "Bill" and "Ted", these are the type of guys that would make any one proud to be Australian, but is also the joy of hostels as you meet some characters. (One of us cringed as they entertained us through breakfast)
So after of breakfast including several mug sized espresso’s we set off with a caffeine induced shake to sort out our first job of the day which was to alter our flights as we are now looking at heading to Easter Island 1wk earlier to give us more time in Bolivia and Peru. This was a lot easier than expected and although the lady helping us at LAN airways spoke reasonable English, she realised
Cemetery
Evita dont cry for us! (Where are you?) our eagerness to learn and allowed us to stumble along in Spanish leaving us feeling a little stupid but with a sense of accomplishment as we left.
BA is a very easy city to navigate and easily accessed on foot. The destination we were to see first was the two more exclusive neighbourhoods of Recoleta. But even the most foot friendly city’s have their obstacles and BA was no different as we exited the LAN building to be faced with what we think must come close to the worlds wildest road. Avenida 9 de Julio is the main street cutting BA in two, this monster is 20 lanes wide and unless you have a death wish it is recommended to use the pedestrian crossings. A fact we managed to work out for ourselves. In the centre of the road you cant miss the famous Obelisk monument which was built in the very spot where the Argentina flag was raised for the first time.
Recoleta is a beautiful part of town but this is to be expect in an area populated by the upper class and as we strolled to the famous Cementerio de la Recoleta. We know a stroll
Obelisk
The mighty Obelisk around a cemetery does sound morbid but this one really was well worth a visit. The draw card of this cemetery is Evitas tomb but unfortunately no mater how good a cemetery is we have a 1/2 hr attention span for such things and left without seeing it. The cemetery covers a whole block and sits behind a large stone wall that we managed to circle before finding the entrance 20m from our starting point. This is clearly a resting place for the wealthy and respected as the each person lies in elaborate Tomb made from stone or marble with many having statues of themselves guarding their entrance. It almost feels like you are walking through the city of the dead as tomb upon tomb is laid out in a street pattern.
We also spent time wandering Puerto Madero which is a recently developed historic port region of BA.
Puerto Madero was named after Eduardo Madero who came up with the modern port design in 1897 that unfortunately was abandoned 10 years after completion as the era of large vessels came to be.
This lay in disrepair until 15years ago when it was redeveloped to house many upscale restaurants and office building and makes a great walk along the canal water front (maybe our run destination today).
Feeling rather hungry we went out in search of food and deciding on a quick cheap eat ended up down a side street and walking into one of the more elaborate restaurants we had been to. As we were ushered to our table we looked around and wondered if we were the object of people’s sideways looks. This was not surprising as we were seated to a fully laid out silver service table accompanied by businessmen in suits and women dressed rather more elegantly than Leanne’s thermal top, trekking trouser and sandals and Matts Jandles, shorts, cap and t-shirt. This was in the setting of a grand piano playing in the background and once again animals hanging from the wall. Much to the credit of the waiter our appearance did not grant us lower service and as we looked at the amazingly cheap prices (makes our previous Parrilla or steak house look like a tourist trap) Matt was asked to follow the waiter to the wine cellar to help select the Tinto Vino for the evening. Whether it was getting carried away with the setting, Leanne managed to start on the fresh bread and Pate before finishing her first serving and looking puzzled to ask what’s in that?? Matt smiled and was allowed to finish the rest on his own. We left "The New Brighton" feeling very satisfied and shocked at how cheap our bill was.
Anyway enough, time to leave the computer and see more before we head out of BA.
Chao
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