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We were so glad we had reservations for a tour of Argentina's seat of government, La Casa Rosada, as it had been raining cats and dogs and we were glad to go inside and away from the downpour. We wanted to see the Pink House in Buenos Aires because of its association with the legendary Eva Perón. There are two theories about the stunning building's rosy hue. It could have come from President Sarmiento's attempt at making peace during his 1868-74 term by unifying the two warring parties and blending Federalist red with Unitarian white. Another theory is that it may have been painted with a mixture of cow blood and chalk, a common practice in the 19th century, which later dried to today's deep pink!
The side of the building that faced the Plaza de Mayo and where we entered was actually the back of the building. The Casa Rosada occupied a site where colonial riverbank fortifications once stood. After repeated landfills, the palace was now more than a kilometer inland.
Our guide said the stairway, modeled after the Italian style, was called the Journalists' Stairway because it led to the Press Room.
The history of Argentina's 'White House' was revealed when it was restored in 2010 and the home's oldest paintings on the ceilings and walls were discovered.
This was the original floor from 1890.
It's impossible to talk about the Casa Rosada and not include mention of Juan and Evita Perón. The radio actress Eva Duarte, aka Evita, was just 24 when she met the 48-year old politician at a fundraiser in Buenos Aires in 1944. After marrying the following year, she created the Eva Perón Foundation in 1948 which had assets in cash and goods in excess of three billion pesos, or over $200 million at the exchange rate of the late 1940s. Every aspect of the foundation, which employed 14,000 workers, purchased and distributed annually 400,000 pairs of shoes, 500,000 sewing machines, and 200,000 cooking pots, was under Evita's supervision.
Eva Perón created the Female Peronist Party, the first large female political party in the nation. She considered running as Vice-President in 1951 which would mean she would succeed her husband, the President, in the event of his death. Eventually, she declined the invitation to run for vice-president as she hoped history would report a woman who brought "...hopes and dreams of the people to the president and a woman who eventually turned those hopes and dreams into glorious reality." Most biographers, however, believe that Evita did not so much renounce her ambition as bow to pressure from her husband, the military, and the Argentine upper class, who preferred that she not enter the race.
After the tour, we returned to the famous Sunday street fair in the San Telmo neighborhood, hoping to snag some gifts I hadn't bought earlier and perhaps view people dancing the tango in Plaza Dorrego as normally happens on fair days. The rain caused a lot of the vendors to leave but it was still enjoyable walking the famous streets.
This had to be the most unusual tree I've seen!
Once at the Congress Building, our guide, Maria, explained the country was divided into 23 provinces with Buenos Aires springing up next to the so-called Rio de la Plata. Even though the Spaniards never find silver as hoped, they still called it the Silver River. The city was small and unimportant to Spain as no gold was also found. As a result, the city never had substantial colonial buildings like Lima, La Paz, etc.
The colossal building, modeled on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was completed in 1906. Maria spoke of her country's troubled history with six coups occurring in the 20th century.
Buenos Aires copied Berlin's sculpture atop its Brandenburg Gate representing the republic's victory after years of civil war.
As we walked toward the monument, Maria explained the woman at the top represented the republic; another woman represented the 1816 Congress and freedom; and the last woman signified the assembly of 1830 which recognized national symbols such as the national song, flag, etc. The monument, made in Belgium and rebuilt on site in 1913, was fenced because of constant demonstrations in front of Congress.
Maria mentioned Rodin's sculpture of one of his most famous works, The Thinker, wasn't a copy but an original because the sculptor had made a mold from which he made several copies. Only three originals remain: this one, one at Stanford University which we saw years ago when our son was a student, and one in Paris which we'd like to see in Paris in mid-August at the beginning of our next 'big trip.' This one was in front of Congress as the legislators like to consider themselves as thinkers, Maria said with a laugh!
Across the street, crowds had gathered to attend a Spanish opera at the more than a century-old building.
Maria reminded us that it was amazing what you saw in Buenos Aires when you looked up. The mermaid did certainly seem out of place!
As we were chatting, a busload of very happy, i.e. inebriated, soccer fans, drove by chanting their team's songs!
Maria recounted the country's worst economic crisis which occurred in December of 2001, when there very high rates of unemployment followed by protests and demonstrations when the government took the people's money from banks to pay off the deficit. That meant people had no money to pay bills, buy food and medicine, etc. Of the 39 people who died in the protests, most were killed on this street on December 12th, 2001. The President resigned from 'The Big House' aka Casa Rosada and escaped by helicopter as all citizens saw on TV. There were five different presidents in one week, one only for two hours! People eventually only recovered part of their savings as the peso was worth only one-third its value after the crisis.
