Rainy Day in BA

Wednesday March 20 started out cloudy and turned to rain for most of the day.  We were both tired from our tango adventure and slept in.  We finally headed downtown to meet Nestor, our Argentinian friend.  We took the subway to Plaza de Mayo to meet him at the main Cathedral.

Tiles in the subway station 

Graffiti on subway cars-- like NYC in the 80s

Only one of the 6 subway lines has air conditioned cars.  It makes for a warm ride even in the fall.

We got to the Metropolitan Cathedral a bit early, so decided to look inside and see where the new Pope used to hang out as Archbishop of BA.  It is a beautiful church.  The original structure of the church was built in 1745 and was later given a new Greek Revival facade. It was designated a Cathedral in 1836.

The Alter

Mosaic floors

More of the Cathedra

Another alcove

The Cathedral also has a mausoleum containing the remains of  General Jose de San Martin, the independence hero regarded as the "Father of the Nation".  His body was moved to the mausoleum in 1880.

Here lies San Martin

Just as we met Nestor, it started to rain.  He showed us a number of beautiful buildings in the downtown core.  We went into the Galeria Guemes, the first indoor shopping area in BA.  It was completed in 1915 in Art Nouveau style.  The Galeria underwent a major renovation in 2005.  It is a beautiful building with gorgeous  domes.

 Galeria Guemes on Calle Florida

Colourful dome (from Internet)

Detail at the Galeria

Interesting detail at another building

We next stopped at the church of St. Michael.

St. Michael Church

We also stopped to look inside the Restaurante Palacio Espanol at El Club Espanol (Spanish Cub). The cornerstone was laid in 1908 and the building opened in 1911.  Kings of Spain have visited the Club and it is now a historic monument of the City of BA.

Inside of the Spanish Club

Outside the Club

We then took a taxi to a coffee shop/bar that Nestor wanted us to visit.  Las Violetas opened in 1884 in the then more remote Almagro neighbourhood, which at the time was an area of country houses.  It is a luxurious place with beautiful stained glass windows.  Aristocrats would drive up in their carriages to the new coffee house.  

The employees have recently purchased the business from the previous owner who was going to close it down.  The place was full of people having coffee and tea and lots of cakes/sweets.  We stopped for a coffee.  We are finding that Portenos have a real coffee culture and spend late afternoons and early evenings having sweets and coffee.

 Inside Las Violetas

One of many stained glass windows

For those with a sweet tooth

View of the bar and Alano (wearing the scarf) and Nestor talking

Because it was raining, we took the Subte (subway) to an indoor market that Nestor wanted to show us.  The Mercado del Progresso opened in 1889 and underwent a major renovation in 1957.  It has some of the best produce we have seen.  We purchased some vegetables for dinner.

The produce shop where we got the vegetables

Lots of excellent produce

More treats at the market

We then went back to the apartment and had a glass of wine with Nestor before he headed home.

A quiet day and our first and, we think, last rain day in BA.