Shared Illusions

Well, sort of…

We began our day with ramble through the Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita Perón is interred. Or maybe not interred, so much as stored. The cemetery takes up a good size city block and is chock-a-block with crypts, one after the other. Some are really big – housing a chapel as well as numerous caskets. There may be stairs going down to the subterranean level where more caskets are stored. Some are in a sorry state of disarray. The glass is broken. The plaster roof is falling in. The doors are open to anyone wanting to enter. That would be me. I guess family members have moved away or the line died out – or sorriest of all – maybe they just don’t care.

Here are a few. photos.

Say a prayer for the forlorn.

Recoleta Cemetery Skyline

This is one of the sweeter, more modern statuaries at the cemetery. I love the fresh flowers placed by her hand. Her name is Liliana Corciati de Szaszak. She was in Innsbruck, Austria 26 February, 1970. An avalanche hit her hotel, killing her. Her tomb was designed by her mother. She is depicted wearing her wedding dress. After her dog Sabú died, a bronze statue was added. Her father wrote a poem in Italian to her which adorns a dais.

Charlie and I wonder if Recoleta Cemetary is still in use. I haven’t been able to find that information. But I don’t think so. It seems there would be a website with that information so you could purchase your forever spot. No room, though. Maybe only families who already have a mausoleum – and who still have room – get to rest there eternally. If room is tight, there’s always the option of ashes in a box.

By the way, I did enter one of the open crypts. It was small. There were two wooden boxes. They did not open and they were afixed. Looking down through the open grate in the floor I saw at least 10 caskets, one stacked on the other in two columns.

We never did find Evita’s site. There is no map. We didn’t try that hard either. There was a sign directing visitors to former President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento’s mausoleum which included a wall loaded with plaques honoring him for his many contributions to Argentina, like founding the Naval Academy, for instance. Sarmiento is the only resident with a sign pointing the way to his abode.

Here is something I noticed about Buenos Aries today. Sometimes, in the middle of the city, it can get very quite. Like at Recoleta Cemetery. It was peaceful. The surrounding wall helps. But even when a major traffic artery is not far, if a park is on one side, it buffers the traffic tremendously.

I think that is all I’ll write for today. This closing photograph provides a glimpse of the old and the new and a swatch of green from one of the many parks in the city. Oh, the grass is so spongy soft!