There's No Avoiding Evita

Nor Would You Want To....

The problem with musicals is that I am easily distracted by singing and dancing and if there is a plot (which blessedly there rarely is) I never grasp it because I'm too busy humming the tunes and tapping my feet.  So, even though I had seen Evita multiple times and could sing the score by heart the reality of her life was a bit of a jolt.  Just on the odd chance that you too suffered ADHD while viewing the film/play, here's the deal.  Evita was born the "bastard child" (their words) in a poor rural village and came to Buenos Aires seeking fame as a singer at 16.  She met and married Juan Peron (of the Duarte/Peron fancy-smansy tribe) but they didn't like her. Peron became President and Evita was a staunch defender of the marginalized, lobbied for suffrage for women and  was beloved by the people.  She died at 33 of uterine cancer.  The Duartes refused to let her be buried with "their" people so a separate tomb was erected.  Then, Juan was overthrown a few years later and the military took over.  The military didn't want Evita hanging around so they exhumed her and inexplicably sent her and two other guys to Italy.  They stayed there -- well they were lost for a while -- for about 20 years before they (or at least Evita) was shipped back to Argentina when Juan came back into power.  When he died, the family FINALLY let Evita into the family plot.  It was a smart move because their tomb is now the most popular tomb in Recoleta Cemetery and is constantly festooned with lovely flowers and odd keepsakes.

Recoleta Cemetery (as cemeteries go) is one of the most amazing with its row upon row of magnificent mausoleums, statuary, stained glass, etc., as these pictures show.

Of course Eva Peron's burial site within the Duarte family mausoleum is among the most famous and visited.

But What About the Rest of Buenos Aires?

Well, this is quite the city.  It has the widest street in the world -- Avenida 9 de Julio-- which is 14 lanes wide.   While not as insane as crossing the street in Saigon, it is still pretty crazy.  The Portaños (as they like to be called because Buenos Aires is a port) are enamored of Europe which drives the rest of South America crazy.  I mean their buildings, while impressive, are a mishmash of French, Italian and Spanish architecture in a dizzying variety of period styles.  Let's just take the Casa Rosada as an example.  This is the seat of the executive government and where Evita did the balcony thing.  First, it is pink because competing factions in one election worked under a red banner and the other under a white banner so as a compromise the new president insisted they painted the building pink.  Go figure.  Built over the earlier foundations of a custom house and fortress the building has been "modified" by Swedish, Italian and French architects resulting in a most confusing architectural product.  Also, Argentinians are almost all of European descent -- and they don't let anyone forget it.  There were very few indigenous people in the country when the Europeans arrived and the few that were there were dispatched rapidly.  As our guide told us, having a European name is a badge of honor (or elitism).  So you encounter people named, for instance, Juan Esteban David Stevenson.  I'm just off on a tangent now.  We actually liked the people of Argentina a great deal but just don't ask a Chilean about them.

Images of Avenida 9 de Julio with the obelisk in the foreground and the image of Eva Peron on the building in the background.

A clearer view of the image of Eva Peron.

Some of the different architecture near Casa Roasada.

Casa Rosada with the famous balcony in the middle with the arches.

We noted that no one was in a real rush to discuss history with us.  My rather incessant questions concerning dictators, the Falklands, or the disappeared were invariably countered with "Oh, we'll be talking about that tomorrow."  Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow wends it's petty.... you get it. So, here is the 30 second version starting with the death of Peron.  His successor was his VP, an ex-cabaret dancer named Isabelita who also happened to be his third wife.  Strangely, she proved unsuited to running a large country and the military (once again) performed a coup.  Then, for six years, throughout the country students, activists and any other "undesirable" elements were kidnapped and tortured in clandestine detention centers.  Their children were adopted by the very soldiers who were torturing and killing their biological parents.  More than 30,000 people disappeared. Many of them thrown into the Plata River (fun fact: widest river in the world).  Then, to take everybody's minds off all that, they started the Falkland's War which lasted four months and ended very badly for them. I'll spare you the final decades but will say things seem to be improving and the Argentinians are obviously a very resilient people.

