Thursday, March 26th - This is our last full day in Buenos Aires. After breakfast, we snagged a ride on the Hop-on, Hop-off Bus in the last hour of our 24-hour pass. We did not begin our 24 hours yesterday until 11 am so we had until 11 am today to ride. We rode a few stops and got off in an area of parks west of city center. We walked around the Parque Tres de Ferrero, specifically the Parque El Rossdal (Rose Garden). Betsy and I walked the length of the park to its opposite end at the Greek Bridge. We returned to the park's entry point and then continued past the Monumento de los Espanoles (Monument to the Magna Carta and the Four Regions), the Japanese Garden (Jardin Japones), to the Cementerio de la Recoleta. We toured the cemetery and then had to take a break for hydration. We ended our walk at El Ateneo Grand Splendid (a bookstore in a converted theater). Elaine and I took an Uber back to the hotel; Betsy walked the remaining 1.2 miles back to the hotel.
After joining up, we went off to a meeting room to get instructions from HX Expeditions regarding our departure for Ushuaia tomorrow morning and ultimately boarding our cruise ship. In the area of TMI, we were instructed to put our checked luggage outside our room by 8:00 pm this evening. We have breakfast at 6:15 am, and board bus #3, which leaves for the local airport at 6:45 am to catch a charter flight by JetSmart. I am so looking forward to it, again (too small seats and hordes of people). Though, we should not have a long wait for security checks.
Rose Garden Trellis.
The Rose Garden Pond.
The Greek Bridge.
Looking back through the Rose Garden from the Greek Bridge.
Some of the roses in the middle of the Park.
Ditto, somewhat surprising they are still blooming considering it is well past rose season.
The bees are still at work, too.
There is a Poets Garden, mostly filled with busts of Argentina poets. Here is one who is English.
The Magna Carta Monument. We don't know what it represents to the Argentines.
Well behaved city dogs getting a walk. It is surprising that dogs living in the city remain so calm and good natured amidst the chaos happening near them -- loud noises, strange people, other dogs, heavy traffic, and motorcycles. We noticed last fall that New York City dogs were also calm - they are just used to the situation.
A funny critter outside the Zoo entrance.
Chinese statue.
A mural outside of the Japanese Garden - Mt Fuji, of course.
The next section of photos were taken inside the Recoleta Cemetery, which covers one or two city blocks. It was a bright sunny day, and the rather tall, family burial crypts cast huge shadows. The contrast in the photos is significant. This is a famous cemetery, found on the "top ten" things to do in Buenos Aires, but did not seem to be particularly old. The tombs we saw dated from the 19th and 20th centuries. The only person we might know who is buried here is Eva Peron, in her family crypt, the Duarte family. As we walked around the statues and stone decorations, I dreamed up a challenging party game for the locals -- come up with a list of 10 or more objects and see who find them (scavenger-style) the fastest. Of course, the game organizer would need to spend a lot of time mapping their locations and insuring that there are only one or few of the objects.
Just inside the front gate.
A "File Cabinet" with a door to stairs going down.
Note the age of this one - 1894. We heard from a passing guide that if there are plants growing on the tomb, it has been abandoned.
The cemetery is laid out in a large grid with a diamond patterned section in the middle.
A natural rock crypt.
Lots of angels, crosses, and other religious symbols. Angels and grieving women were popular motifs.
Crypts in black, and in particular, black, polished marble were a classic design.
Domes and stain glass are also a favorite choices.
The only dog we saw - with a brightly polished nose.....
Eva Peron's family burial site.
Plaque on the Duarte Family Crypt .
A crypt undergoing restoration or rebuilding. It was surrounded with scaffolding and barriers.
This was on one wall of the barrier around the previous crypt, note the dome in the drawing and the previous photo. The structure goes down two floors.
Our last stop was about 1 km from the cemetery and is the famous "tourist" bookstore.
It is a converted theater with three or more tiers of balconies, in an oval shape.
The stage area is now a cafe.
This is the view from the cafe, showing the ceiling.
This was the only section for us......
That concludes our sightseeing in BA.
whoa that garden and riose garden looks like the old whute house garden before it was demolshed. Beautiful
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