Antarctica via Buenos Aires

I’m going to Antarctica!

First of all, a disclaimer—none of this information has been verified.  It is “Argentina, Chile, The Falklands, and Antarctica through the lenses and prejudice of our guides and what I thought I heard and wrote down.   What I hear and what I remember are two different things at times!! So let's go--

The flight to Buenos Aires had issues of its own.  The plane was late and we’d miss our connection in Miami, so we were rerouted through Dallas and on to Buenos Aires.  Buenos Aires is a city of 13 million, 1/3 the population of Argentina, and we’re staying in the Ricoletta neighborhood—one of the upscale neighborhoods in the NE section of the city.  It’s a very European city with broad boulevards and classic European architecture.   South America was divided by the Europeans in manner of the time—half was given to Portugal which became Brazil and they speak Portuguese and half to Spain that eventually broke into several different country and they speak Spanish.

Worthy of mention in Buenos Aires was Ricoletta Cemetery where the heroes of various revolutions,

the rich, famous, not so famous and the infamous are buried in 4650 mausoleums that vary from small cubbies to ornate small houses.  One of the most famous residents is Eva Duarte Peron,

aka Evita who died of cervical cancer in 1952 at the age of 33.  She had a long journey post mort from her family mausoleum at Ricoletta Cemetery to Italy, Spain, and again buried with the Duarte family, but 6 feet deep in the ground in a concrete vault so no one can steal her again!  Another notable mausoleum is that of Rufina Cambaceres,

a young woman who went into a catatonic state when she found out that her mother was having an affair with her boyfriend and was thought to be dead.  She was buried and people kept hearing noises, dug up the grave, but she HAD died by that time.   Now, under Argentine law, there is a 3 day wait until a body can be buried.  She is immortalized forever in Recoletta Cemetery.

 The other highlight was a tour of the Teatro de Colon, built of the finest material from Europe in a grand European style in 1908.  It is always on the list of 5 best opera houses in the world and 3^rd in acoustics behind La Scala and Vienna and has hosted every great opera star from Caruso to Callas to Pavarotti.  Over several years and 100 million dollars, it was painstakingly restored to its former glory.  Several places on the wall were left as the dark, dingy, smoke stained and peeling plaster to demonstrate the difference. 

Casa Rosada, the Pink House,  Argentina's "White House"

Every Thurs afternoon, the mothers of the "Disappeared Ones" meet on the square in front of the Casa Rosada to protest the lack of information on where their children have gone.  For many, it's been years and years since they disappeared under the dictatorships that have run Aargentina.

There was a complimentary tango lesson that both Chris and I groaned about being a part of and then found it very fun—there is a video that we took of each other that I hope never shows up anywhere!