Buenos Aires - Day 6

Saturday 28th October

Starting to feel rough today but determined not to be beaten by a mere cold. I arrive at Recoleta Cemetery at 9.30am before the light gets too harsh and the tourists arrive in droves.

Recoleta Cemetery is like an open air art gallery. It´s full of grand, elaborate mausoleums with ornate sculptures, stained glass windows and art noveau designs. Some are large and grandiose; others are more subtle. Some are well maintained and some have crumbled beyond repair. Many tombs belong to eminent Argentinians and here is where Evita lies. The Duarte Family mausoleum is unassuming and you´d easily overlook it if there weren´t half a dozen people lining up to snap a photo. She´s also on one of the smaller avenues at the left end of the cemetery so not on one of the main avenues. Evita is still loved by many and always has fresh flowers I´m told.

It sounds morbid but it´s a photographer´s heaven and I spend several hours over 3 days photographing the towering sculptures. I do like cemeteries in general - they´re peaceful and usually beautiful, assuming you´re not freaked out by them as some people are. I frequently visited my great grandparents graves when I was young so I never had a problem.

In the afternoon after having spent over 2 hours photographing Recoleta and feeling increasingly poorly, I head over to La Boca to see the painted houses and El Caminito.

As soon as I get off the bus I feel unsafe in La Boca. It has that grimy run down feel and it´s one of those places where people stare at you on street corners. For the first time in my life I´m eager to get to where the tourists are.

El Caminito and the two or three surrounding streets are a tourist haven in the worst possible way - tacky souvenir shops, tango dancers that don´t dance (but are only there to pose for photos with tourists) and tacky market stalls. There are even gross Maradona caricatures suspended from shop fronts as if this is more likely to entice you in.

Originally La Boca was where most of the Italian immigrants settled and the brightly painted houses originate from when locals used to get cheap or free paint from fishing boats at the port which is virtually down the road. It´s a shame that any authentic feel this area had has been lost in the effort to attract tourists.

Said a sad farewell to my trusty roommate Helena who´s leaving for Bariloche tomorrow.