Antiques and San Telmo

The Magnificent San Telmo Market

San Telmo is the center of the most ancient area of the city of Buenos Aires. With only 25 square blocks, this small district concentrates in itself a bit of every thing this city has to offer to locals and visitors. The Plaza Dorrego is the meeting point and from where we start our journey.

Every day is a good day to visit San Telmo… but on Sundays it's just something else.

The narrow stone paved streets are no longer busy with traffic, for on Sundays they are walking streets only, were one can find lovely couples passing by, kids playing, young and older people enjoying their free day, foreign visitors buying handcrafted items, antiques, collectibles, having coffee on a sweet little coffee house that has put its tables on the street because of the beautiful day. As we approach the Plaza, in between human statues, two tangueros are posing for photograph and a puppeteer, taking advantage of a melancholic tango song, puts on an improvised play of very high artistic quality. As we keep on walking we can appreciate the crowd around the Plaza Dorrego, were the antiques' market takes place every Sunday. As we enter this outdoor market, the options are more than plenty; some interesting places catch my eye: some wild magazine collections from the 30s, beautiful ancient phonographs that still work are playing one of Gardel's most beautiful tangos. Really close to that stand, I view, astonished, the perfect image of the Argentine's 60s: two posters, side by side, like twin brothers: El Che Guevara and the four legendary Beatles. 

On the street many talented artists play a tango, a milonga, and the folkloric chamam; the sound track of this beautiful spectacle.

As the sun goes down and the market begins to close, we appreciate the care and love with which the artisans and antiquarians put away each item that was exhibited during this sunny afternoon. What an amazing spectacle of history, home of the immigrants who long ago came to this land to build a nation.

So we walk away, we pass by a traditional Bistro locally known as bodeg¿n, we can appreciate that the fire ‘s already burning, and its coals are heating the grill for an outstanding asado; without thinking it twice we walk in to finish this day in the best possible Argentinean way, asado and an excellent red wine from Mendoza. 

Bob Frassinetti

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