We woke up this am, and for the first time onthis trip we had absolutely nothing planned!  We took our time getting ready to go out, and decided to head out to a little cafe, that we had seen the night before, for breakfast.  

The area that we are staying in is in old Palermo and is referred to as Palermo Soho.  It has a very edgy, independent vibe, and is quite lovely to explore.  And that’s just what Dan and I did after our breakfast!

After a walk through the neighborhood, we decided to head over to the botanical garden and stroll through this park.  It was lovely, and featured a 19th century conservatory that is crowned with a flowering Jancinda tree!

Dan found a flowering American Magnolia tree, and the blossoms that were left were enormous!

Lots of statues were found throughout the gardens that added interest throughout the park.

We saw an interesting Argentinian tree that seems to grow “knees” to support it’s lateral struggle to get sunshine!

…and another tree that seemed to be more like a pregnant “Ent”!

We also seemed to be followed by “Junior Arborists”!  All very cute in their lab coats!!

We saw lots of amazing plants, flowering cacti and other exotica that we don’t see back home!

Once we had covered the gardens, we were ready for a wee break.  We headed back towards our Hotel and decided to stop in to a heladería for a refreshing treat (after all – it’s 30C here!!).  There was certainly lots to choose from!!!

Back to the hotel we went for a short rest, and then off again for a longer walk, this time to the Recoleta Cemetary in the Recoleta barrio.  This was about 3 – 3.5 k from our hotel, so a great walk was had down the long avenues to our destination.

Our guide from Patagonia, Carla had recommended this Cemetary to us this is where Eva Perón was buried, 20 years after she died, with her Duarte family.  Little did we know that it virtually contains a who’s who of important Argentinian people as well.  It was like visiting Westminister cathedral, only every family had built their own mausoleum or chapel within this site!  Here are some of the notables:

Eva Peron’s body was moved to this crept 20 years after her death.  She is said to be about 5 metres below ground for security reasons:

The photo below is of the grave of Lilliana Crociati de Szaszak.  This young woman was killed when skiing in Europe for her Honeymoon.  Her parents created a crypt below ground depicting her bedroom at home made from marble, in which she is laid to rest.  A statue of her in her wedding dress, with her trusty dog stands guard over her tomb:

Rufina Cambaceres died when she was 19 years old, or her parents thought.  Days after her death, the grave attendants could hear screaming from her grave.  When the body was exhumed, they found evidence that she had been alive in her tomb before she succumbed to death.  The tomb depicts the mourning of a family for this tragedy:

Then there was the mausoleum of the Cemetary caretaker, who had paid to have a statue of himself created for his mausoleum.  When the statue was finished, he died!

Many of the mausoleums had doors with windows so that you could look in!

And here is a simple tomb for a general that fought in the revolution of May 1810.  His son, poet and politizan built his father’s stoney tribute with his bare hands!

All in all, an absolutely fascinating place to visit!

After our visit to this Cemetary we headed back to the hotel for a little rest before supper.  We met up with Jen and Ashlyn (from our Patagonia trip) for an absolutely wonderful meal of Argentinian steak and Malbec wines! ( and we help them celebrate their Thanksgiving as well!!!)

….and yes, Dan and I split this one!!! (It was about 5 cm thick!!!)

Our evening ended with wonderful conversation, promises to reunite and a brief walk back to our hotel!  Our last night in BA was awesome!