Recoleta Cemetary

Hey all,

Check it out, two entries in one day, i just thought i should make the most of the free computer and some free time. We´ve had a great day today, although we started a bit later than we had hoped. We took the subway to Recoleta, which is a fairly touristy area of Buenos Aires. And there are just so many interesting buildings even as you are just walking down random streets. We were walking from the subway and to the markets and there was this beautiful old brick building, it kinda looked like it was falling apart but it was so impressive in its size and structure, it´s hard to describe but i think i have a photo.

We thought we might be lost and were about to consult a map to work out where the cemetary was when we saw dozens of statues and crosses over a very high wall so we figured we had found it and just needed to find a way in. On our way around we found the market so we explored that first and at first it didn´t look too big but every time we went around a corner we found more stalls and it seemed to be endless. Anthea and i bought a dress each and katrina and claire both bought bags, they bought a few other things. We walked past an old church and it was amazing inside, behind the alter was a massive display (for lack of a religious word to describe it) in the centre was the crucifix and it had borders made of gold and statues around it. Again i took photos so i may eventually load them onto my blog. on the side walls all the way up to the alter were similar displays. We also went into the cloisters which had a great view overlooking the cemetary.

after the church we were hungry and tired and 4 mangled bananas provided little relief so we went and found a restaurant for lunch. After a delicious pizza we head to the cemetary which was incredible. seemed to be unlimited pathways leading to amazing tombs with elborate stone carvings and statues. i felt like i could have wandered around there for hours ( although my feet were starting to ache) it was a bizarre feeling wandering around, there were many stray cats hanging around and many tombs had windows so you could see all the coffins stacked on the shelves and they would have a stairway leading underground but i´m not sure what´s down there. We also found a room with hundred of broken and empty old coffins stacked against the wall, the smell in there was horrible and quite disturbing when you think about whats causing the smell and i was wondering why would these coffins even be in there? We also saw Evita´s grave which was a massive tourist attraction, we had to get in line to see it and it was just hidden away and not very impressive compared to some of the other structures we had seen. we eventually left there and wandered down to an impressive building we had seen in the distance earlier which turned out to be a university, then to a absolutely massive metal statue of what i believe was a flower then we lay down on the grass from pure exhaustion.

Now we´re back at the hostel but we will be heading out again later for a tango show which I´m very much looking forward to, anyway i better go and let someone else use the internet

Adios!