June 1 Buenos Aires

What a beautiful sunny day in this vibrant city! Saturday in Buenos Aires is a day off for most people and it looked as if everyone was out shopping or just wandering around. After another scrumptious breakfast, we gathered together for a tour of the city. Downtown we visited the Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, the home church of Pope Francis…

We even witnessed the changing of the guard around the mausoleum of General Jose de San Martín, the prime leader of the southern and central parts of South America’s successful struggle for independence from the Spanish empire.

Across the way from the Cathedral is the Casa Rosada – or ‘Pink House’, the old Customs House building, which now houses the offices of Argentina’s President. The lower balcony on the left is where Eva Peron gave her famous last speech to the people. The President was not in the house today as, when he is, a second flag is hoisted below the Argentinian flag.

We also went to a very colorful section of the city–La Boca. As one of Buenos Aires’s 48 barrios, La Boca is located in the city’s south-east near its old port. Many of the early settlers hailed from Genoa, Italy and, to this day retains a strong Italian flavor.

I loved this area of town! Small shops with handcrafts, artists, dancers, coffee bars. I could have spent all day here. But, there was much more to see. We continued around town viewing many monuments and buildings. One sculture in particular Floralis Generica, made of steel and aluminum, was a gift to the city by Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower “is a synthesis of all the flowers and, at the same time, a hope reborn every day at opening.” It was created in 2002. The sculpture was designed to move, closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning. It weighs eighteen tons and is more than 75 feet high.

Continuing on the tour, we passed a scupture that was so fascinating, I had to take a picture…

The funny thing is the tree is a REAL tree!

Next on to a La Recoleta Cemetery unlike any cemetery I have ever seen. At first it reminded me of New Orleans’ cemeteries where graves are above ground due to the water table. But that is not what it is. Wealthy people built family crypts to look like miniature churches and many notable Argentines are interred there. Set over fourteen acres, the site hold 4,691 vaults.