Free walking tour

Hola

Today we visited the Recoleta cemetery which is apparently regarded as one of the top tourist spots in Buenos Aires. At first we thought that a cemetery as a tourist hotspot is a little odd - but when we arrived we were blown away by the amazing graves/crypts and totally creeped out by all the cats who seemed to have taken up residence there. There is an amazing network of crypts and graves with tiny little narrow alleys with large monuments, statues and greenery dotted in-between. I only wish we had been there later on for the free tour so we could have learnt a little more about it. We will definitely be returning with another day soon.

Recoleta Cemetery

Afterwards we walked up Pacheco de Melo (our Calle/Street) to Plaza Italia in Palermo (the next barrio) to meet Jonathan, an Englishman who offers a free tour of Buenos Aires. His tour was particularly good and exactly what we needed to get our bearings of the city. We learnt how to avoid having everything in your pockets stolen. The answer is, as devastating as it is for Oscar who has abused the convenience of pockets for over a decade, to keep absolutely nothing in your pockets that you intend of keeping for more than six minutes. If you visit Buenos Aires, or any large city, you should keep everything inside a bag with a zip and flap, and keep in front of you when standing and on your lap when sitting, NEVER SET IT DOWN EVER! Apparently, when George Bush was here with his Daughter her bag was stolen from beneath her chair despite being surrounded by bodyguards.

If you come to Buenos Aires we recommend you take this tour with Jonathan, you won't regret it: http://www.buenosaireslocaltours.com/free-daily-walking-tour/ 

Also check out Jonathan's Blog: http://www.gringostarr.net

We then learned the rather complicated way to navigate the bus system, which is made up of 141 routes, is operated by 95 private bus companies, costs around 3 pesos and must be paid for in coins, which are nearly impossible to find. We got off the bus in Abasto which is a primarily Jewish area and contains the home which is now a museum of the famous Tango singer Carlos Gardel, who is basically the Argentine version of Elvis Presley. 

Carlos Gardel

Across the street we got an opportunity to look at some beautiful building art which completely covers six buildings nearby the Carlos Gardel Museum. Lunch was at a nearby shopping centre which contained the world's only Kosher McDonalds outside of Israel. Lunch consisted of extremely cheesy Quesadillas, Nachos and Coke, delicious!.

Then we took our first subway (holding tightly only our bags) to Congresso. The architecture was astonishing and clearly indicated that Argentina really was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. There is a very interesting story about each of the buildings and Jonathan was more than happy to tell us a few and enlighten our knowledge of Argentine history. 

Congresso

The Palacio Boralo building has a really interesting story about how it was designed in accordance with Dantes Divine Comedy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_Barolo

Palacio Boralo

After the tour we took a subway back to Calle Calleo and surprisingly managed to find our way home. It is seriously difficult to navigate when can't just whip out your iPhone to look at a map! Still jetlagged, we crashed and slept pretty from 5pm-7am. We were planning to have our first Argentine steak for dinner - but that will have to wait!

Hasta luego!