Going to Uruguay-May 23 2011

The Streets of Azul-May 23 2011

5/22/11

I left the cemetery as it was cooling down, but the drizzling was indecisive... I turned left, and ambled slowly by this colorful church with late stragglers sneaking quietly into the back as mass continued.
Right outside the church and cemetery was a street fair. Apparently these go on every weekend all over the city. Local artist display their work, or collections. Some places weren't quite so "authentic," and had to laugh at "I <3 ARG" reading it as a pirate. Arg, ya maties!!!
It would be cute if you loved someone with ARG as their initials!

Quite a few vendors had met matte mugs, and yes, I did eventually cave in and bought one. At the bottom of the picture, those are straws.

I thought of Janitha and little boys everywhere at this display. Very cute!

I did buy one of these. It is now hanging up in my guest bedroom as a reminder of my May-autumn in Argentina. I loved the oranges and reds!

I'm still not sure what these were supposed to be, but they did make me smile and were completely photo-worthy!

More matte cups.

I walked more towards town, enjoying the architecture of the buildings and the lines of the windows.

It threatened rain, and I ducked down into the "Subte", short for subterrainian, or, as I know it, the subway.

I think it was about $2.50 to ride each way, and as I passed the gates, I worried a bit with all the graffiti going down into the tunnels.

I was pleasantly surprised once down there to see these beautiful tile graphics of days past.

I had a hard time imagining Argentinians in, what I thought to be, colonial attire.

The colorful scenes were a nice distraction while waiting for my subte to show up.

I was pleasantly surprised how clean it was. I got onto Linea A at Peru heading for "Plaza de Mayo." Not very far, if I am correct in my remembering, but I really wanted to have the subte experience.

When I got off the subte, I headed up nearly pristine stairs for my next bit of adventure...

Ok, so maybe I had my directions mixed up... let's see where this takes me!

to be continued....

Into the cemetary

On a drizzly day, I headed into the most expensive real estate in Buenos Aires...


There was scarcely a soul around, or rather, there was scarcely a living soul around. I felt as though I had the place to myself to share with the shades.

I had the impression that each crypt had it's own guardian of its dead. This lion was scary enough to keep haunts out.

I was shocked that the coffins were right there, and were frequently visited, as evidenced by the "fresh" flowers at graveside.

This cherub was heart touching, and the wilted flower stopped me in my tracks.

Most of the coffins had, what I am assuming to be hand stitched linen, covering each coffin. The crypts were almost like private churches, smaller, but still with religious sprinklings and even stained glass windows. I also noticed that each had a cup or glass of water, which I heard somewhere that they were for the spiritual journey to heaven, so they did not become thirsty.

There was often times pictures placed in the crypts of the individuals in the coffins.

Some of the life-sized marble or stone statues were intriguing. I share a few below.

This guy is not in a bathrobe....he is a "famous" boxer. Or so I am told.

I did finally find a few people surrounding one particular crypt...

I had to check it out...

Ah! Royalty. That makes sense...

I kept on with my exploration, following where the angels led me.

Some of the older crypts were humorously endearing. Or post-humorously endearing.

This next picture has not been altered. The stark black and white with the shot of green drew my eye.

I just love this picture!!

Again, coffins with lace, a photo, and a jar of water. Yes, they were stacked.

At one point, I was backing up to get "just the right shot", and in doing so tripped on the curb, falling flat onto my butt in the green wet grass (pictured below), scaring the living daylights out of me!!!! I thought I was being grabbed by skeletons, and I had flashes of falling into a crypt onto a pile of old bones. yikes. (I was ok, just a wet bottom.)

I found the statues to be passionate in thier fight of the evil spirits.

Some were so impressive, having stained glass windows and even chandaliers.

I peeked in to see this beautiful stained glass.

One of the older ones was open, and I was tempted to go in, but chickened out. And yes, there was a distinct odor I was already familiar with.

I absolutely love the idea of a forever wreath, frozen in time, always there on the grave.

I mentioned that there were guardian angels; here is one watching over the wandering spirits.

... and I like to think this angel is peeking in on her sleeping spirits, not holding the door closed to keep them in...

I left feeling pensive, but completely ready for more exploration.