The olive tree was planted by then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in 2000. Pope Francis later planted an olive tree in The Vatican.
This report from someone who had witnessed the mothers' Thursday march moved me profoundly. I think it will also affect you. "Due to their old age, they only marched around the obelisk for just a couple of rounds, so the marching itself lasted less than 10 minutes. After the marching, the mothers sat down on chairs and one of the mothers held a speech. While she may have looked frail when she was marching, she wasn't frail at all when she was speaking. Since my Spanish isn't that good, I couldn't understand all she was saying, but I could see the passion in her eyes and could hear the strength in her voice."
Maria reported that during the dictatorships, pregnant women were kidnapped and put in detention centers until they gave birth. Their babies were then given to others with new ID. She added that children born between a certain time frame could check to see if they had been stolen as they never knew if their parents were innocent or complicit in the government's plan to steal them. That was what began the grandmothers' movement and why grandmothers had set up a DNA Bank which has since resulted in 125 grandchildren of missing people being reunited with their families. The hope is that many more will one day still be found. What a profoundly sad chapter in Argentina's history.
We were so glad we had reservations for a tour of Argentina's seat of government, La Casa Rosada, as it had been raining cats and dogs and we were glad to go inside and away from the downpour. We wanted to see the Pink House in Buenos Aires because of its association with the legendary Eva Perón. There are two theories about the stunning building's rosy hue. It could have come from President Sarmiento's attempt at making peace during his 1868-74 term by unifying the two warring parties and blending Federalist red with Unitarian white. Another theory is that it may have been painted with a mixture of cow blood and chalk, a common practice in the 19th century, which later dried to today's deep pink!
The side of the building that faced the Plaza de Mayo and where we entered was actually the back of the building. The Casa Rosada occupied a site where colonial riverbank fortifications once stood. After repeated landfills, the palace was now more than a kilometer inland.
The Casa Rosada is the palace of the Argentine government, from whose balconies presidents, and their wives in the case of Eva Perón, have spoken to their supporters in the Plaza de Mayo.
I had read that it was near impossible to get the guards of honor to crack a smile!
The lovely courtyard and its small fountain caught our attention.
Standing on the loggia or presidential balcony where former presidents gave historic speeches to throngs of citizens was a thrill, especially knowing it was the spot where former President Carlos Ménem allowed Madonna to use for the 1996 movie Evita. Most Argentines, however, associate the balcony with the announcement of military dictator Leopoldo Galtieri's ill-fated war in 1982 against the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Islas Malvinas.
It was a perfect spot to snag a bird’s eye view of Plaza de Mayo, which was empty because of the rain. Normally, people have set up camp to remember the war veterans from the Falklands War.
The foundation also gave scholarships, built homes, hospitals, and built entire communities, such as Evita City, which still exists today. Historians believe that due to the foundation's health services, there was no inequality in Argentine health care for the first time in history. How I wish it were the same in this country.
Evita set aside many hours per day to meet in this room - still with its original furniture - with the poor who requested help from her foundation. During these meetings with the poor, Evita often kissed the poor and allowed them to kiss her. According to wikipedia, Evita was even witnessed placing her hands in the wounds of the sick and poor, touching the leprous, and kissing the syphilitic.
Evita died on July 26, 1952, of uterine cancer, the same form of cancer that had killed the president's first wife. Immediately after her death, the government suspended all official activities for two days and ordered all flags flown at half-staff for ten days. Such was the depth of the people's loss that nearly three million people attended Evita's state funeral in the streets of Buenos Aires. Flowers were flown in from all over the country, and as far away as Chile, as all flower shops in Buenos Aires had run out of stock after the first day.
Our guide told us announcements were made and new presidents and prime ministers were installed in the luxurious White Hall. The 1,250 kg chandelier came from France.
In the national symbol, the shaking hands represented all Argentines working together; the sun equaled the country's rebirth after being conquered by the Spanish and the leaves referred to the country's glory.
The guide stated these were fake doors but without explaining why they were installed. The ceiling had what looked like a beautiful fresco but the painting had been created on canvas.
The raised seats at the back of the room was the designated Press Box.
Perhaps in keeping with its being the Pink House, there were stunning pink stained-glass windows throughout. Images from the Stained-Glass Gallery:
At the top of a mammoth, marble stairway fit for a palace, was this unusual sculpture.
