#lapuertorico

In America, Sundays are for football. In Buenos Aires, Domingo es para el Mercado de San Telmo (Sundays are for the San Telmo Market).

I had heard about the market on my family trip to Buenos Aires in 2008 but unfortunately we were not in the city on a Sunday and thus never got to experience it first hand. Don had walked us through the area the market was set up in on our previous days tour and we were excited to see the transformation from empty streets to a market packed tight with vendors tables for as far as the eye could see.

Michele and I woke up around ten o’clock, and since I AM still American, I spent a good half hour tinkering with my fantasy football lineups to make sure they were ready for the day. I had promised Michele that while we were in Buenos Aires I would not spend Sundays hunched over my computer watching the Redzone channel and yelling about my fantasy football team. BUT if I wasn’t going to be near a computer before the games started, I needed to be sure everything was good to go.

When she was finally able to drag me away from my lineups, we took to the streets. Putting on our big boy/girl pants, we made our way to the Subte (subway). It was a good twenty minute walk up Scalabrini Ortiz (the main road) but we found it easily enough. Here we are, super proud of ourselves.

We needed to take Linea D (the D line) to Catedral, which luckily was the last stop on the line. It was easy to figure out which way to go as you can see from the picture above. Ten pesos (about 66 cents) gets you two one-way tickets. In New York the same rides would have cost $5.50. So cheap!!

We got off at Catedral and came up above ground right near Plaza de Mayo and La Casa Rosada, both stops on our tour the previous day. We knew the market began right next to the Plaza on Defensa street but we wanted to grab breakfast first.

La Puerto Rico is another Café Notable. Buenos Aires is famous for their Café’s and some are more famous than others. The oldest and most distinguished of Café’s have been labeled as such. Signs on the outer windows of said establishments mark them as “legit”, though to be honest, I thinks it’s more about the history behind the Café then the actual food/coffee. I mean how different can coffee and medialunas (croissants) be from one place to another. Still, it was interesting to be in such a historic place, and we enjoyed ourselves as you can see from the video below.

Our server was a nice older gentlemen who we could tell had been working there for years. We couldn’t understand him, but he was very warm and welcoming. He helped us get on the WIFI and of course, I did some more lineup tinkering.

Leaving La Puerto Rico, it was a short walk to the beginnings of the market. It is hard to describe this market in words. It is a truly incredible experience. A full mile of vendors stretch down a lone street with an assortment of goods at every table, from jewelry, to leather, to maté, to art.

Other “entrepreneurial” types without tables stand on every corner where Defensa intersects a new street, hawking fresh orange juice, empanadas, or fresh baked breads. 

                            An example of one of the vendors tables

What stood out the most to us, and what I thought was the most impressive thing about the market, was the lack of harassment. Usually when you think of markets like this, every vendor you pass by is yelling at you to check out their goods, pressuring you into spending your money. At the San Telmo market there is none of that. Only when you approach a table and start really showing interest are you greeted, and even then it’s only with a “hola” (hi) or “Como estas?” (How are you?). They never pressure your for a sale, and you never feel harassed. The vendors are content to sit back, drink their maté, and wait for you to talk to them. It is a very open and welcoming situation, unlike any other market I’ve ever experienced. 

We took our time, strolling through the market from table to table, looking at everything each vendor had to offer. I had no goals in mind for the trip or any want to purchase anything for myself, but we decided early on that we wanted to find a nice bracelet for Michele and possibly a cool, stylish ring as well. 

Even though I wasn’t planning on buying anything, I was the first to do so. An artist had some really cool prints available for sale and there was one of them that reminded me of a setting from the book I am writing. I had to buy it.

We looked at a ton of cool rings for Michele but nothing was standing out to her until we got to Ariel’s booth. She loved the design of one of his rings but unfortunately it didn’t fit her finger. He had her try on a bunch of different sized rings until one fit. He told Michele he’d make her the ring she liked in her size and we could come back for it next week, but we had to leave him one hundred pesos as collateral. We took the chance and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that he will be true to his word! He had us take a picture of him and the address he sets up his table at so we could find him again next week. Here he is, Ariel in all his glory.

                   C’mon Ariel!! Don’t destroy our faith in humanity!!

At the end of Defensa street there is a big square (San Telmo Square) where the market ends. There was a big crowd amongst the vendors tables where the market opens up a bit and we caught the end of a cool tango show!

After the market, we made our way to Ché Taco for some of the premiere Mexican food in the city, or so we’d heard. It turned out to be pretty true. We ordered three chicken tacos and three beef tacos which proved to be more than enough. Great food and a nice break from the steak, steak, steak, we’d been eating at almost every meal. 

The walk back was much faster than the walk there. We stopped at a couple more booths and Michele ended up finding a cool leather bracelet, pictured below. 

After a couple more blocks we left Defensa all together. The crowds of people were still massed and it was slow goings. We decided to walk up a parallel street until we got back to Plaza de Mayo. Once there we sat by the fountain and watched as little kids fed the birds and people went about their business. It was nice to relax after a long day of walking in and out of everyone at the market. 

Tune in next week to find out if Michele get her ring, or gets wrung out to dry. All that and more on MalbecAndMaté...

Until then.