兩個星期遊輪上的良辰美景不覺已近尾聲，媽媽和我將在“南美巴黎”布宜諾斯艾利斯下船。今天，我們安排一日游，要去位於市中心的雷科萊塔貴族公墓和郊區阿根廷農莊遊覽觀光。 

      Two weeks flew by on the cruise that before I noticed, mom and I were leaving the ship in the "Paris of the South"- Buenos Aires for good. We booked a day tour to La Recoleta Cemetery in the metropolitan center and the Argentine Estancia in the countryside.

       As driving through Palermo, the largest neighborhood with a lovely district of parks, gardens, mansions, and embassies lined up in front of us. However, most of our tour today was based on La Recoleta Cemetery. It looked like little architectures in a small world with a collection of over 6,400 beautifully crafted mausoleums and made us for an intriguing stroll around Baroque, Neoclassical, Neogothic, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco styles with each crypt. The grand graves made the cemetery amazing and large. If I walked in by myself, I probably would never walk out the same entrance again! In 2013, CNN listed it as one of the top 10 most beautiful cemeteries on earth.

      大巴從首都巴勒莫區穿過，公園、花壇、別墅、大使館簇擁排列在道路兩旁。我們此行主要為了參觀雷科萊塔貴族公墓，那裡有巴洛克式、新古典式、新哥特式、新藝術流派、新裝飾風格等形形色色建築風格的陵園超過6,400個，蔚為壯觀。墓地本身很大，如果我獨自一人進來轉悠，恐怕連回去的路也找不到。2013年，美國有線電視新聞網將此地列為地球上十大最漂亮的“永久家園”。

      There were many of Argentine most notable personages in La Recoleta Cemetery. Mara Eva Duarte de Peron was one of them as the Argentine used to call her Evita. Evita became the first lady after her husband Juan Peron was elected as the Argentine President. She advocated women to win the right to vote and helped the working-class people to have better life. When Evita died of cancer at the ages of 33, her body was initially kept in the President's Residence. But some opponents hated her husband after he lost his power and tried to destroy her body. So her coffin was moved to Italy. Not until years later, Evita was brought back to her motherland and buried in a black marble tomb here. As a matter of fact, I did not know anything about Evita before. However, a sweeping melody sounded influential to me that Madonna sang "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" about her passion.

      阿根廷許多名門望族要人大腕都長眠於雷科萊塔貴族公墓，瑪麗亞•伊娃•杜阿爾特•德•庇隆，即阿根廷人心目中的艾薇塔就是其中一位。艾薇塔因丈夫胡安•庇隆出任國家總統而成為阿根廷第一夫人，不僅積極為婦女贏得選舉權力，而且還幫助勞動階層改變生活狀況。艾薇塔死於癌症，年僅33歲。她的遺體曾一度保留在總統官邸，後因庇隆政府被推翻、反對黨試圖清除殘餘勢力而不得不“移居”意大利，直到數年後才重返家園，並安葬在眼前這個黑色大理石墓地之中。其實之前我並不了解艾薇塔，但對反映艾薇塔心聲、由麥當娜悲情演唱的《阿根廷別為我哭泣》印象深刻。

      Once out of the city, we stepped in the dustiest place across Pampas I had ever been in my life. The bus drove over an unpaved dirt road and cast specks of dust into the fresh air. We came to an Estancia or ranch where the timeless traditions of the Argentine gaucho are lovingly preserved. The gauchos originally came from vagabonds or orphanage and were used to roam the Pampas and work cattle for life. In general, they dressed in a woolen poncho, neck fastened bandana, pleated trousers and long leather boots and had no home or belongings other than what they carried on horseback. A couple of artists danced in popular folkloric music and looked like twisting the heels until broken. Unlike tango, the lead and follow kept all movements in distance and never had close embrace to connect chest-to-chest in such folkloric dance.

      離開雷科萊塔貴族公墓後，我們長驅直入布宜諾斯郊外。盛夏之際，素有“糧倉肉庫”美譽的彭巴斯大草原“黃雲翠浪千千畝”。大巴行駛在廣闊天地，身後掀起層層塵土，幾乎遮住了半個天空。我們造訪的阿根廷農莊至今仍保留雇用南美草原牛仔──高楚人的傳統習俗，這些牛仔多來自被遺棄的孤兒，流浪於草原各地，靠放牛謀生。別看他們身着羊毛披風，頸套手帕，燈籠褲外加長皮靴，實際上除馬背上丁點盤纏之外，其它一無所有。與此同時，農莊請來兩位藝人為我們表演民族舞蹈，他們的腳後跟好像一直不停地旋轉，直到轉不動為止。與探戈不同，領舞與伴舞之間始終保持距離，兩人從不胸對胸緊密貼在一起。

      There was a nice horsemanship racing competition among the gauchos. The object was to catch a ring on horseback with a little stick. I couldn't believe that a gaucho caught the ring three times straight. Prior to noon, I practiced riding a horse. It wasn't really hard after I got used to it. By the time when a traditional asado al asador or the gaucho-style country barbecue was served for lunch featuring famous Argentine beef, I had no stomach for anything but computer games. The folkloric dancers performed one last time after everyone else was stuffed to the top with food.

      高楚人馬術比賽令我激動。每一位參賽者坐在馬背上，快速疾馳將吊掛的指環套在手上拿的小木棒上。我簡直不敢相信，有一位竟能連中三次。接下來，我騎馬溜彎，好不逍遙。午餐時，大家開始享用高楚人敞開式牛肉燒烤，可我一點胃口也沒有，只好靠玩計算機遊戲充飢。酒足飯飽之後，舞蹈家再度登台獻藝。

      Finally we had to say farewell and went back to the bus. Instead of returning to the cruise ship, we were sent to the hotels. I was pretty sure that this would add to my memorable cruise experience.

      終於到了告別時刻，我們依依不捨，乘車返回酒店住地。沒錯兒，這回真的各奔東西，我們要把遊輪留下的美好記憶銘刻心中。

(二O一三年一月四日)