Buenos Aires, Argentina

One of my favorite cities, I think this stop has been the best so far for me. Since I was here just one year ago and we did basically the same things then, I will refer you to that post dated January 15 to 18, 2008. There you will find pictures of this fantastic hotel, the gauchos and city scenes. Check it out. Here are few more pictures from this trip of the Recoleta Cemetery. The recent plane crash in Flagstaff where two popular river guides were killed causes all of us to wonder about life and death. Here in Buenos Aires, the mystery of death to us humans is evident.

Central Buenos Aires and the Rio de La Plata from 10,000 feet.


One of the many alley ways in Recoleta Cemetery, where Buenos Aires elite have been buried since the mid-1800's. Families pay rent to keep there ancestors remains here and sometimes people will even rent space for a casket for only 4 days just to say that their relatives had a funeral in Recoleta.


Many of the mausoleums are ornate with marble and other stone. Many of these mausoleums have 3 or four stories beneath the ground to accommodate the remains of the many generations inside.






One could look for hours at these plaques and find them interesting. I was taken by this one that told a story of one D. Antonio F. Celesia. He was obviously well-liked by many as reads his plaque: "To Professor D. Antonio F. Celesia - From your college disciples and friends".








And a representation of him at work in his chosen profession - a doctor of physiology who taught his students how to know the human body.












This is the mausoleum of the Duarte family and their most famous daughter, Eva Peron.





Eva Peron's plaque.





Look at the detail in this marble statue of a woman holding the door to the family mausoleum. As individual mortals, we forever try to keep the flame of life alive, baffled by those rare but important days when our loved ones do not awaken forever more. By giving scenes of life like this to burial grounds, we try to eases the pain by invoking ideas that something must lie beyond the darkness. Yet common sense and connecting the dots reveals that we are given only so much time - and then are away, making room for other lives. In this way, we perhaps never die. We must make our lives meaningful while alive in the here and now and not concern ourselves with morbid thoughts of our mortality.


For us, the living, life goes on. We go about the business of our lives are try not to think that one day we too will be called to inhabit the cemeteries of the dead. It is as it should be and we cannot change it. Peace and love to Tom and Frank, taken too soon from us. We are reminded of the good you left us. On to Patagonia for now. Love.