BUENOS AIRES (DAY TWO)
The good news is; the SD Card restore was 100% successful.
Today, as if yesterday was not punishment enough, we walked another 8 miles. The day started out cooler, though; quite a pleasant temperature to walk in, in fact, with even a slight breeze.
Todays walk was a different intinerary entirely. Walking through the streets, we soon came to the conclusion that we rather like Buenos Aires. It’s a modern, well-planned city, unlike cities that start out old and seem completely unprepared for the onslaught of modern traffic and technology. The massive, eight-lane (both ways – so, that’s 16 lanes of traffic) artery that cuts its way through the centre of the city is a bit of an eye-opener, though!
Our first objective was the Cemetery. Whilst communing with the dead might not sound very promising, I have to say that this cemetery was quite awesome, and has to be seen to be believed! Streets of tombs stretch out in an extraordinary display; each structure unique, and most adorned with extravagant sculptures. Behind locked glass frontages, coffins lie quietly, some on top of each other, some at the bottom of a flight of steps. Some are very old, and in a poor state, while others have fresh flowers and are clearly often visited by relatives. In one that I saw, the coffin lay in what looked like a small living room, complete with a couple of comfortable chairs.
Of all the many hundreds of tombs here, populated by Argentina’s rich and famous, however, one tomb attracts the lion’s share of attention; the tomb of the Duarte Family, but more specifically, the resting place of one Eva Peron (Evita).
As were were wandering around this fascinating, and strangely moving, tomb city, a lady from the ship tipped us off about the art museum just around the corner, which currently has a visiting Turner Exhibition (from the Tate Gallery in London). So, after we’d left the cemetery, we walked to it, only to discover at the entrance that they wouldn’t accept dollars, or even payment by any card – only local cash (pesos), of which we didn’t have enough on us. I mean, really! A massive, modern art gallery, in Argentina’s capital city, and they don’t have the facility to accept credit or debit cards? I’m still quite speechless (and a bit annoyed, because I’m sure it would have been worth the visit)…
Instead, we had lunch in an ‘Irish Pub’, situated back, up near the cemetery. Now call me Shamus Finnickity, but I would have thought that the minimum requirement for such an establishment would have to be the ability to serve Guinness on draught (particularly since they have Guinness posters on every every available wall space). So, I was surprised not see its familiar logo on the bar.
Not that I’m too miffed about that (we are in Argentina, after all); we had a massive burger and chips each, plus two beers and two soft drinks, all of which came to only £17!! They also had free, fast wi-fi available, which more than made up for any lack of genuine Irish Stout.
After lunch, we made the trek to Congressional Plaza (which is the location I had the class painting the other day, so I wanted to see it for real, for myself). With time getting on, we then had quite a stretch to get back across the city, to the cruise terminal.
Once we were back on ship we headed straight to the Captains Club for a long cold drink.
In the evening after dinner, at about 8pm, went out on deck to watch us leave the port, and see the sun set over Buenos Aires.
Bad news: I think I’m coming down with a cold…
Tomorrow, we are due to arrive in Montevideo, Uruguay, which is situated conveniently just across the water, and we are down for tour escorting duties…
