The City of Buenos Aires: Part 1

BA has the highest concentration of parks and open spaces that I´ve ever seen in a city. However, the sheer width of the boulevards and distances between junctions can turn a stroll through the parks into a mega city trek. On my first Sunday I decided to walk from Palermo Soho to the park land adjacent and then slowly make my way to the Avenida 9 Julio (it is proudly declared by Argentinians to be the widest avenue in the world!).

Apart from the wide roads, a speed freak's dream come true, other highlights on the walk included numerous plazas and a 20ft waterlily shaped fountain presumably made of steel.

In this area there is a cemetary for the famous and wealthy, called La Recoleta. The good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, the humble and the sleazy, and the young and the old Argentinians mostly with clout and influence have been buried here since the abolishment of slavery. It is essentially a mini city of masoleums of no arbitrary design apart from the layout and plot restrictions for each family. One can get a map indicating which masoleum is for which deceased member of a family. Of course the masoleums are labelled but without a map it would take an eternity to find the burial site for the eternally departed (pun intended!) that you are looking for.

The lady who distributed the maps did not hide her displeasure of the reason why most people visit the site. The famous former first lady, Eva Peron is buried there and ever since the musical, Evita (with Madonna...shock horror for the Argentinians!) was released visitor numbers have surged. Also, there is a political movement of "Peronistas" that is not to the taste of some Argentinians but inspires many others. I do not intend to get into any more Argentinian politics as its is way over my head. Im not sure if you´ve been following the international news but Kenyan politics is complicated enough for me!

K.