Theo and I have made two visits to the beautiful Recoleta Cemetery in search of the 50 -80 cats that theoretically live there. (Most other cemetery visitors seem to be searching for Eva Perón’s grave.)
We admittedly picked a bad day for our first visit; it was sprinkling, and cats aren’t known for liking wetness. After circling the cemetery a few times and getting a bit damp ourselves, we retreated for some hot chocolate before going home without having seen a single cat. (Or Eva Perón’s grave.)
On Wednesday, I felt more confident about our cat-spotting chances. It was sunny, and we arrived just a little before 4 pm, which is one of the times I’d read the cats are fed. When we arrived, I asked the guard where the cats eat (I think), even throwing in a meow in addition to ‘los gatos’ in case I was horribly butchering the pronunciation. Unfortunately, I didn’t really understand his response, and he might have told me that the cats get fed outside of the cemetery. Or, he might have assumed I was looking for Eva Perón’s grave and directed me towards it. Either way, we entered the labyrinth of vaults again in search of the cats.
After about 15 minutes of searching, we found just these two cats.
I was asked by another visitor if I knew where Eva Perón’s grave is. (I still don’t.) Perhaps that’s where the multitude of cats hang out. We gave up for the day and had ice cream instead.
