Evita's balcony, the disappeared and submarino's

Gosh it was freezing in the night, I love a bit of AC but was considering putting one of my Antarctica fleeces on. A gorgeous breakfast again, I can’t work out why soggy sandwich is part of the breakfast and whether I’m meant to put it in the sandwich toaster etc…or I’ve just eaten a soaked bread, cheese and tomato sandwich. That’s what I love about travelling, everything is a novelty, including the metro. I don’t get excited going on the tube. 

Today we did a walking tour, which was free, they only ask for tips. It was absolutely fantastic and started with luck, a bird decided to poo on me. Great. We went to the congress, which had an Evita room decorated in pink. In 1947 Eva Peron asked why women were not allowed to vote, in 1951, they were. As such, during the presidential election, Peron was re-elected with 62% pf the vote which is huge…all down to women. 

We walked down many blocks, which are very handy, every one of them is 100m so you can tell distance really easily. We passed Rodin’s ‘The thinker’. There are 3 sculptures, one in Paris, one London and one in Buenos Aires. We walked down Avenue De Mayo with it’s gorgeous buildings. One building was built to house Dante’s body, the ground floor is Hell, the middle Purgatory, the top is Heaven, from Divine Comedy. The only problem is that Dante’s body was never moved here, instead it’s a gorgeous office block that was going to hold Dante’s body. 

We walked across 9^th avenue, the widest in the world. We passed Café Tortoni and had a Spanish lesson. Then we got to Casa Rosada, the pink palace. In front of it, is a square and column where every Thursday, the mothers and grandmothers of the ‘disappearing people’ walk around. When they started, 14 of them attended but were moved on because groups over 3 weren’t allowed. So, they returned the next day, in groups of three, and to this day, they continue to walk around the column in honour of the disappeared. The story about the people was horrific, how they were drugged and then thrown out of aeroplanes while alive. Hundreds of thousands of people just disappeared from 1976 to 1983. That’s in my lifetime, I was alive when this was happening. The grandparents of the children born at the time, who were adopted are trying to find their grandchildren, because pregnant people gave bird, then their children were adopted instantly and the mothers killed. 

We saw Evita’s balcony where she gave her speech and where Madonna sang. The guide was so interesting, she gave us an Argentinian sign language lesson, because they mainly talk with their hands. She also told us that they have gone from being incredibly strict to too much democracy, which is why there is so much graffiti, protests every day and strikes. A fantastic tour. 

We walked back to Café Tortoni for lunch, it’s an incredibly ornate café, waiters in tux, wooden panelling on the walls. We had a submarino, it’s a cup of hot milk, they give you a chocolate bar shaped like a submarine to sink into it. Replenished, we walked to the Dikes for a wander and to see the bridge dedicated to Tango, then onto Galleria Pacifico, the most ornate shopping mall I’ve ever seen. On route, something I’ve never seen, a woman walking at pace while breastfeeding. We ended at the obelisk, the most famous place in  Buenos Aires, and on World Aids day, covered in a condom. 

In the evening we went to a tango show, oh my gosh, it was absolutely amazing. We had dinner first, Ali has a huge steak. The tango then started, we were one row from the front and who would have believed who we sat next to, a couple going on the same voyage as us! There must have been over 100 people in the tango show, and we sit next to two people on the same trip. The dances we exquisite, how they can move their legs that quickly is beyond me. I just stared at their legs the whole time, I’m sure my legs don’t bend backwards like that, they almost kick the back of their heads! Late night for us, bed after midnight. What a fabulous day.