There are many ways to spend a beautiful sunny Sunday in Buenos Aires: numerous street markets, events, concerts and similar activities are waiting for you everywhere. For those who love tango, the best possibility is a nice walk along La Defensa, a street which begins close to Casa Rosada, up to Plaza Dorrego and the Feria of San Telmo.
La Defensa during the week is an ordinary street in the barrio (neighborhood) of San Telmo. But every Sunday it transforms into a picturesque combination of stalls selling just about everything. If you need Argentinian souvenirs, antiques, books, old clothes or coins – this is the place to be. Among the stalls there are many musicians, tango dancers, people selling home-made food and of course hundreds of people enjoying the Sunday.
When you manage to reach the end of La Defensa which can sometimes take quite some time, you will get to a nice square called Plaza Dorrego. Plaza Dorrego is home to the local Feria de San Telmo, a Sunday market of antiques, full of history, colors and life.
If you want to buy a piece of Buenos Aires history – just enjoy, you can get everything! From old sifon bottles, plates, glasses, cutlery, pictures, jewels – just name it.
It’s so nice to sit and relax at the table of one of the cafes or restaurants, have an excellent cup of coffee with medialunas – Argentinian sweet croissants, maybe some Argentinian Quilmes beer and look at the people passing by.
In one corner of the square there is always a tango show with El Indio – a tango dancer and his companions, performing a short history of tango for all the tourists at the plaza. If you stay until the evening, his improvised dance floor becomes a real dance floor and a milonga begins right there. OK, maybe not the best idea now in winter, but anyway – nice in summer.
And at the other corner, there is a group of musicians, accompanied by three elderly tango dancers. They have been a kind of San Telmo institution for years and any weekend without them is just not the same. And nor are the pictures: in just every book about San Telmo you can see their picture and they are like San Telmo stars.
A Sunday at Feria de San Telmo is really something to enjoy. Have a taste of it with some pictures.
Tango DJ Alenka