Dearest Friends:The hearings ended early today and so I had time to play tourist. I have to say that the La Plata Cathedral is one of the nicest I've seen in some time and a thoroughly unexpected little find in La Plata, Argentina. It's modelled after the Cologne and Amiens Cathedrals (in Germany and France respectively) and you do get the sense you're in the old country, minus the hassle (i.e., minus the French, minus the Germans, and minus the tourists; relax! just kidding -- except for the tourist part).
Though I'm certainly not one for churches, I can and do appreciate good architecture when I find it, and this is quite something. The pictures hardly do it justice. I felt much the same when I saw the cathedral in Siena, if for slightly different reasons. Everyone raves about the Duomo in Florence, but then there's this quietly beautiful counterpart in much quieter and beautiful Siena. I think of these as the wallflowers of the cathedral world and it always makes me happy to find them growing off the beaten path (though you could hardly call Siena 'off the beaten path' these days).
It was raining off an on the entire morning; that sort of rain that behaves more like snow (light, airy, zig-zaggy, sporadic, but drenching), and so after the hearings I had a nice long lunch and coffee at the Cathedral Cafe, minus Anthrograd who couldn't make it today. The legacy of an only child, I suppose, but I was incredibly happy to be alone, unrushed, not having to speak, able to enjoy my meal and my coffee and my view (of the palacio municipal across the plaza) uninterrupted, in complete tranquility and harmony with my surroundings and my thoughts.
It was a great day.
Will post additional photos on Blogo.
B.
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