Oh, no: La Richmond

The legendary Cafe Richmond in Buenos Aires has been closed, gutted, and just might be pushing shoes of the Nike variety in the future.  Back in my BA days Mateo, Ross and I once spent a loooong afternoon in the cafe where I ate this:

Which, I admit, doesn't look too appetizing--something about the excessive and pervasive orange--but it was memorable!  Pure de calabaza.  I'm not even sure why I ordered it.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the cafe and its old fashioned interior even without knowing that Graham Greene and Borges were once regulars.  We walked past it twice a day on our way to classes in the Galerias Pacifico, farther up Calle Florida, and only entered the one time.  Yet, it saddens me to know that this cafe full of history is gone and will be replaced by Nike shoes--luxury items to most Argentines, I'm sure.  It once was a place frequented by expats, writers, politicos, and commoners alike, and now it'll be pushing the latest zapatos to the few with money to burn.     

When we finally ate at La Richmond it was toward the end of my Argentine days and I had started filming little street scenes, prompted by a sort of pre-existing nostalgia (Is it possible to feel nostalgic in the moment?  I think--yes).  This is one that I filmed from the front of the cafe.  You can get a small idea of Argentina here:  Calle Florida--the huge tourist attraction that is--and its cracking walkway, the wealthy trotting past the poor (and the poor using their shoe-less children as a means for money), and the gold pillar of La Richmond--which Nike is considering to "save."

I'm sorry, but I love how people simply march over the destroyed patch of street.  And the sad, little bit of caution tape discarded, yet still diligently in place, is its own bit of perfection.  Argentina buys caution tape in bulk.

The Guardian has more here.  As does Pagina/12.