Thursday, February 16, 2006



General Don José de San Martin is Argentina's maximum hero. In 1950, the 100th anniversary of his death, that other general, General Juan Perón decreed that all oficial documents that year would have on every page:

1950, Año del Libertador General San Martin. Furthermore all children in school had to write that on every page of all their notebooks. So I was most amazed when in our trip to Buenos Aires in December 2005, my granddaughter Rebecca felt an affinity and a curiosity for the man. We had to return twice to the site of his tomb inside the Metropolitan Cathedral on Plaza de Mayo. She was awed by the 6ft tall Granaderos who stood guard. Rebecca was almost as curious to see the balcony on the Casa Rosada (very near the cathedral) where Evita had made her speeches to the shirtless masses! At the Jardin Botánico Rebecca posed by the bust of the general surrounded by agapanthus which grows like a weed in Buenos Aires parks.
Boulogne-sur-Mer
agapanthus