I had a frustrating start to the day being unable to load photos for the blog and Mike was also having internet problems. We find that we lose connection to data even off wifi and when we have loads of bars on our phone. How quickly you come to expect uninterrupted, fast internet everywhere in the world.

We had the breakfast (option 2) then had to get the man from reception to open our safe. I don’t know if I entered the wrong code by mistake but it wasn’t going to open no matter what combination I entered. It is the kind where you enter the code each time as if it was new thus if you have fat fingers and push the wrong button to close the thing, you need to push that same code to get it to reopen. Such a fuss to get at my safely stored fake diamond studs!

We decided to walk to Recoleta cemetery and get a guided tour. It was less than a half hour walk and very pleasant out, although a little chilly. We passed lots more dog walkers, one with 13 dogs! It’s amazing how well they manage especially at intersections. There is sometimes a bit of a commotion when the packs pass each other but generally they all trot along pretty well.

When we got there we enquired at the information office and they said the guided tour started at 2pm so we went across the road and had a salad for lunch. Every meal seems to come with a mountain of bread, which generally tastes really good but possibly explains the most common Argentinian body shapes. ?

Trying to pay the bill here often turns into a bit of a drama. First you have to catch someone’s attention to fetch ‘La Cuenta’, then you have to wait while it comes. Then you figure out the tip and leave the money, if paying with cash or wait for them to come back with the machine if paying by card. In this case we couldn’t get anyone to come and then to actually bring the bill. 2pm came and went. I saw a big group outside which then went in. I left Mike to try and pay (he had to eventually go inside – something about the boss not being there. We don’t care. Just take our money!) and checked out the group tour, which was, of course in Spanish.

We checked google and sure enough there are guided tours in English for $600AR each starting at 3pm. Yay. Time for a glass of rose across the road (somewhere different) and we got la cuenta immediately. The cafe was beside this enormous tree. I’m not sure what kind but it has huge branches that grow laterally, some of which are supported by large steel poles. It provides great shade.

Our guide was a young woman with an enthusiasm for political history so was able to give lots of context to the stories about the various graves. The tour took us to about 15 graves around the cemetery and she would explain why they were important. All belong to either current or formerly prominent Argentinian families. The graves/mausoleums are privately owned but the streets and paths are public land. At some stage at the end of the 1800s there was a bad outbreak of yellow fever and it was unlawful to bury anyone below the ground where the body could get to groundwater thus the development of the first public cemetery which was a long way north of the original city (which was down by La Boca). Recoleta is now about 10 minutes walk from the heart of the city near the big obelisk thing. Anyway that law led to the development of above ground mausoleums with stairs or openings to concrete vaults below. Many of the country’s former presidents are buried there along with military and revolutionary leaders of all political persuasions.

Quite funny when you think they spent their lives trying to kill each other and having succeeded now rest in peace as neighbours.

My favourite story is about the couple where the wife was a keen shopper as a young woman and ran up so many bills that her husband took out a newspaper advertisement telling the city he would not honour any further debts. They never spoke again but continued to live in the same home as she had no alternative income. He was much older and when he died got this large mausoleum where there is a statue of him seated under a marble canopy. When she died later she also arranged for her own statue to be on the grave but seated with her back to him. Her statue is smaller to be fair.

The tour didn’t finish until 5.30 which meant we had to Uber back in order to change for our evening adventure (not that we really needed to change). We had booked to go to The Argentinian Experience which Jen and I had enjoyed when last in Buenos Aires. We got another Uber to the venue but of course lost our internet connection so Mike couldn’t open the email for exact directions to the restaurant. The Uber dropped us off just down the road but it was another 5 minutes before I could find the right entrance as it is not at all obvious.

We arrived in time for the cocktail making activity which was fun and delicious. We watched the host make 3 wine based cocktails and then we had to make the one of choice for each other. Both mike and I liked the white wine based one with ginger, lime and vodka, finished off with chamomile tea. Yum. The group comprised a Brazilian couple, a Scottish couple and a single Brazilian woman. After the cocktails we went upstairs for the dinner and were joined by a Swiss couple and another New Zealander- a travel doctor from Auckland. She was heading south to go tramping with a friend whose flights had been delayed due to the trouble in Santiago.

The food part of the evening is also enormous fun. Everyone makes their own empanada and gets to design a shape as part of a competition. Both the doctor (couldn’t hear her name properly) and I tried making kiwis. Hers looked ok. Mine looked like a cross between an elephant and a dinosaur. Mike made this abstract shape that looked a bit like a whale’s tail. Looked great before cooking and then turned into a snail. The kiwis looked like round blobs. At least mine still had a beak and legs. The winning empanada looked very decorative.

The meal was excellent. Steak (of course) followed the entrees and was another enormous hunk of meat. How they cook it to be medium rare in the middle when it’s about 5cm thick is beyond me.

After there were desserts and then we all made mate (martaye) which is a form of green tea drunk through a metal straw into the tea leaves. People have these thermoses of hot water that they carry around and keep topping up their cup throughout the day. I think it’s an acquired taste.

As it was quite late we Ubered back to the hotel and slept very well.