Sunday, March 24: We slept until nearly eight. The day was cool but sunny. We had breakfast at the Circulo, then called jane's brother Tom about 10:00. He confirmed that Grandpa was still alive.

Altar

Carlos called to say that he'd be over to go to Mass with us. He had a terrible cold (caught from me?) and had been running a fever. He arrived by taxi at 10:50, and we walked a few blocks to Santissimo Sacramento church. It had an exceptionally wide and beautiful main altar.

Jane in mansion

 After Mass, Carlos walked us through the huge mansion adjoining the Circulo . It had belonged to the family that owned the famous newspaper La Prensa. Carlos then left to resume his bed rest.

We walked through San Martin Park to the Malvinas Memorial, dedicated to the Argentine servicemen who died in the 1982 Falklands War with England. The memorial borrows from our Vietnam Memorial, a V-shaped wall with the names of the dead mounted (not engraved) on it. There is an eternal flame and a two-soldier honor guard. Ironically, the memorial was built directly across the street from the English Tower, a good will gift from England to Argentina.

Malvinas Memorial

English Tower

Next we walked down Florida, the chic pedestrian street, again. Since it was Sunday, very few shops were open. We had a McPollo sandwich at McDonalds, then caught a taxi to the Recoleta Cemetery. Outside the cemetery was a remarkable banyan tree. Its trunk must have been ten feet in diameter and was covered with formations that looked like flying buttresses. Its branches spread over an area at least a hundred feet wide.

Entering the cemetery, we approached a woman to ask where Evita's tomb was. Before we could speak, she said "Eva Peron." She walked us to the tomb, which otherwise is hard to find. The entire cemetery is almost unbelievable. Each tomb is like a small church (and some of them not very small). 

Banyan tree in park

Eva Peron's tomb

Recoleta Cemetery

We wandered around for a hour. I was hoping to find General Lavalle's tomb to see if it was worthy of what his followers had gone through to protect his corpse. No luck, though. He didn't want to ask because he doubted that many people there would even have heard of Lavalle.

Leaving the cemetery, we returned to the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar, where Jane bought a tiny statue for Jennifer, her adopted godchild. We went through the old convent grounds (now secular) next to the church. There was a street singer in costume performing out front, probably lip-synch but we couldn't tell for sure. We also strolled through the arcade, with the many shops and restaurants, at the base of the convent walls. Jane got some no-fat ice cream at the Fishy Bar, of all places. Out by the street, there were dozens of temporary stalls selling all kinds of trinkets, jewelry, and souvenirs. It was a real carnival atmosphere, with hundreds of people milling around.

We caught a taxi back to the Circulo around four and rested a while. We retrieved the suitcase we hadn't taken to Salta and repacked again. Carlos called to report that his fever was back and he wouldn't be able to go to the airport with us. We also got calls from Ruth and Marta to offer their condolences and to say good-bye. Carlos had planned a big farewell dinner for us for Tuesday evening (March 26), but our early departure prevented that. He also had planned to present me with a special gaucho knife, but it wasn't ready because it was being engraved. (We received the knife by mail from the Argentine Embassy in Washington a few weeks later.)

Martinez and his wife picked us up around 6:30. We had to detour because the streets were blocked by a Peronista demonstration marking the 20th anniversary of the military coup against Isabelita, Peron's second wife, who became President after his death. That coup, incidentally, was led by Carlos' friend, General Videla.

In any event, we got to the airport in plenty of time. After checking our bags, we had tea with the Martinez's. It was then we first learned that his name was not Martinez, but Victor Hugo Mauri. I had laboriously written a note in Spanish asking them to go to Colonia on our behalf, and enclosing cash to pay for the trip. They refused the gift, however, saying it wasn't appropriate between "friends." They were really nice people.

Carlos had arranged for us to use United's Red Carpet Club, so we went there after leaving the Mauri's. It was approaching nine o'clock, and we were getting hungry. We were so busy with the snacks, drinks and English-language newspapers that we were the last ones to board the plane. It pushed off promptly at 9:35. We had a nice dinner about 10:30 and watched the first of two movies (Golden Eye, a James Bond picture). We tried to sleep, but it wasn't easy in coach seats.

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