Recoleta

  Buenos Aires, Argentina
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Delicious breakfast

  (lisa is writing this one) After a delicious breakfast in our hotel, we headed to Recoleta, one of the nicest and priciest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It is also the area that is most often compared to parts of Paris.  There are lots of wide, tree-lined streets with monuments honoring national heros (among other things) and beautiful old architecture. 

We went to check out the famous cemetery, Cementario de la Recoleta. 

Entrance to Cementerio de la Recoleta

Built in 1822, it's where hundreds of important Argentinians and their families have been laid to rest: former presidents, doctors, fallen soldiers - and probably the most famous - Evita Peron. 

Evita's tomb

The cemetery reminded Lisa very much of the cemeteries in New Orleans as it consists of a maze of above-ground masoleums.  It was incredible to walk through the narrow passageways and see various styles of architechture of structures that spanned so many years.  We ended up spending quite a while here exploring.  It was really beautiful, and our timing was perfect, because we pretty much had the place to ourselves. 

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One of the things that we were suprised to find was that we were able to see into a lot of the above ground graves, many had doors with windows or just iron gates.  It was so interesting to see how some of them had been decorated and what items had been included in them - or to see fresh flowers in a grave of someone that had passed away over 50 years ago. 

looking down into one of the graves

inside a grave

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Once finished touring the cemetery, we decided to have lunch at a spot that our friend Monika recommended, called La Biela.  It was this great outdoor cafe situated below a huge gomero tree.  We loved this spot, and sat there for quite a while watching the people go by and discussing plans for the week. 

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After lunch, we continued to wander through Recoleta a bit checking out little shops along the way, then headed back to our neighborhood.  One of the cool things about BA is that it's so easy to get around.  You can walk everywhere (nothing ever felt skechy or unsafe), the subway is very easy to use, and cabs are very cheap and always available.  We spent the rest of the afterrnoon exploring.

For dinner, we decided to go to Thymus, just outside of Palermo.  This is our friend Monika's cousin's restaurant that is housed in her father's (Monika's uncle) former home/art studio and included amazing sculptures throughout, that he had created. 

delicious Malbec wine

We were bummed that we didnt get a chance to meet Maria, but we're happy to report that the staff were super friendly and helpful and the food was absolutely delectable.  Every bite.  Another amazing dining experience.  We win again.

After dinner, we headed over to Bar 6 for cocktails.  It was a great space with a super high curved wood ceiling and eclectic decor with a modern sensibility.  And they were playing great music.  We sank into a comfy counch with cocktails and enjoyed our stay. 

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Since this was Tuesday night, we decided to pace ourselves and call this one a night.  Here's a shot of the neighborhood on our walk home...

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