Buenos Aires

Recoleta

We went back to the Barrio Recoleta and to the cemetary; it was worth a second trip back. We've read that to be burried in this cemetary you've got to 1. be rich, 2. famous, 3. have connections.

It was really beautiful and quiet because we had gotten there before all the big tour buses. As soon as the people started crowding in and getting in the way it wasn't as fun. I was kind of suprised how recent a lot of the burials/entombents were.

We went by Evita Peron's mausoleum; I'll admit, at first I thought it was her father's or a relative of hers. I was expecting it to be one of the huge, grand, and elaborate mausoleums that we had seen earlier.

Juan Peron had Evita's body in Spain (when he was in exile) after Peron died, Isabel Peron had Evitá's body returned and buried in her family (Duarte was her father) tomb. Even her husband-the president- didn't make the cut to be placed in Recoleta.

After Recoleta we asked for directions to another neighborhood in Buenos Aires- San Telmo. San Telmo has one of the best artesan markets in Argentina. We didn't go there first because it was raining that morning and the information desk at the hostel said it would be closed.

We started walking towards the subte (subway) and took a left instead of a right and got lost and had to backtrack. by the time we got on the subte and at the transfer station to another line it was too late. We had to be back to our hostel by 4:00 to meet a group to go to a football game. I was sad that we didn't make it to San Telmo- next time we'll make it.

River Plate vs. Banfield

We left from the hostel like 3 1/2 hours early. I guess the guide knew what he was doing because there were 3 or 4 different security checks we had to go through.

In my opinion watching the crowd was the funnest part of the game.

At first we were in the "tame" part of the crowd- there was some cheering but it was laid back enough for parents to take their small children and for people to sit down and watch the game. I watched as a group of guys spent at least a half hour trying to hang their ¨"La Salda" banner on the fence in the background (picture above). A lot of people took banners with the name of their barrio or names of players and hung them; I was talking to my mom the other night and we´ve decided that I should make a Provo, Utah banner to take with me to the next game.

Amanda and I decided to sneak further down into the standing crowd during halftime; it didn't feel like we were getting the real experience in the upper part of the stands. We wanted to be where everyone was shouting, throwing papers around, and jumping up and down. The next game we go to we are going to aim for the middle part of the stadium (picture below); this was where the real action was. Amanda snook over for a few minutes during half-time but decided to come back over where I was after she saw a guy sniff some cocaine.

Right before the game started an informal drumline marched out with people waving flags and banners. There were song-like cheers all throughout the game; when the opposing team (Banfield) came out there was a cheer calling them second class or number two- something like that. The next time we go to a game we want to learn some of the cheers before.

After River plate won the game, there were some flares nd more cheering. Each section of the stadium had to wait to be escorted out; I guess there had been some problems in the past with people getting trampled. They also didn't allow alcohol inside the stadium- one of the guys in our group was pulled over for a breathalizer test and almost wasn't let in because the genius downed almost a liter of beer on the bus ride over.

LA BOCA

A neighborhood in Buenos Aires settled by Italian immigrants from Genoa; it is believed by some that La Boca is named after a Genoa neighborhood called Boccadasse, however the more conventional explanation is that the neighborhood sits at the mouth (boca) of the Riachuelo.

The Caminito is the name of the walkway that is famous for the brightly painted shops and apartments. Today the caminito basically a tourist attraction with shops and tango dancers on the side of the street. Though it was nothing but tourists and restaraunt owners trying to recruit you to their cafe, we had a lot of fun.

*So I couldn't keep a strait face; this guy was looking so intently into my eyes while I was trying not to laugh. I wish I could have held a straight face for at least one shot, it would have made it even better.

They made me take my hair down and stick it through... a nice touch in my opinion.

We stopped for a drink and snack at a little cafe with a live tango show. They invited us up to pose.

Another guy posing with one of the tango dancers...

Overall, La Boca was very touristy but fun.

We split up after La Boca; Amanda went to El Tigre, and I walked around San Telmo (I'll post photos after our next trip to Buenos Aires and after the La Feria de San Pedro Telmo- the artesian fair that we missed because it is only open Sundays). I didn't want to get tied down to a tour group because I had some purchases to make.

Stay tuned because tomorrow is all about the new guitar and pink leather jacket.