La Recoleta, Buenos Aires
My second day in Argentina was Monday, June 27. I spent the morning and early afternoon in school, and then Sofi and I started out towards the Fine Arts Museum. When we got out of the subway, this building was right in front of us. In Mexico, I showed you a building covered in fake grass, but this one actually has living walls. Arredo is a home goods chain, and all of the stores are shrouded in plants. I saw a number of them throughout my visit.
Mi segundo día en Argentina fue el lunes, 27 de junio. Pasé la mañana y la primera parte de la tarde en la escuela y cuando terminaron las clases, Sofi y yo aventuramos hacia el Museo de Bellas Artes. Cuando salimos del metro, o subte, como se conoce en Argentina, este edificio estaba al otro lado de la calle. En México, te mostré un edificio cubierto en césped falso, pero este tenía paredes vivas. Arredo es una compañía de bienes para la casa y todas las tiendas están envueltas en plantas. Vi muchas de las tiendas durante mi visita.
This was an old church that was bought by a university. I would like to take class here.
Esta iglesia se compró por la universidad y ahora los estudiantes tienen clases allí. Me gustaría estudiar allí.
The entrance to this shopping mall was awesome with the water fountain. Do you think we could do this on our front steps?
La entrada de este centro comercial es impresionante con su fuente de cascada por la escalera. ¿Crees que podríamos hacer algo así en las escaleras enfrente de nuestra casa?
Right across the street from that mall was the Recoleta Cemetery. I have always loved cemeteries, and we decided to stop since we were literally walking right past.
Al otro lado de la calle estaba el cementerio de la Recoleta. Siempre me han gustado los cementerios, y decidimos entrar como estábamos pasando directamente enfrente.
I mean, not only was it a cemetery, but there were also cats. I apologize for the blurry pictures, but my camera could not focus well with the moving targets and rain. Lest you feel sorry for the cats that live in the cemetery, let me tell you that these were some of the fattest cats that I ever saw. There were food bowls in numerous places.
No sólo estaba el cementerio, pero había gatos allí también. Siento las fotos borrosas, pero mi cámara no podía enfocarse bien con los gatos moviéndose y la lluvia. No deberías sentirte mal por los gatos que viven en el cementerio porque eran unos de los más gordos que he visto en mi vida. Había comida por ellos en varios lugares.
We found Sarmiento’s grave right away. He was an author and president of Argentina. There were signs everywhere pointing out his grave.
Encontramos la tumba de Sarmiento, el autor y presidente de Argentina, inmediatamente. Había letreros por todas partes dirigiéndonos al lugar.
After that we started wandering around looking for Eva Peron’s grave. We kept seeing crypts with famous people’s names on them, but Evita eluded us.
Después de visitar a Sarmiento, buscamos el sepulcro de Eva de Perón. Vimos muchas criptas de personas famosas, pero la de Evita nos eludía.
Some of the graves were extremely ornate, while others were in complete disrepair.
Algunas de las tumbas eran muy adornadas, pero otros estaban en muy mala condición.
A few of the graves had visitors. This guy was camped out on this monument drawing.
Unos de los sepulcros tenían visita. Este hombre está muy cómodo aquí en este monumento dibujando.
This lady and her dog were really creepy. She seemed to be crying.
Esta mujer con su perro me dio escalofrío. Parecía estar llorando.
I loved this tomb made of the rugged rocks.
Me encantaba esta tumba hecha de rocas sin pulir.
After almost an hour, we were starting to give up hope that we would ever find Evita. We were not the only ones looking for her. People kept stopping to ask us for directions. I guess we did not look as lost as we were. Finally we went back to the front gate to see if there was a map. There was, but we still almost missed her because she was listed under her last name and not her husband’s. In case you don’t know her name was Eva Duarte. It turned out that she is right around the corner from Sarmiento, so we were almost there right away. Somehow it was anti-climatic once we finally found the crypt.
Después de casi una hora, todavía no habíamos encontrado a Evita y estábamos perdiendo la esperanza de hallarla jamás. No éramos los únicos buscándola. Muchas personas nos pidieron direcciones. Por fin volvimos a la entrada del cementerio para buscar un mapa. Había uno, pero aun así no la encontrábamos hasta que pensé buscarla con su apellido y no él de su esposo. Por si acaso lo necesitas, se llama Eva Duarte. Al final, encontramos su cripta muy cerca de la de Sarmiento. Fue anti-climático una vez que llegamos.
I am glad that we made the detour to check out the cemetery. It had been high on my list of places to visit, so it was fitting that it was the first that I went to.
A pesar de la lluvia, estoy feliz de haber ido a la Recoleta. Era uno de los lugares que más ganas de ver tenía y tiene sentido que fue el primero que visité.
Happy Travels!
¡Feliz viaje!
I love wandering in cemeteries, too. This one reminds me of Pere Lachaise in Paris. It was a rainy day when we went there, too, which added to the atmosphere. It didn’t have cats, though. You can never have too many cats!
I need to go to Paris! I’m sure I’d love that cemetery too. It should have cats though. Everything is better with cats!
i’ve never seen a cemetary like that! it’s like a city unto itself. so cool! love the cats too. everything is always better with cats 🙂
As soon as I saw the cat through the gate I knew that A) I would love the place and B) I needed to go in as soon as possible. It was a fun place to visit. Did you visit any cemeteries on your trip?
no, none! maybe next time. i don’t even remember seeing any.