We are staying in a small Boutique hotel in Palermo Soho, ‘ Mine’, which only has 24 rooms. Yesterday was a long one so a nice sleep and lovely shower were great. The hotel has a nice breakfast buffet in a pleasant setting.
‘Mine Hotel’, Palermo Soho
Our morning activity is a visit to Buenos Aires’ most famous cemetery in the La Recoleta district. It’s about 1.5 miles from the hotel. We originally planned to walk but it’s a hot day so we caught an uber. No Spanish speakers here and the driver doesn’t respond to English so it’s a quiet ride! The La Recoleta Cemetery is full of elaborate mausoleums in a mixture of architectural styles. Each mausoleum has several stories of crypts beneath. The cemetery was started in 1822 and contains the graves of notable people including Eva ‘Evita’ Peron, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy and many military commanders. Ninety of the tombs are listed as national monuments. In 2011, the BBC hailed it as one of the world’s best cemeteries (seems funny there would be a rating for that). The artwork, construction and sculptures are amazing. Although we spent several hours here, we weren’t close to seeing all of it.
Evita’s tomb is probably the most popular and there were fresh flowers placed there as we learned is common. It wasn’t as ornate as expected. Interestingly, it is a fortified crypt. She is buried some 5 meters underground to deter chicanery (a long and interesting story here).
Recoleta Cemetary
It is a very hot and sunny day and across the street is Bullers Pub, a craft beer bar. Dick tries some of the local IPA’s and I have sparkling wine in a can, not too bad. I’m sort of getting to like the canned wine, you know it’s fresh.
We catch an Uber back and spend an hour wandering our neighborhood, Palermo Soho. There is really a lot of street art on the buildings. It’s an eclectic street scene with many bars and restaurants. We understand things get pretty lively when the locals start their evening activities – way too late for us pensioners!
Palermo Soho Street Art
Dinner is early at ‘Cabernet’, a short walk from the hotel. We split an appetizer and a steak entrée, more then enough food. When in Buenos Aires a tango show is required. Ours was at the ‘Gala Tango’ in the La Boca district at ‘Gala Tango’. Our seats were great, right next to the stage. The show is a combination of tango and folklore dancing. The dancers are very professional. Alas, no photography allowed. It’s a late return to the Soho.