I wish someone had given me that advice at the start of the day.

The last full day of the trip started with a morning wander around the cemetery in Recoleta. This was the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires, inaugurated in 1822. I love a good wander around a cemetery, and this is a good cemetery so I was really looking forward to checking it out. Some of the mausoleums were well-kept, while others had broken windows and plants growing inside through cracked concrete. You could see the coffins inside some which startled me. Some had stairs that led down to more coffins. A couple had doors cracked open which added to the mood.

My favourite was the tomb of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak—the statue was beautiful and so was the poem from her father. When I read the story about her, it made me appreciate it even more.

From Wikipedia:

26-year-old Liliana Crociati de Szaszak (1944–1970) was in Innsbruck, Austria on 26 February 1970, when her hotel was struck by an avalanche, killing her. Her tomb was designed by her mother in the Neo-Gothic style, in sharp contrast to the other tombs in the cemetery. Adjacent to the tomb stands a dais adorned with a plaque containing an Italian-language poem by her father, and topped by a life-size green bronze statue of Crociati de Szaszak in her wedding dress, by sculptor Wíeredovol Viladrich. Following the death of Crociati’s dog Sabú, a bronze statue of the dog, also by Viladrich, was added, with Crociati’s hand resting on the dog’s head.

I should have taken more notice when my camera battery died halfway through. Little did I know this was a predictor of how the day might play out. Luckily my phone was charged (for once) so I switched over.

We decided after all the walking the day before that we would get back on the hop-on hop-off bus to go back to places we had yet to see or wanted to revisit. What we didn’t realize was that once we hopped off, we would not be able to hop back on so easily.

We disembarked to go to Café Tortoni, the oldest café in the city where people like Borges sat and had coffee. Unfortunately the wait was hours long and we had places to go and things to see. We headed to Librería de Ávila, the oldest bookstore in Buenos Aires, possibly the oldest in the Americas. A quick pop into the Farmacia de la Estrella, constructed in 1895, and some of the nearby churches.

We stood at stop #5 and watched as more than 7 buses pulled up, (we stopped counting), told us they were full and pulled away again. Finally a bus pulled up with space for 2 and we were off again. Normally I would have been happy to walk along but the money, the time… what an exercise in patience.

There were things to revisit and souvenirs that stuck in our minds from the day before so we headed back to El Caminito. Back on the bus and over to Puerto Madero and then it was time to call it a day. Our last full day in South America was probably the best weather day (only 27 degrees)—I think it was the first day of the trip that I wasn’t sweaty!

Some lessons learned during my first trip to South America:

• Avoid walking on wet patches on sidewalks—there is usually a dripping air conditioning unit above.
• Uber is not always reliable—more times than not our ride was cancelled at the last minute.
• Don’t buy a Sube card for the subway. After my last comments about being able to figure out metros around the world, we didn’t take one ride on the Subte. Finding someone who sells the Sube card is HARD and even when you do get a card, no one seems to know where to load money on it.
• Hop-on Hop-off bus—a great way to see all the neighbourhoods of the city but plan your stops well. And pack your patience. Trust me!
• Postcards are easy to find, stamps not so much and mailboxes the hardest. I am returning home with postcards that have stamps on them but didn’t get mailed.

And just like that, my first adventure in South America has come to an end. Not sure what I expected but it has been a great trip, a wonderful experience and I am excited to explore more.

Until next time!