Chacarita and Carlos Gardel’s grave
Saturday started with a visit to Chacarita cemetery. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. There were forays to find Pugliese’s grave and we found a d’Arienzo, but not the right one!
On a somber note, a lot of the plaques were missing from mausoleums. I spoke with a passerby who volunteered the following information: in the past five years or so, thieves have been plundering the cemetery for brass and copper to sell. The only reason Carlos Gardel’s grave is untouched is that there is a full-time guard! They put up cameras to try to figure out what was happening. Slender-armed women could reach through the grates into the mausoleums and steal things from there. When it came to stealing plaques, which would cause a bit of noise, and should have alerted the workers, they found that about 50% of the theft was by employees!
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
The group split up and I shared a taxi to the fine arts museum before wandering off solo; my favorite way to do museums. I will add more photos as others share their visits with me. As usual, I found other people interested in fiber!
17th Festival of Candombe
I saw a flyer on Facebook while looking for the address of an open air milonga and discovered that there was going to be a candombe festival. For those of you who are not familiar with candombe, it is a dance that evolved in the mid-1800s from Afro-Argentine dance styles with Afro-Cuban influences. Milonga grew out of candombe, and tango from milonga (with other elements of course).
I took the bus from Palermo, and when it veered off course, asked two women who were obviously headed for the festival if they were going. We got off the bus together and made our way to the parade (the bus was blocked because of the parade but the driver didn’t tell anyone what was happening!). They were part of a group who were cleaning up after the parade and recycling all the trash! Their costumes were recycled/found objects too: a great idea!
Of course, the parade started about 1.5 hours late, which gave our group time to eat and wander around Parque Lezama. I bought an ice cream, and the store owner said the parade would go until 11 PM! We didn’t last that long, but the drumming had people dancing along with the bands. Each band had to stay at least a block apart because of the sound levels.
A cheerful candombera in the parade
Carlos Gardel’s statue and grave in Chacarita
Nanette at Carlos Gardel’s grave
I find knitters everywhere!
Candombe festival in San Telmo
Restaurant review: Peruvian food: Mamani San Telmo (Defensa 873)
I ate dinner with two other tour members who had found the #1 rated Peruvian restaurant in Buenos Aires. We felt a bit nervous when we found we were the only customers (was this restaurant really good?) but sat down and ordered. By the time we left, it was packed, and for good reason. There was almost no ambiance, but the amount and tastiness of the food made up for that lack.
The ceviche was amazing. And Cat and I drank a ridiculous amount of passion fruit juice. Be aware that when they say portions are to share, they are SERIOUS about it: three hungry people could not finish two entrees. Take a group!