From Catederal Metropolitana to Milonga Salon

Buenos Aries is huge and offers many interesting things to see and do.  We continued our adventure with a visit to the Catederal Metropolitana which is the main Catholic church in Buenos Aires.  It is in the centre of the city on the Plaza de Mayo.  This was a particularly interesting time to visit this church as the new pope had just recently been announced and the catholic community was very excited that the choice had fallen to an Argentinean.  We arrived to find that the front of the church was hidden behind huge televisions and a stage and associated equipment  in preparation for the pope's first service from the vatican.  The cathedral itself was also abuzz with excitement, but there were many people involved in their devotions before various religious statues.  The cathedral is beautifully decorated throughout and is huge.

The main altar

One of the chapels in the cathedral

The tile work in the cathedral

A replica of the pieta...one of the many religious statues in the cathedral

The ceiling in the cathedral

 We also decided to explore the world of tango and visited a dancing club (Milonga) where many go to practice their tango skills on a crowded dance floor.  As most nightlife begins around midnight in this city, we arrived at 1130 pm and waited for the professionals to arrive to put on a short show...they arrived at 0130.  their show was short but wonderful and despite how lovely, we simply couldn't stay awake for any more of the show we left.

The tango dance club had an empty floor like this only once or twice in the night

The patrons of the club took to the dance floor and many were very accomplished dancers

Janice came with us to supper at a local cafe

We also visited a bookstore which has been located in an old theatre.  It is impressive to see the books in what used to be the balconies and to have lunch at the cafe which is located on the old stage.

A stupendous bookstore in an old theatre

We had lunch on the old stage in the bookstore

A view of the cafe and the bookstore from one of the balconies