I felt I should have had a ballgown on while descending the steps instead of a commoner's t-shirt and a skort!
Our guide explained that only those presidents elected by the people for two terms were recognized in the main floor's Hall of Honor.
The guide pointed out that the artist goofed when carving this bust as the sash was backwards and done like a mirror image!
The building was marvelous to admire from the outside, and even more interesting on a guided tour of the interior. Unfortunately, the tour was 'sanitized' in that there was no mention of the bullet holes in the surrounding buildings or the barriers to block access to the square due to almost daily protests.
We hurried to the Palacio del Congreso where a walking tour was about to begin but stopped quickly at this monument in front that honored the congresses of 1810 and 1816 that led to Argentine independence.
Congress' gates were always closed, according to Maria, until March 1st every four years when a new President is elected.
Nearby was the Km 0 marker from which all distances in the country were measured.
The capital's wide boulevards were built to make it like Paris' Champs Elysee. Its Avenida de Mayo was again inspired by Paris with Congress at one end and the Casa Rosada at the other end.
Maria pointed out the lighthouse - yup, a lighthouse - atop the Barolo Building! Italian architects designed the building in 1919 as they wanted to bring Dante's ashes to Buenos Aires from Ravenna, Italy, as they anticipated a second world war. The entire building was constructed as a mausoleum for Dante. It was the only edifice completely based on The Divine Comedy where Dante looked for the love of his life in Hell, Purgatory and finally finds her in Heaven. The building was constructed in three parts: Hell was in the basement, Purgatory in the lower floors and Heaven on the upper floors which represented the light of God for Dante. The Barolo Building only has elevators that reach the 13th floor as not everyone "goes to heaven and you have to go through Purgatory first!" Some people say their jobs are hellish, but people working in the converted office building can actually say they work in Hell!
When we asked Maria why there were so many cafes in her city, she explained it was because there were so many in Paris, of course! There are 84 'notable cafes' as recognized by the government in Buenos Aires - they were, and remain, a place for the city's intelligentsia to gather.
It took us several minutes and two traffic lights to cross over Av 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world with its 16 lanes of traffic! In the median was the sculpture we'd seen yesterday but hadn't known what it was. Maria remarked it was Don Quixote and a gift from Spain's queen.
The opposing team's fans were equally boisterous!
Cafe Tortoni, the oldest cafe in the city, was started by a Frenchman whose surname was Italian in 1858. The cafe was frequented by the country's most famous Argentine writers. It appeared to be more of a tourist mecca nowadays with tango shows performed twice nightly.
Atop the famous La Prensa newspaper building was a statue depicting the goddess of wisdom. Maria related that a siren went off at the building in times of great news before the age of Facebook, cellphones, etc. The last time it was heard was when the election of Buenos Aires' own Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was announced as Pope Francis, the 266th pope, in March of 2013.
Maria took the tour next to Plaza de Mayo where we'd been the previous day to visit Pope Francis' former Cathedral and earlier when we viewed it from 'Evita's Balcony' in the Pink House. The square, the most important in the city, is known as ground zero for the city's most vehement protests.
One side of the square contained the Cabildo, the city hall during colonial times where the richest people congregated to discuss laws, etc.
The building had been wider but had been cut to allow a diagonal street to be made, again to resemble French cities!
Another view of the Metropolitan Cathedral which Maria commented was unlike any other because its builders were following the current French religious movement which maintained the Cathedral should look like an ancient Greek or Roman temple.
In the center of the square was the May Pyramid, a white obelisk built to mark the first anniversary of independence from Spain. From 1976-1983 there were six military dictatorships during which time the government attacked its own citizens. 30,000 people went missing during that horrific time when the government's mission was to destroy anything subversive and kidnap anyone whom the government believed was against them. These actions taken against victims called desaparecidos because they simply 'disappeared' or were, according to the police, not confirmed dead or alive but just 'missing.'
Maria was elated to report that, just four days before our walking tour, pilots were finally sentenced for dropping kidnapped and drugged people into the ocean. One of the most heartbreaking things I could ever imagine seeing would be the tragic marches of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, who to this day march every Thursday afternoon, still looking for their children, the 'desaparecidos' who disappeared under the 1970s dictatorship. The square's ground was decorated with the icons, i.e. the white scarves, of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo.
Next post: A train and then a boat trip to Tigre.
Posted on May 8th, 2018, from a sunny Littleton, Colorado.
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