El Ateneo, an amazing bookshop

Buenos Aires is much quieter today (Sunday), many shops shut, but when I walked into El Ateneo, it was a hive of activity. One of the most amazing bookshops in the world and a beautiful place. The building was originally a very ornate theatre and it retains much of its architectural charm.  Chairs are provided throughout the building, including the still-intact theatre boxes, where customers can dip into books before purchase, and there is a café at the back of what was once the stage. 

I was very pleased to find "100 Plantas Argentinas" and "100 Flores Argentinas" to add to my "100 Trees of Argentina" brought in England,  finding these 300 plants will keep me busy over the next couple of months!