Cementerio de la Chacarita

We spent another two glorious weeks in Buenos Aires, beginning November 20, 2008. The first week was unseasonably hot (90's but welcome) and the second week was perfect (mid 80's). It poured one afternoon and was cloudy the next day. Actually, and I can't believe I'm going to say it, the cloudy day was a welcome reprieve from day after day of perfect blue skies and sunshine. See the photos here.

Last March we bought some bikes, which greatly expanded our opportunities for exploring the city. One of the most fascinating things we explored was this time was Cementerio de la Chacarita. We arrived at a modest, secondary entrance that did not offer a clue to what lay beyond the walls. Yes, walls. The entire place is surrounded by huge walls, like a medieval castle. For some reason, this entrance is identified as Cementerio del Oeste.

We quickly discovered that this cemetery is enormous. Immense. On the order of eight or ten times the size of the touristy Cementerio de la Recoleta. Simply put: It's the largest cemetery in South America.

In the map above (click to enlarge), the Recoleta is outlined in red. Cementerio de la Chacarita is outlined in blue. The yellow dot denotes the location of Casa Palermo. Unlike Recoleta, there were few people here on a Sunday afternoon.

Chacarita was established in 1871 and quickly began accepting victims of the yellow fever epidemic that raged in La Boca and San Telmo. Although less costly to be buried here than in Recoleta, there are many famous Porteños here. Among the most famous is Carlos Gardel, the beloved tango singer, who died in a plane crash in 1935. Each June 26th the area around his burial site is crammed with fans to this day. However, the most famous person buried here was Peron himself (Juan Domingo Peron). In 1987 thieves broke into his vault and severed and took his hands. Some speculate this was done to get his finger prints and access secret Swiss banks accounts. I dunno, seems a bit farfetched to me. Recently, his body was moved to his country home in San Vincente.

One of the fascinating aspects of Cemenerio de la Chacarita is the vast network of underground vaults and niches. There are two sections. One, closer to the part of the cemetery near the main entrance, and seemingly older, has small niches. See next two photos.

Further away from the main entrance is another, larger underground labyrinth, these being on two levels:

Click the photo above to see more detail. This is an extensive underground necropolis, with architecturally interesting access points at ground level. We found a plaque indicating that this was built in 1958.

Of course, the cemetery has blocks and blocks of monumental vaults similar to those found at Recoleta:

We found that vandals had broken into many of these, but the majority are in excellent condition. The "streets" within the cemetery seem to be endless. The following photos is of the main entrance, which we got to see on the way out:

Statistics: 12,000 burial vaults, 100,000 gravesites, 350,000 niches, covering an area of 95 blocks. In addition, there are two contiguous but separate cemeteries: Cementerio Aleman and Cementerio Britanico (We did not get a chance to visit either of these).

Cementerio de la Chacarita is accessible by taking Linea B to the Federico LaCroze station. On the weekends, there is an enormous market in the adjacent park. Larger than any other I have seen in Buenos Aires (at least so far).

Buying Art in Argentina

Last March we agreed to purchase a couple of paintings in Buenos Aires. One was about 14" x 20" and the other 3' x 5'. These were both oil paintings and not "street" art, but rather, fine art (accompanying image is a photo of the larger of the two). The smaller painting cost $200 US and the other $1,500 US. We left the larger one behind because it required restoration.

The seller packaged the smaller painting nicely, but he did not give us a receipt. When we got to the airport (EZE), the American Airlines clerk was very concerned that the painting would be confiscated because we did not have formal documentation evidencing that this was not a national treasure (!). Nor did we have documentation evidencing official permission to take our painting out of the country. He suggested that the police look at it before we took it through customs. Some police guy looked at it, shrugged and said it was up the the customs people upstairs. At this point we were quite nervous, not to mention irritated, but the customs people barely looked at it. My understanding is that some buyers of art have not been so lucky and have had "street art" confiscated or, at minimum, underwent considerable scrutiny before being allowed to depart with their treasure.