The interior of the Cathedral showed that Argentinians have the same devotion to the Virgin Mary as the Mexicans.

The burial site of José San Martín, El Libertador of Argentina, Chile & Peru, is in a room off of the Cathedral with two honor guards. Since San Martín was a Mason, he could not be buried in the Cathedral proper.

This giant mural in La Boca is a paean to the Boca Junior fútbol club.

Mass settlement in Republica de La Boca began in 1830, with an influx of immigrants from Genoa, Italy.

The futbol player Diego Maradona, Evita Peron and tango singer Carlos Gardel on a balcony in La Boca.

La Boca has colorful buildings...

interesting sculptures,...

colorful store fronts,...

and other famous Argentinian personages on balconies.

Let's Go To The Estancia

We had passed on the Samba lessons in Rio and the Tango lessons in Buenos Aires because Michael had one functioning leg and neither of us has a functioning sense of rhythm.  But when the trip to the estancia (ranch) came up we were all in.  I suggested that Michael might forgo the horseback riding but he somehow managed to mount the beast.   Horseback riding consisted of twenty minutes of walking around a field with ten minutes dedicated to getting people in a line to exit the stable and an equal amount of time needed to reenter the corral.  Still, there was time for mayhem as people who had never been on (or seemingly seen) a horse encountered amusing difficulty relating to the animals. We then feasted on charred meat and witnessed more tango.  But the wine was really good.

It was time to leave Buenos Aires but we'd be heading back to Argentina two more times -- to Mendoza and Patagonia followed by one last stop in Buenos Aires.

On the way to the Estancia we stopped to see this stainless steel flower sculpture. The petals open up if the attendant remembers to flip the switch. He forgot on this particular day.

This blue throated macaw was in a shop on the way to the Estancia.

Upon our arrival they took us through the kitchen where the beef was on the grill.

Heading out on the horses from the corral.

The quintessential gaucho garb.

The original house on the Estancia has been turned into a museum...

with original clothing...

and other artifacts from the period (this one was worthy of a place in the Museo de La Planchas).

Next to the house was the family chapel.

There was period furniture...

and a period liquor cabinet.

I managed to photograph this bird on the Estancia, but have been unable to identify it. Any avian experts who can give name to this bird, please let us know.

A tango show was of course part of the post-lunch entertainment.

This older gaucho (you can tell by the number of coins he has on his belt) loved to dance with the ladies. (Also note the big knife, which is part of the gaucho attire, sticking out of the back of his belt.)

Here is that same gaucho riding his horse and attempting to spear a little ring with this small piece of wood (the size of a #2 pencil) in his hand.

This gaucho has successfully speared the ring...

which is not very large.

Back in Buenos Aires, Ron who is in his late 70's (we think), couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a tango lesson from a professional.

Moving on to Chile

We had no expectations about Santiago.  Everybody had lauded Buenos Aires and Rio (deservedly) but nobody ever mentioned Santiago.  It was phenomenal.  For starters, the morning after we arrived we threw open the curtains and the Andes, covered in fresh snow, filled the window replete with sun dancing on the slopes.  The architecture was stunning in a very eclectic way.  Santiago is the most seismic city (not really a good thing) on earth.  So, you have two kinds of buildings.  Old buildings that have been through a zillion quakes and not fallen down.  And new buildings engineered to the latest quake specs and with really innovative design.  Last year, they had an 8.1 quake in downtown Santiago and not one person died nor did a building fall. Impressive.  The tallest building in South America was across from our hotel.

The views of the snow capped Andes were spectacular.

The tallest building in South America with the Andes in the background.

Santiago is a contrast in old and modern buildings.

The twin steeples of the cathedral...

with the ubiquitous Virgin Mary.

Old style buildings...

and new style buildings can be seen side by side.

