Day 114 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

We had a bit of a lie in this morning and meet for breakfast at 10:30. The breakfast was lovely although the service was painfully slow. Even when Mum was chocking and needed a glass of water it took 10 mins to arrive!

We decide to head out for a walk around towards Recoleta today to see the famous Recoleta cemetery where Eva Peron is buried (which sounds morbid but is very cool) as well as the Eva Paron museum. It's about a 5km walk from the hotel in total through some lovely parks and starting with the streets of Palermo which remind us of Soho in New York a bit. 

Annoyingly there is dog poo absolutely everywhere in BA. Walking down the street is like running the gauntlet and I think this guy should definitely shoulder a lot of the blame. 

Or maybe this strange rabbit-dog creature?

As we walk across the park we see the equivalent of the M1 for giant ants. They has made their own little road through the grass and it was packed with them carrying stuff to and from their nest. 

We decide to have a walk around the very lovely Japanese garden which was a gift to Buenos Aires from Japan (obviously).  

It reminds us a little of Central Park with the water, gorgeous scenary and sky scrapers in the background. 

Not quite the same as the Ronnie (our fave bar in Meribel). 

Very random yet cool statues. 

We walk past the Floralis Genérica which is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas on Avenida Figueroa  Alcorta. The sculpture actually moves, closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning. 

 

The national museum. 

After a lap of the five acre site looking for the door (which was pretty much where we started) we finally get into La Recoleta Cemetery. The cemetery contains an impressive 4691 vaults, all above ground, of which 94 have been declared National Historical Monuments by the government as it contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Peron, presidents of Argentina, noble prize winners and even Napolean's grand daughter  although we don't actually see a lot of these as the place is like a city and a maze. 

The cemetery contains thousands of elaborate marble mausoleums decorated with cool religious statues in a wide variety of architectural styles such as art deco, art nouveau, baroque and neo gothic which make for some great pictures. 

We luckily stumble across Eva Peron's grave which is fairly hidden on a little narrow street. I bet many a tourist has been lost for hours trying to find this. 

Experimenting with the iPhone camera filters (it didn't suddenly get dark!). 

Outside they had painted all the traffic barriers with faces. This one looked like a space hopper we used to have as kids. 

Dad socialising with the locals again - this time to try on a blokes new Google glasses. They were really cool. He showed us how you can take pictures with it and all sorts. 

It's been a while since we have been in a Hard Rock so it would be rude not too. Very expensive shot glasses in here though - £16 for one. Punchy. For once I am glad I collect pint classes which are half the price. 

Another glass and my 47th hard rock in total. Not bad!

When we get back to the hotel I go to pick up our laundry from across the road and get talking to a lady who worked there who has been living in BA for 16 years and found our that she was born in Tile Hill!!!! (An area of Coventry). Once again it's a small world. 

The little hotel pool. Luckily there are exactly seven recliners around the pool. 

That evening we decide to head to a fantastic night called La Bomba De Tiempo at Konex which is like a carnival night again. It's basically a two hour amazing drum show with about 20 drummers on stage set in a similar setting to brick lane in London. Really cool and electric atmosphere. Great find by Elaine*

http://artofadventuring.com/high-off-drums-in-buenos-aires-with-la-bomba-de-tiempo/

Dirt cheap liter Quilmes all around. 

*I must admit that it was Nige who actually found this place! Credit where credit is due. 

When the show ended at about 10pm the party carried on outside with a group of people promoting a bar a good few blocks away pulling off a brilliant bar promotion. With 7-8 drummers and a fire dancer they basically walk a crowd of a few hundred people through the streets to ther bar, carrying on the party along the way. Once again there are people selling beer from cool boxes so it would be rude not to!

We then head back to Palermo, just around the corner from our hotel and find a brilliant restaurant called Grappa. Again we have a great meal (big steak!) and lots more wine getting rather tipsy by now all for about £15 each. Buenos Aires is a great place and we can see why people like staying here for a while whilst traveling. What a great night - can't believe it is a Monday night!