Buenos Aires The City

I like this place, we were up for breakfast (the best bacon I've eaten in a long time) and ready for a half day tour with Sandra which turned out to be very good as these things go. We saw lots of the cities famous landmarks. Went to see the grave of Eva Peron which was into the most impressive cemetery.  Beautiful mausoleums. Marble and ornate for the most part but some quite plain and simple. It was a very interesting place and home to many cats who walked with you if you gave them the slightest bit of attention.

The City is very stylish for the most part and has lots of trees and green space. Interestingly they want more green and the way forward is seen to be these vertical 'hanging' gardens suspended off walls. We saw a very impressive one. Looked fab.

It's got a very European feel about it, the architecture is varied old and new but generally sensitively done. The pavements are treacherous though full of pot hole and dog mess. They like their dogs, and they're not running loose in packs like Lima and La Paz but why oh why don't they clean up the dog mess it's everywhere.

After yesterday's pep talk about security and pick pockets I've been on red alert. I saw one woman give another a nod to acknowledge us 4 coming along (Di & Shaun and us 2) and I thought here we go. But, not to worry she was trying to get us into a leather shop. Too late though there were some lovely belts earlier on and I treated myself to a pair of ear rings.
It's a bit like a Faulty Towers sketch here. You know 'Don't mention the war!'.  The guide was talking of a war in a square (where it transpired there was a replica of a memorial in the Falklands) by the Cathedral. She didn't introduce it as such though and when I asked her was she referring to the Falklands War, she was shocked I'd asked. It's like the islands are never mentioned.

They've had a bit of a hard time here, as have most South American countries it seems, with right wing dictators. Up until the time of the Falklands really. She talks of the 'mothers of the lost who still parade to this day. Every week outside the government building. At the time of course it was to demand their missing children to be returned, many never did they simply disappeared.

There's s very sad memorial under a flyover, the foundations of which stand where a police station of that era stood. When they demolished it to make way for the new road a number of bodies, human remains were found. This was the 70's, hard to imagine isn't it?

Time and time again this trip has reinforced an appreciation of how lucky we are.

So we've walked and walked found a nice little Italian cafe for a salad for lunch. There's a big Italian community here and the biggest Jewish community outside of Israel and New York. That surprised me a bit as I've had Eichmann and lots of other nameless Nazi's who escaped from Europe after the end of the war. I'd not appreciated that lots of Jews would also make it their home.

We walked some more, eventually getting back to the Hotel having bumped into the 2 Australians and agreed to meet them at 7.30pm in the Hotel foyer to eat together. We're trying this BBQ place to-night. Some of the group went last night and this morning at breakfast were reporting the enormous portions. So it's two meals between 6 tonight.

I'm off to Mass tonight and Shaun (Donnelly) and Di are coming. I'm more surprised Shaun is coming out of the 2. He got sent to a Catholic Boarding school so very much a cradle catholic. Di though a very spiritual person isn't Catholic she's not sure if she's a Christian she says, though maybe I could be she adds as an afterthought; a considered one.

So, that's about it for today. Did I tell you about last night's meal! Last night was a lovely Italian with mountains of food that we couldn't eat, far too big s portion. The tour guide went home with a doggy bag. Aside from the usual bread at the start of the meal they put on the table the most delicious tomato sauce. I shall do that at home, it went down a treat with the bread.