The City of Beautiful Air

This is not a very accurate name for Buenos Aires, Argentina, since the original western settlement was built on a swamp and all the settlers perished.

We have been to Buenos Aires before when we took an OAT trip to Patagonia, but we took the city overview anyway.  Our ship was docked at the cruise terminal, but the container ships were nearby.  It is amazing to see  how these containers, each the size of a semi truck, are stacked on ships for transport all over the world.

Traffic is horrible, even though some of the main streets have 6 lanes going each way.  Near the port the flat bed trucks are lined up in 2 lines in the middle of the street, waiting to go in to the shipyard and get a container.  There are so any trucks and buses, that the city is building a tunnel strictly for trucks and buses to reduce congestion.  It is supposed to be done in June, but they did not say which year.  Part of the problem is lack of money.  The Argentine economy is in bad shape.

Our first stop was to Recoleta Cemetery, an exclusive cemetery where the tombs are above ground.  Only the rich can afford to be buried here so tombs are for whole families, often several generations.  Eva Peron, the President's wife and inspiration for the play, Evita, is buried here in her family's crypt.

 Each family is responsible for the upkeep of their crypt.  If a family dies out or moves away and the monument starts to crumble, an effort is made to contact a relative.  If that is not possible, the body or bodies are removed, cremated and buried in the general cemetery.  Then the space is resold, for more than the cost of a large house. 

This map shows the size of the cemetery.  Many of the crypts are ornate, but there are a few of more modern design.

Buenos Aires is a city of monuments, churches and shopping, shopping, shopping.

The area closest to the old port has become a colorful tourist mecca.

Argentina has suffered under several police states and revolutions.  The Ministry of Economics on the main square still shows the scars from a bomb which killed over 300 people.

The Presidential office building, The Pink Palace, and the Cathedral are located on this square.  During the days of the police state, thousands of people were "disappeared."
No one knows what became of them.  Mothers and grandmothers march in the square every day, wearing head scarves with the name of the missing person on the back.