Here some picture of Winnie and friends in "Las violetas" a traditional Buenos Aires coffee shop.
History:Buenos Aires City, founded twice by the Rio de la Plata (Silver River), grew up truning its back to the river and suffered the same swings and changes as its politics. Some bouildings were pulled down and rebuilt at least three times. Such is the case of the Colon Opera House and the House of Government. Each time, buildings were submitted to different construction canons, first colonial, then Italian and finally French. French archicteture was dominant at the trun of the 20th century and French school architects--keen on the Ecole de Beaux Arts de Paris guidelines--,built the city big boulevards and buildings in that style.
Rivadavia Avenue was a carriage road and joinde Plaza de Mayo with the city Far West towards Flores. In 1870, the yellow fever epidemic spreaded and the wealthy families in Buenos Aires looked for shelter in the city highlands and moved to Flores, a summer country house neighborhood, and other areas. The western railways joined Flores with the city center. In 1876, the Compania Anglo Argentina (Anglo Argentine Corporation) built one of the first streetcars pulled by hourses to be seen on Rivadavia Avenue.
In 1880 economic prosperity boosted a big expansion fo the city and its suburbs. New buildings and shops bloomed. The "big village" was growing into a city.
Although the Medrano and Rivadavia Avenue intersection is only 4 km. (2.5miles) far from Plaza de Mayo, it was considered to be "at the back of the beyond."
Right on the corner of those streets, a coffee house with golden chandelliers and Italian marble was built. Its inauguration date was September 21st 1884 and even secretary Carlos Pellegrini, future Argentine President at the time, was present, arriving in a special streetcar and accompanied by many of his distinguished friends. Politicians, artists and writers of those times, like Roberto Arlt, would take it as their meeting point, they would seat round the tables of this coffee house. But it was not until the 1920's that the current building--with its windows, its curved glass doors, its French stained--glass windows, and its Italian marble floors--was made. The restored stained- glass windows were created to decorate and brighten the pleasant coffeehouse environment in those times, where people would spend their leisure time in a very select environment. In 1998, the building was declared "Buenos Aires CIty's Heritage Site" by the Buenos Aires Legislative Body. For several years, before the last restauration, the building was shut and almost abandoned. The restauration fo the building, its components and the stained-glass windows was started in January 2001 and finished in June.