My understanding is that galleries are familiar with the regulations and procedures, however, it's not uncommon to buy art either from a vendor or artist at a street market or directly from an artist at his/her studio. I don't know if the artists are aware the regulations and/or the potential problems facing a buyer.

The formal steps required to get official approval to take art from Argentina are rather onerous:

1) Request a appraisal at the Banco Ciudad, which takes at least 24 hours, and,
2) With the appraisal in hand, submit a formal request at the Dirección de Artes Visuales, which is within the Ministry of Culture, to authorize the departure of the work, a procedure that takes about ten days.

I can't imagine that many people do this, but those who don't are at some risk . . . so be aware.

Note: As it turned out, a well qualified friend inspected the larger painting after the restoration was complete and advised us that it would not meet our expectations. So, we ended up declining the purchase. Had we concluded the transaction, I imagine we would have encountered considerable difficulty at the airport. The seller, a minor dealer, didn't say a word about it. As in all transactions, remember the doctrine of caveat emptor (buyer beware).

An article on this topic appears at this link (in Spanish): La Nacion

Christmas & New Year's Eve in Buenos Aires

Celebration in Buenos Aires

Casa Palermo has had a number of guest inquiries about Christmas in Buenos Aires, so I will share our experience . . .

Christmas

In general, we found that Christmas was less commercialized than in the U.S. Stores often had decorations, to some extent, but nothing like in the U.S. It was a welcome change.

We had the foresight to stop in at Roof, a restaurant around the corner, about a week ahead of time to ask if reservations were necessary for Christmas Eve. Indeed, not only were reservations required, but a deposit in the form of full payment was necessary. We we arrived it was evident why. The place was entirely filled. And unlike many restaurants in the U.S., they don't "turn tables." Once you have your table, you have it for the evening. We arrived at 9:00 p.m., with daughters Natalie and Julia, and didn't leave until 1:00 a.m. They had a fixed menu, but with numerous choices for appetizers, main courses, sides, etc. Everything was excellent; the service, the food, the ambiance, as well as the festive atmosphere that the staff created.

After dinner there was dancing and we took full advantage. In addition, two teenage boys from Colombia came to our table to ask us for approval for them to invite Natalie and Julia (teenagers then) to dance. Around the time desert was served, Santa appeared, in complete costume, an visited each table, giving every lady a small gift bag.

At midnight, two unexpected things happened. First, everyone in the restaurant started clapping and counting down the last minute before midnight. Second, at midnight, the sky erupted with fireworks and a lot of the people, including us, stepped outside to watch them. The sky was filled with fireworks in every direction. These were not organized displays, but fireworks being shot from what seemed like half the houses in BA. It was entirely unexpected and spectacular. Overall, it was a most memorable Christmas Eve, particularly because Natalie and Julia were able to be with us.

We anticipated that not much would be open on Christmas Day, so during the day on Christmas Eve we bought medialunas (small glazed, crescent-shaped bioche), fruit and other provisions for breakfast. Thank god! Nothing was open. Absolutely nothing. The city was wonderfully quiet. No traffic whatsoever; just the songs of birds. We had to do some hunting to find a place for lunch, but interestingly, by dinnertime, a lot of restaurants reopened. In any case, be prepared.

New Year's Eve

Shortly after making reservations at Roof for Christmas Eve it occurred to us to plan on New Year's Eve and we made reservations at the now defunct Club del Vino. Natalie and Julia left shortly after Christmas, so it was just the two of us for New Year's Eve. Although the atmosphere at Club Del Vino was less festive, the food was good, but they offered way too much. We had finished two main courses by 11:30 p.m. and saw the wait staff delivering plates with what looked like some sort of cakes. We decided to forgo the desert and made a sudden plan to leave and get to the roof terrace at Casa Palermo to watch the inevitable fire works. While waiting for the check, we realized that the "cakes" were not cakes at all, but yet a third course of lomo (filet mignon)! Once outside we discovered that there wasn't a taxi to be found and started on a brisk walk home (about 1 mile). We were astonished to find that there was no traffic on Scalabrini Ortiz; normally a heavily packed four lane thoroughfare. We arrived at Casa Palermo in time to crack open a bottle of champagne and to get to the terrace a few minutes before midnight. Once the fireworks started, they didn't end until almost 1:00 a.m. We watched an incredible display, with rockets and bursts in all directions. New Year's Day was similar to Christmas Day. Virtually everything closed and a wonderful quiet and peace everywhere we walked.

