Day 53 - Buenos Aires

Sunday, 5 October 2014

There are 2 Sunday markets open today - one in Mataderos and one in San Telmo. I wanted to go to both, but unfortunately it was raining and the girl at reception informed me that they usually do not open when it rains. So I had to wait for the rain to stop which took some time, and at about 11.00 am I headed out to Feria Mataderos in a taxi. The Mataderos neighborhood is situated some distance away from the centre of town, and is named after the slaughterhouses, which used to be here. In the Feria de Mataderos or the Sunday market (which only takes place every Sundays) there is a celebration of the country's rural traditions, folk music, traditional crafts and local food, local dances are performed and gauchos display their skills on horseback. Unfortunately it was closed due to the rain. No gauchos for me. One day I would tell people that I went all the way to Argentina and never got to see a gaucho. Not one. What a sad state of affairs, but there is really nothing I could do about it. I am really not having a lot of luck in Buenos Aires.

So then I took the same taxi to the Sunday market at San Telmo. Thank God this was open. The taxi fare was exorbitant (USD35, but generally Argentina is pretty cheap if you convert US Dollars in the black market here, which of course I did) but I didn't mind it so much. Also, I didn't really have a choice, that was the price on the meter for attending a closed Sunday market.

The Feria de San Telmo, also known as the Plaza Dorrego Sunday Market, started in 1970. San Telmo is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, with old low buildings and narrow cobblestones streets. San Telmo was named after Saint Pedro Gonzalez Telmo, the patron saint of sailors. In those days, the San Telmo neighborhood was a vibrant village with its main industry centered around trading by the sea and river. A lot of the people who used to live here were sailors and dock workers, and since the sea played an important role here, the people decided to name the neighborhood San Telmo. The story is that this was the birth place of tango.

It was quite fun to walk along the cobblestones street of San Telmo while browsing through the flea market, there were all sorts of things sold here; food and snacks, phonographs, knick knacks, costume jewelry, leather goods, t-shirts, old books, and all sorts of other things. I bought some souvenirs here. There are also a lot of antique shops here, and various bars and restaurants where you can sit and watch the world go by. At about 12.30 pm it started raining, but I continued walking in the rain, and soon I was soaking wet.