San Telmo Fair

Sunday March 17 was a little cooler than Saturday and more of a mix of sun and cloud, but who's complaining when the high was still 19C.  We decided to check out the weekly feria (fair) in San Telmo, the oldest barrio (neighbourhood) in BA.  We walked to the nearest subway and got off at the Plaza de Mayo.  We stopped to take pictures of the Piramide de Mayo, an obelisk raised in 1811 for the anniversary of the May 25, 1810 revolution and the white headscarfs in the pavement where the Madres' march each Thursday.

Madres' headscarf in payment at Plaza de Mayo

Obelisk at Plaza de Mayo

            At Plaza de Mayo: Atlantic War veterans poster

We started our walk down Defensa Street, one of the main streets in San Telmo.  This part of town has cobblestoned streets and is filled with crumbling mansions.  The mansions were occupied by grand families until they fled from cholera and yellow fever that swept the area over a century ago.  The area became tenements, but is now in the process of being very slowly gentrified.  A weekly fair takes place along the length of Defensa St. and in the Plazza Dorrego.  About 10,000 people come each Sunday.  It is a photographer's dream.  Lots of colour, characters, architecture, food and life in the city.  The area has a number of antique stores that line the fair route.  There are many vendors, some selling the same items.  It must be very difficult to make a living from these weekly fairs.

Sunday street scene

Huge pile of yerba mate gourds for sale

Vendors on the street

Street scene II

Crumbling mansions

Bags for sale

                                          Reggae Band

Alano stopped at a bakery to get a few alfajores, the oreo cookie of Argentina.

Alfajores and other cookies

Lots of music on the street

Handbag stall 

 We also passed a few BBQs with sausages and beef.

BBQ just off the street

Book stall with Evita title and "Eat, Pray, Love" in Spanish

One of many churches in the area

We are finding that BA has an incredible street art scene.  It is far more than average graffiti. There are some extremely sophisticated drawings in beautiful colours.  Here are a few examples that we encountered in San Telmo.

Street Art in San Telmo

The detail and colour are amazing

More colours

Near the end of the walk, we encountered this map of the barrio.

Map of San Telmo and highlights

Lots of pope posters for sale

We walked back the way we came and then made a return visit to Cafe Tortoni for a coffee and some treats.  On the way to the subway, we walked past El Obelisco on Avenida 9 de Julio, which was built to commemorate a number of historic events.  It was completed in1935.

223 foot El Obelisco

Just as we were heading into the subway, we saw this poster of the new Pope.  The controversy continues.

We had a lovely fish dinner and I then worked on this post.