John:
We took a trip up to the Recoleta cemetery this morning. Through the rain, though we stopped in Cafe 1234 for a cafe cortado (a little coffe with a bit of steamed milk) for Liz and a cafe chiquito for me... I've got to stop asking for cafe solo here, they call a little coffee a cafe chico, or chiquito (it's the same as a Spanish cafe solo which is a bit bigger than an espresso). Liz also took the opportunity to try dulce de leche with her pan negro (wholemeal toast) which is like having toffee fudge spread, nice but a bit sweet for me to have every day. I stuck to my medialunas.

Recoleta is huge. It is also one of the least democratic places there is. To get in permanently there are two requirements: you have to be dead and you have to have lots of money. The necropolis is filled with ornate monuments, and there seem to be two ways of going about things. The first is that you might have filled up your vault so you keep your coffins at ground level, maybe with a little kneeling place and a bit of stained glass. The second is to have the same pew but instead of keeping the coffins above ground, you have a nice little set of steps down to them.

Eva Peron's grave is there but it seems very ordinary compared to some of the excesses of the BA elite and the pirate heroes like William Brown (Pirate and saviour of the Argentine navy when they went up against Uraguay in 18 something.... what is this a guidebook?... wikipedia is your friend if you want more information. I'm writing this sans internet access, saving it to a USB stick and taking it over the road to the nearest locutorio that has a USB capable 'puter). It rained, which is good for a cemetery visit, but as we were walking back it started bucketing down (and we're talking big buckets, not your yellow beach bucket 'n' spade buckets no, these are your black builders buckets that hold gallons and always have grit in the bottom). It hasn't stopped yet, just keeps easing off enough so that the Porteños come back out before hammering at them again. It doesn't help when the pavements and streets are so pot-holed that there are deep lakes here and there which will swallow the unwary, another thing to watch for when walking (the other, if I haven't mentioned it yet is thanks to the city's canine population).
  ¶ 7:33 PM