Our Great Adventure: Buenos Aires Day 224 30/04/2015

Luckily the weather had improved which meant the walking tour of Retiro and Recoleta was on! We had breakfast at the hostel before setting off with a group of fellow travellers to catch the local bus. The guide organised payment for us all which certainly made it easier especially as they only take coins or pre paid cards. The buses all appear quite modern and look ornate with their polished chrome panels. Retiro was once the area where the elder generations from Buenos Aires retired, hence the name although it has a seedy past being the home of the city's slave market and then a military fort. There's an obligatory statue of Jose de San Martin in the park and a miniature version of Big Ben, Torre de los Ingleses, towards the port. From here we walked to Recoleta, the plushiest of Buenos Aires' neighbourhoods filled with French architecture. Despite their appearance most were built significantly later than their European counterparts and sit alongside more modern apartment blocks and buildings. The local people from San Temlo relocated here following a yellow fever epidemic in the late 1800's and the buildings continued to be family residences until the 1929 Wall Street crash. We walked along the tree line avenues to reach the Cementerio de la Recolata, one of Buenos Aires' top tourist attractions. Although impressive it's significantly smaller than the cemetery in Santiago and sees very few new burials taking place due to space limitations. It's actually much smaller than we remember from our previous visits. One of the most famous crypts is Eva Peron's. She was and still is one of Argentina's great heroines (despite being Italian). After her death her body was kidnapped and taken back to Europe before eventually being returned to Argentina and place in her family crypt (Peron's third wife was still alive at the time and didn't want Evita to be buried in the same crypt!). The tour ended here and we went off to find a cafe we've been to on both of our previous visits to Buenos Aires for a bit of reminiscing. Simon recognised it almost immediately, La Biela just off Av Quintana. We enjoyed lunch of eggs, ham and tomatoes (and chips!) alfresco before wandering back through central Buenos Aires to the hostel. In the evening we had dinner at Bar El Federal, not far from the hostel, and enjoyed huge bowls of pasta. The Italian influence has certainly resulted in great pizzas and pasta being readily available throughout the city.