Evita Farewell

The Evita tour ended appropriately with my tour group (top left) and I sharing a bottle of Argentinian wine at Evita's favorite cafe, Confiteria Ideal (top right). The resident pianist played tango after tango as we toasted the memory of Evita Peron and bid a final farewell to one of the best tours and tourguides ever - Natalin.
Don't miss either if you travel to Buenos Aires!

Lorenzo Olarte-Living History in Buenos Aires

A remarkable part of the Evita tour is the opportunity to sit and talk to Mr Lorenzo Olarte who was a coworker of Evita Peron. Young looking for someone in his 80s, he maintains his personal collection of Evita memorabelia including photos of her body lying in state (in the building where they both worked), an autographed photo of Juan and Evita, and a poster of Evita. This is a small part of his collection and merely sets the stage for his first hand accounts of the Argentinian history he shared with Evita.
My sincere thanks to Mr. Olarte and to Natalin for these pictures.

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ricoleta Cemetery, the most expensive property in Argentina, is a city of tombs, statuaries, and small chapels marking the burial places of the most wealthy and famous in Argentina's history. An exisiting family tomb is the only way to currently be buried there.
The map of Recoleta is an enormous spider web of lanes with tiny alley off-shoots.
In one of these out-of-the-way alleys, a constant crowd lets you know that you are there - the Duarte family tomb where Evita is finally at rest.

Evita Vive!

It has been over 50 years since Evita Peron's death, but her legacy continues to grow.
She was only 33 when she died of uterine cancer. During her last days, her husband Juan helped her to the balcony to speak to her descamisados, the poor and disenfranchised who became her nation of supporters and fierce political power. She died on July 26, 1952 and Juan had her body embalmed and perfectly preserved. Her body lay in state in various parts of the city, as hundreds of thousands paid their last respects.
In death, there was no peace for her. Evita's corpse was stolen by the military after they deposed Juan Peron, out of fear of her symbolic power with the people. The body was carried to Germany and then to Italy where it was interred for 16 years under another name.
(One account has the body in Paris at one point when a fight broke out and a gunshot took off her little finger).
Juan Peron negotiated and was finally able to bring her body to him in Spain where he lived at the time. Her odyssey ended when Juan died in 1974.
"Her coffin was brought from Spain and lay in state next to that of the one she had said she would die for."
Evita is now buried in the Duarte family tomb in the famous Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, the burial place for the most rich and famous of Argentina. Even here there remains a trace of her contoversial life. The guidebook and maps for Recoleta Cemetary include Evita's name, but the officials who manage the cemetery deny that she is there. Evidently, for them, she was not of the social standing and status required to be buried there.
The people, however, have raised her to near saint status. Graffiti throughout Argentina proclaims "Evita Vive!," (Evita Lives!). The Duarte famile crypt (pictured) is always crowded with visitors who leave flowers and written tributes.
One of the most popular songs from Evita, the rock opera, is "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." The words from the song are actually a variation of her last words to her people;
"Don't cry for me Argentina, I remain quite near to you."
Evita Vive!

A Mournful Tango in a Dark Room

Walk through the entryway of the Evita Museum and you are immediately directed to a small dark room, (15 x 20 Ft ?). The light is so dim that you step cautiously, especially since the floor seems to be at a gentle slant. As your eyes get used to the light, the entire wall in front of you becomes a very old black and white newsreel of crowds of hundreds of people in the middle of downtown Buenos Aires. The saddest music becomes the background music for the film and it takes some time to realize that it is a tango, How can a tango possibly be so mournful? It is then that you realize that this is film footage of Evita Peron's funeral procession through the city. The sadness of the crowds is tangible and in this very special place, you become a part of that sadness for this very special woman.

Museo Evita Entryway

The Evita Peron Museum is housed in a former home for unwed mothers run by the Eva Peron foundation. The museum contains archived films with excerpts from her small movie roles and her later speeches, rooms devoted to all of the public projects supporting the country's poor, portraits of her life with Juan Peron, her writings, and her clothes worn on state ocassions (Evita was the Jackie Kennedy fashion plate of her time).
The following is from "Argentina Insight Guides, p.65".....
"Perhaps Evita's finest hour came with her long tour of Europe, during which she met Franco, the dictator of Spain, Pope Pius XII, and the Italian and French foreign ministers. She dazzled postwar Europe with her jewels and elegant gowns. Her rags to riches story was told and retold in the press, and she was even on the cover of Time magazine."

Evita Tour - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Okey, I've already admitted to being an Evita groupie. The contradictions (saint or sinner?), the cinderella elements, her political savvy and power in her place and time, her very early death, and the subsequent mysteries around her travelling body and final return to Buenos Aires, is the stuff of legends.
So of course I signed up for the Evita tour. The first good sign was that it consisted of three of us plus a driver and Natalin, our guide. (I'm that annoying person in your tour group who asks a million questions, so it is more merciful for others if I'm in a small group.)
The rest of my group was a charming newlywed couple from Canada who raised bees for a living. Every winter they lock the hives and bees in a barn and take several months to travel the world. I kept trying to get them to adopt me so that I could travel along.
The tour was beyond expectations and included the Evita Museum, the famous Recoleta Cemetery where she is now buried, the cafe that she frequented, the offices where she worked, and a chance to meet one of her coworkers (now in his 80s), who has collected memorabelia from his time working with Evita. Let's go!

Evita Tour Extraordinaire!

Top left is the only statue in Buenos Aires parks dedicated to Evita Peron. Bottom left is the fantastic tour guide Natalin entering the gates of the Evita Museum. Bottom right is the wall in the museum entryway with portraits of Juan and Evita Peron. Top right is the gateway to the famous Recoleta Cemetary, where Evita's body has finally been returned.