Living in Buenos Aires

A interesting article (Crisis and Renewal by Maxine Swann) about a norte americano living in Buenos Aires appears HERE.

Photo Essay: Montecarlo

Montecarlo is a typical corner cafe-bar, operated by a young man named Gerardo Lorenzo and his mother. The menu is typical of such places, but the ambiance and friendly service make is a great place to have breakfast or lunch. It's a comfortable place to people watch. A perfect oasis to take a break while exploring Palermo.

Montecarlo
Paraguay 5499-91

click here to see photo essay.

Cheating on your hairdresser

Carolyn will likely have a fit when she sees that I've posted this article because it reveals a secret: She has her hair colored. And not merely colored, but treated with two colors in a scientifically complex process that takes two hours, involves hazardous chemicals, requires a complete understanding of alchemy and employs aluminum foil. Of course, the result is that she looks stunning, so its worth every penny. Or in this case, every peso.

Because of the exchange rate, most services in Argentina cost about one third of what you would pay in the U.S., so Carolyn decided to save a few dollars and have some fun while on vacation. She found a suitable looking salon (Victor Rubenoff on Charcas), but the menu of options was not at all familiar or understandable (i.e. in Spanish). So during lunch, we enlisted our friend Fernando to call the salon to explain exactly what she was after. When she arrived, she was put into Marcelo's care, who, miraculously, did exactly what she wanted. The results were stunning, as always.

Need a drink?

The photo above captures a dining moment that is rare or virtually impossible to find in the United States. That is, having lunch and sharing a large bottle of beer on the sidewalk in front of your favorite little pizza joint.

We, in the U.S. (and Canada), are so incredibly up tight about so much, especially alcohol, it's amazing we all don't simply explode. In many other countries, beer and wine, if not stronger libations, are considered a part of the diet. Period. Nobody thinks twice about it otherwise.

I recall driving in Mexico about six years ago on the toll road that leads from Mexico City to Oaxaca. Enterprising "restaurantuers" set up shop in hastily built shacks, frying tortillas, grilling unidentifiable animal parts and serving cactus. Beverages available? Coke, beer, tequila. Just don't drink the water. Tequila on the toll road. Hilarious.

In the U.S., in contrast, having alcohol served anywhere on the the premises is subject to strict regulation and involves expensive and difficult to obtain licenses. I don't recall, exactly, the bizarre rules about where and when you can buy alcohol in Tennesssee, but it's so off the wall it's hard to believe it's the 20th century in that state. I understand other states also have such unfortunate weirdness. Just this last summer, Carolyn and I arrived at our favorite Thai restaurant (Yes Thai) in Chicago to find all the outdoor tables vacant (a first) on one of the most beautiful summer evenings imaginable. Inside we learned that the City suddenly decided to prohibit them from serving alcohol outside because they were too close to a nearby school. (I hate to be so cynical, but I think they simply don't understand that the guy telling them this was expecting an envelope.) Actually, I lied. I enjoy being cynical sometimes :)

The center and third photos show a wonderful tradition that we experience in Buenos Aires. After a meal, many restaurants (not the tourist places) bring a limoncello or other apertif as a thank you for your patronage. Imagine that happening at your local diner in the U.S.? I don't mean to complain, but we are made to believe that everything about the U.S. is ideal , and in many ways it is, but there is room for improvement. For example, having wine on sidewalk at Yes Thai.

In Buenos Aires, you can pretty much get a beer or wine (or something stronger) virtually anyplace that serves food. And the servers are almost always polite and helpful, albeit slow, but that's the culture. Eating and drinking take time. Take your time; chew your food. Relax. And by all means, have another glass of wine.

Buen provecho!