emilyonearth

I’ve been doing some more touristing these past couple of days.

One of my favourite stops was one I was looking forward to – a bookshop in an old theatre. It’s the one of the biggest bookstores (if not the biggest) in South America, and has also been called the most beautiful bookstore in the word. I spent about an hour there, and had to limit myself to just three books.

Another highlight was Palacio Borolo, an office building built in the 1920s based on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. The ground floor and basement represent hell, floors 1-14 are the seven levels of purgatory, and 15-22 represent heaven. The top floor is a lighthouse. It’s a little odd that there’s a lighthouse in the middle of the city, and for many years its use was banned because it confused boats on the nearby River Plate, but apparently the light alludes to the “divine light”of god. The building is then topped with a spire that aligns with the Southern Cross each July, as it’s thought the constellation led the way to the mountain of purgatory in Dante’s work. From the 20th floor (as well as the lighthouse) we could see out over the city, including across the plaza to the congress building. Very cool view! Also a lot of steps up a very narrow spiral staircase.

Of course, I also had to do the tourist thing and go see the colourful buildings at La Boca, and then this afternoon I spent a few hours in the parks of the city. There are so many parks!! I had intended to just go to the botanical garden this afternoon, but then I realised that right beside it was a park that used to be a pretty horrible zoo, by the sounds of it. When the zoo closed, the animals were relocated, but some were too old, or sick, or otherwise unable to be moved, so they still live in the park!