Day 6 – Tour day. (or should I say SHOPPING day)

Wow, today we traveled to Buenos Aries for a little sight seeing, and shopping for souvenirs.  But first, we all got up this morning just like any other morning.  Apparently there was QUITE a thunderstorm Sunday night.  When we first got up in the morning everything was wet, and everyone was talking about the thunder and lightning…of course, I SLEPT right through the whole thing.  Go figure.

We all began to prepare for our worship time (I think we are looking forward to it now) and were just sitting around waiting for 9AM to happen.  Suddenly, the Cumby (van) was here and it was time to leave!  None of us were really ready, since we thought we were going to have praise and worship!  Woops!

After what appeared to be something out of a three stooges movie, we all managed to get it together and get into the van for the trip to Buenos Aries.  Our first stop for the day was at the “Recoleta” (cemetary) where many famous people are interred.  Below is a picture of the final resting place of Eva Perone (Evita – yes, she was real). She was quite a popular public figure with the people, particularly the poor.  The best parallel with today would be Pricess Grace (if she had been the wife of the King of England), but at least that type of popularity and humble beginnings.  We did not stay there long, but instead headed down to the Hard Rock Cafe where we got Kellie a couple pins, and we each got a a T-shirt.

Next we headed to the Presidents Palace, called Casa Rosa (the Pink House..!). Of course it is named this because, you guessed it, it is painted pink! Interestingly there are baby bonnets painted on the plaza outside the pink house, representing some mothers and grandmothers who have protested to the government to have their children/grandchildren returned.  Apparently in the mid 1970′s, a group of student dissidents were rounded up and were never seen or heard from again. There were pregnant women in the grou, and it is said that their babies were taken and sold to rich families, and then they were all killed.  It seems that right here in La Plata a mass grave has been discovered believed to be from that period.  Of course, the dictator who was at that time in power, has been overthrown and is now a constitutional democracy, but this event is a sad part of this nation’s history.

After the palace, we headed to the national cathedral.  We could not stay long or see much, because a mass was being performed, but it was pretty plain to see that some of the folks were praying to Mary and other Saints (and some “saints”).  One man made it a point to come over and tell us that the statue of Jesus we were looking at had healed his son. It is scary, and I am grateful that team La Plata is here so that they can sow the seeds of truth among the Argentine people!

From the cathedral we headed to the “Palacio de la papa frita” or french fry palace.  Done’ let the name fool you, while they have some great fries, they ALSO had a huge honkin pice of steak!  YUMMY!  This is really a beef eating country, and man is it some great beef!  Whew…I am going to need to detox when I get home!

After eating we spent several hours wandering the shopping district.  We bought some great souvenirs (too much to write about) and then headed over to Boca in an area called Caminito.  A very cool, colorful area full of artisans.  There is a pic of that area below too. Of course, more shopping!

Returning home, left overs for dinner (Mmmm, the spaghetti was as good today as it was last week!) and THEN…WAL-MART!  Woo-Hoo!

OK, so another really great day and we will be bringing home some great reminders of our time here.  One more full day here and then our departure day.  I’ll be glad to be home, but I will miss La Plata too.