Number 41 on my bucket list from 5th July this year: Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires. That’s a big TICK then!

Eva Ibarguren – that was her mother’s name; her father Juan Duarte did not recognise her as his legitimate child – was born in 1919 and grew up in a poor area of Junín in Buenos Aires province. At the age of 15, Eva ran off to the capital city. In the film, at least, she did so with the tango singer Agustín Magaldi, though this is not known for certain.

To think that a man as famous as you are
Could love a poor little nothing like me
I wanna be a part of B.A., Buenos Aires, Big Apple…

While I arrived by boat, Eva arrived by train at Estación Retiro, met by her brother who was doing his military service

What’s new Buenos Aires?
I’m new, I wanna say I’m just a little stuck in you
You’ll be on me too

I get out here, Buenos Aires
Stand back, you oughta know whatcha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of star quality

Eva found some success in Buenos Aires as a model and an actress

The lady’s got potential, she was setting her sights
On making it in movies with her name in lights
The greatest social climber since Cinderella

She met Colonel Perón at a fundraiser he organised at Luna Park Stadium in aid of the victims of an earthquake in San Juan in January 1944; in less than two years, they were married

I don’t always rush in like this
Twenty seconds after saying hello
Telling strangers I’m too good to miss
If I’m wrong I hope you tell me so
But you really should know, I’d be good for you
I’d be surprisingly good for you

Apparently Evita lived with Perón on the fourth floor of Calle Posadas 1567 in the Recoleta neighbourhood…

…when I went there, though, there was actually a plaque on the hotel next door at 1557. Hmm…

Eva followed her husband on the campaign trail for the 1946 presidential election, which saw Juan Perón win a landslide victory. This is where, in the film, Evita – ‘little Eva’ as she became known among the ‘decamisados’ – stepped out onto the balcony of the Casa Rosada to greet her fans

The Casa Rosada is, as its name suggests, though still quite unexpectedly, PINK; it’s still the office of the president and visits are allowed only at the weekend and during public holidays, but I was pretty happy with walking around the outside of the building singing…

Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance

Thousands of people gathered in August 1951 to beg Evita to accept the role of vice president (she refused) outside the Cabildo, now a museum; behind, you see the clock tower of the ‘Edificio de la Legislatura Porteña’ where Evita had her office in what was then the Secretariat of Labour and Social Insurance

In 1950, Evita was diagnosed with uterine cancer, and she died at the age of 33 on 26th July 1952, and her body lay here in the Congreso for a day to allow the public to pay their respects; she was granted a state funeral

You let down your people Evita
You were supposed to have been immortal
That’s all they wanted – not much to ask for
But in the end you could not deliver

Evita’s body was kept in a locked room in the building of the Confederación General de Trabajo but disappeared in 1955 when Perón was overthrown in a military coup; the body somehow made it to Milan where it was buried under another name

In 1976, Evita’s body was finally placed in her family’s mausoleum in Recoleta Cemetery

The choice was yours and no one else’s
You can cry for a body in despair
Hang your head because she is no longer there
To shine, to dazzle, or betray
How she lived, how she shone
But how soon the lights are gone

Many thanks to the Eva Perón Historical Research Foundation, whose website pointed me in the direction of the less obvious Evita locations. Unfortunately I couldn’t visit the Mueso Evita, which is located outside of town at 2988 Lafinur Street in the Palermo neighbourhood.
I did, however, discover La Muestra de Evita, El Museo del Pueblo on Avenida de Mayo 930 (some of the photos above are from this small but interesting museum).