Buenos Aires can be overwhelming at times. The pace, the traffic, the noise, the hustle and bustle can make even a true cosmopolitan feel the need to get away from it all and find a place to relax and enjoy without having to watch his step, pick up speed and check for coins.
Off course you can choose to leave town and go to the country, to the seaside or even further but…there also is a place, right in the hart of Buenos Aires, where you can find tranquillity and more. Imagine a place where it’s cool and quiet, where American Jazz Standards softly play, where you can sit for hours on end and find pathways to every part of this earth.
Avenida Santa Fe is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires and considered one of the main shopping and strolling areas of the city. On number 1860 you will find the former Grand Splendid Theatre, which since 2000 holds the El Ateneo Bookstore. El Ateneo is not any kind of bookstore. It is the best bookstore I have ever seen. I’d heard about it, I’d seen pictures, but nothing could have prepared me for this sheer heavenly place. ‘I would live here if I could’, I whispered in aw to no one in particular, hoping someone with authority would hear me and arrange for it to happen. Like in a movie where a child ends up living in a chocolate-factory.
I am a writer. Books are like friends to me. They are loyal and kind; they smell good and contain infinite amounts of knowledge and wisdom. Some girls go shopping for clothes. I go shopping for books. Because books make me see things differently, spark my imagination, help me forget.
Today I needed to get away so I went to El Ateneo. ‘Why didn’t you visit this place sooner’, a friend asked. ‘You’ve been here long enough.’ I don’t know. If I could do it all over again I would. If I could go back in time I would visit El Ateneo on my first day in town. Ok, maybe on my second day, but soon.
The best thing about the place is that you can read books here without buying any. As a writer I shouldn’t say this but I like the fact that you can come in any time you like, grab your favorite book of the shelf, start reading it in some cozy corner without anyone ever bothering you. When it’s time for you to leave you just snuggle your book in between his friends, remember where you put it and come back another time. Easy peasy!
