Evita, Corned Beef & Devaluation

Today was a walking tour of the Retiro neighborhood and Recoleta Cemetery. Jack from Buenos Tours was amazing. If you do come to Buenos Aires and want a private walking tour, these are the people to call.

Eva Peron is everywhere. Let's start with our hotel lobby.

Evita made from Lego blocks

Defiant Eva iron sculpture on a building facade facing the wealthy section of the city. The other side has the companion Eva facing the working class neighborhoods. That version is soft, with a flower in her hair.

Her final resting place in Recoleta Cemetery - after her body was stolen, after it was sent to Milan, and after it was returned to Juan Peron and his third wife in Madrid. While in Madrid, she stayed on their dining room table, probably not pleasing the wife.

Why is there a Julio Roca statue mixed with the Evita section? He was greatly admired for his military successes and expansion of Argentina. In recent years, his involvement in the genocide of the indigenous peoples has made him persona non grata. He has been removed from the 100 Pesos bill, replaced by Eva Peron.

This statue is frequently paint bombed. Much like Jefferson Davis, this statue's days are probably numbered.

Top - Roca; Bottom - Evita

We stopped by the national cathedral, home church to Pope Francis. By European standards it is not overly ornate and the facade is Greek architecture.

The most fascinating section is a memorial to the Holocaust. The wall has pages from books that survived the Concentration Camps.

Our guide said this is the only Holocaust memorial inside a Catholic Church.

Argentina has had an off and on relationship with Great Britain. It used to be good and is currently not so good. (Blame goes to the dispute over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.) The Brits helped build their subway system, the first in Latin America, in the 1910's. In true English fashion, it was done extraordinarily well. (We've all seen "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and know how they engineer projects.)

This is the oldest station. The walls are lined with vintage ads, including one for Harrod's. At that time, it was the only Harrod's outside of London.

When the English build your subway, the trains to run on the left.

Buenos Aires was the "Paris of the South." Much of the architecture is French, there are boulevards modeled after the ones in Paris, and the cafe culture is an integral part of the Porteño's life. ("Porteño" is the name for residents of Buenos Aires.) The Cafe Tortoni is the cafe of the creative class - artists, writers, etc. It is one of the most famous in the city.

Each piece of art on the wall is related to someone who did their craft in the cafe.

The weather has been perfect. By Austin standards, not too warm and low humidity, considering it is a port city. We did a lot of walking today and, like everyone else, enjoyed the parks.

A huge rubber tree (actually a shrub), native to Argentina. We thought it was a magnolia and must remember to look up if they are related.

If you've been to Paris, you are familiar with everyone walking their dogs. We always wondered about the big dogs living in small Parisian apartments.

Here in Buenos Aires, it is common to see hired dog walkers out with their charges. This man has about six. I have seen as many as eight.

A few years ago, we inadvertently became interested in cemeteries when we "stopped by" the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to see Washington Irving's grave and stayed for several hours.

Recoleta Cemetery is on every tourist's "must-do" list. We highly recommended having a guide. This is where the well-to-do have their mausoleums. The style is whatever the families choose.

One of my favorites because it is so different from any others.

Up close of the rather rough looking cat. Poor thing has no ears.

The statue is of a young woman who died in an avalanche on her honeymoon. Legend has it her dog died the same day. His nose is like the Blarney Stone, except you rub it for good luck.

The half-column represents a life cut short. In this case to a young man killed in battle. That is Jack, our guide with a man-bun, talking with John.

Why is Eva Peron buried in the cemetery of the wealthy when she is the heroine of the working class? Juan Peron's third wife brought her here and this is likely revenge for having Eva's body on her dining room table.

We've seen many great works of art in the past few years. However, this Cowman Miranda ranks high on the "Most Memorable" list.

Requisite Food Photos

These are addictive. We made a mistake in buying just one package.

We are staying in the San Telmo area, an older section of town with great restaurants. Tonight we ate at Sagardi, an Argentine style Spanish restaurant about a block from our hotel.

Started with a bottle of Malbec. Of course.

Beautifully displayed appetizers served buffet/help yourself style.

Finished off with Basque Cake with "American" ice cream. John had "thin Apple pie." In between, we had whole hake for two.

Update on the currency situation

While we were flying (literally), the new Argentina president removed controls on the Peso. This had the immediate effect of devaluating the official exchange rate by about 40%. (On Thursday, the rate was 9.60 to USD; Friday morning it was about 13.70.) The official rate and the unofficial "blue rate" are now about the same. This happened so quickly, none of the prices on goods/food/etc have been adjusted. This is working out in our favor.

BUT ... How this plays out over the next few days and weeks is a big unknown. We are keeping our Pesos to only what we think we need. All that said, we are always seeking an authentic experience and South American Currency Devaluation is "keeping it real."

What we learned

• "Ciao" is the word of choice for "goodbye." That might explain some of our Spanish problems.
• The beef is great! The bread is "meh." Atkins would love this place.
• Unlocked iPhones sell for between. $1300 - $1600 USD.

What surprised us

• Many Argentine fortunes were made from canned corned beef. "Corned Beef Baron" does not have the same ring as "Railroad Baron."