first stop buenos aires: the graveyard

Scattered ashes into the sea and a nice shaded bench is the way I had always planned for remains to be handled in the event of an untimely death. Considering I typically don’t think about death on a regular basis, I actually don’t even have these last requests on paper. Eek! I’m sorry — I’m too busy living. I’m too busy daydreaming, traveling and far too busy revisiting my recent excursion to one of the most extraordinary labyrinths of a cemetery in the world.

Seeing how dead-tired and jet-lagged Natalie and I were when we arrived in Buenos Aires, a nice leisurely stroll through the 14 acre Cementerio de la Recoleta was quite fitting. The cemetery is home to some of Argentina’s presidents, very well-to-do families and military greats. Although neither of us went hunting specifically for Eva Peron’s tomb, I’m pretty sure I can speak for the two of us by saying it was probably impressive like all the rest. Recoleta is like a little city. It was as if I could approach any one of the beautifully designed mausoleum doors, knock and someone would answer. (Shudders) Now you know I never knocked on any glass doors. I did peer inside of many and discovered stairwells descending into what I am guessing was six feet underground or deeper.

The photos here certainly don’t do the experience of wandering the narrow alley’s of Recoleta the kind of justice deserved. This place really left a mark on me. Perhaps it is time I sit down and pay some serious mind to the details of my afterlife. Scratch that simple-minded shaded bench idea. Having my ashes tossed into the sea where oil and whales swim together will not work. I’ll do it bigger. A mini-palace made of marble with a swirling gold stairwell down to the casket bearing my skull bones sounds much more like my style.

Or maybe not.