This strange sculpture was in the main square..

and seemed to change as you looked at it from a different perspective.

More contrast between old...

and new.

This building is truly a "green" building.

The setting sun on the Andes was very dramatic and also showcased some of the modern buildings of Santiago.

After doing the obligatory (yet interesting)  morning city tour with the group we ditched and headed to a nifty little neighborhood called Bellavista.  Santiago has a number of small enclaves that are not very touristy but very neat.  Our destination was the house of Pablo Neruda -- very big Chilean poet.  Neruda built three unusual and interesting houses around Chile so this one was on our list.  The photos will show its attributes.  Of course, Pablo was one of the "undesirables" after Allende was ousted but he outsmarted them by dying a natural death several days after the coup.  They had their fun by trashing his house.  His wife however moved back in, fixed it up and defied the powers that were.

Two views of a very interesting house in Barrio Bellavista.

An interesting wall mural.

When Pablo Neruda needed a secret hideaway to spend time with his mistress Matilde Urrutia, he built La Chascona (loosely translated as 'messy hair'), the name inspired by her unruly curls.

Photos were only allowed on the outside of the house. Pablo Neruda was a great lover of the sea. His dining room is modeled on a ship's cabin and the living room on a lighthouse.

Throughout our travels in South America, there was an abundant amount of graffiti.

Before we could tackle Pablo's house however we detoured to a restaurant called Pneumayen.  It's claim to fame is that it features local food spanning from the north to southern tip of Chile.  Quite a distance and quite a span of cultures.  It was a memorable meal that featured  things like a board of breads found north to south with toppings, once again, north to south.  There was a lot of horse on the menu.  My rule is not to eat things I pet.  Here again, Chile and Argentina differ.  Never saw horse on the menu in Argentina, never didn't see it in Chile.

Oh, and dogs.  That's another difference. No, nobody eats them. But  Argentinian dogs (particularly in Buenos Aires) have owners, leashes and doggy day care.  In Chile, they hang in the street -- but not without attention.  As you walk down the street you'll see trays of kibble left out for them.  We noted a number of street dogs wearing coats.  When we asked the guide he said, "Oh, yes.  If people see a dog and he looks cold they will put a coat on it.  When it's warm someone will take it off and next time it's cold put it on another one."  We had one dog in Valparaiso follow the group for about a half mile in hope of a handout.  When we reached a funicular to descend to the port he was left behind.  When we exited the funicular (about 1/2 mile away) he was waiting for us.  We gave him a handout for effort.

So, speaking of Valparaiso.  We went on a day trip there with a part of our group.  Valparaiso was once an extremely major Pacific Port until... you guessed it... the Panama Canal.  Now it is a  very colorful yet derelict town lost in time.  So you have these old homes of grandeur and decay alongside a gritty urban landscape.  From there we moved up to the toney Viña del Mar which is billed as high end beach get away but we found just boring.  We are quite jaded however.

On the trip to Valparaiso we finally saw these wild flowers, since it was spring in Chile when we were there.

Everywhere we went on our walking tour of Cerro Alegre in Valparaiso, we saw these vintage Coke ads. It turns out that as part of the renovation of this area, Coke contributed money to the renovation in return for putting up these vintage Coke ads to blend with the age of the neighborhood.

Some of the colorful renovated houses of Cerro Alegre.

There was not only bright graffiti ...

but also amazing murals throughout Cerro Alegre.

Even the laundry hung out to dry in Cerro Alegre was colorful.

As we walked through Cerro Alegre we kept seeing little white ants drawn on the sidewalk. They were all headed to La Dulceria, a sweets shop.

Some of the interesting older buildings near the port of  Valparaiso, built in the booming days before the Panama Canal was built.

The largest rubber ducky I have ever seen was a fixture in the port.

Well,  from here it was off to Easter Island.  Which was a trip in all senses of the word.  So that and Mendoza are up next on the blog.  Until then, Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. pals and we'll post again soon.