San Telmo Street Fair

Today is the weekly Sunday San Telmo Street Fair.  I was awakened by the sounds of drums, bands and singing starting at 8 AM.  I think many of the fair goers left the dance clubs and proceeded directly to Defensa Ave to start a day of celebration.  Monday is a National Holiday for Argentina, so today's street fair was expected to go until the wee hours of Monday morning.

I started the day with the B&B daily specialty - toast.  As I've eaten the toast each morning I've daydreamed about the fantastic croissants awaiting me in Paris.

Several emails exchanges with Caroline (mentioned in the blog several days ago - she's a teacher from the UK, spending her summer break in Argentina and we met on a wine tour in Mendoza) over the past few days and we had agreed to spend much of the day together.  We planned to visit a newer art museum in the revitalized Puerto Madero area, followed by brunch/lunch, then head back to the San Telmo Street fair and ultimately a late afternoon coffee shop.  Quite the mix of cultural and local experiences.

After we both had delays and a much longer walk than either of us expected (a 2.3 mile walk for me), we met at The Fortabat Art Collection around 1 PM.  The museum is on 4 levels, with the primary collection on the lowest two levels.  The works were the private collection of Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat.  She decided to create this museum to share the works with the Argentine people and worked extensively with the architech on the design of the building.  

The collection was a very eclectic mix of various artists, time periods and mediums.  There was a strong presence of Argentine artists.  The primary medium was painting - oils, watercolors and tempura, but also several sculptures including a work by Rodin.  Time periods ranged from 1600's thru today.  Whenever I've viewed private collections like this and the Frick Collection in NYC, I always wonder how each piece is selected, where is it displayed in the owners home(s), do they have a favorite piece, do they forget about earlier purchased pieces, etc.  Art selection for our home is a very personal decision and tends to be in a general style, so such a broad range of artists and styles is interesting to me.

A Warhol of Fortabat (taken from Google):

Another one of my favorites was by Turner (also from Google images):

Caroline and I spent about 2 hours at the museum.  We had similar opinions in some of our favorite pieces.  Unfortunately no photography was allowed in the museum, so I can't share any of the wonderful works....they will be forever in my mind's eye, especially one entitled "Fireworks" that was very much in an Impressionism style.

After the museum, we headed to a nearby outdoor cafe along the water.  This was the nicest day in Buenos Aires since my arrival - well into the 70's and very sunny.  We found a great table outside and decided to split a bottle of sparkling wine.  It was a Chandon Extra Brut, but one made in Mendoza.  Chandon was the first winery to make foreign investment in Mendoza and has been making wine there since the 1960's.  We also split a plate of fried mozzarella, although by the description in the menu that was not exactly what I had expected.  Nonetheless, fried mozzarella is a guilty pleasure of mine and I readily admit to eating the vast majority of the dish.

We had a lovely conversation about travel, the UK, the US and acknowledging that at this point in both of our travels, spending the day with someone else, speaking English was a nice change of pace.

After a few hours of sunning and day-drinking (term shamelessly stolen from the Little Big Town song), we headed back to the the San Telmo area to explore the Street Fair.  

We stopped at the Puente de la Mujer (The Woman's Bridge) for a few pictures:

When I had left the B&B this morning, I literally tripped over vendors - the street on which my B&B sits, is the primary street of the weekly fair.  Defensa is shut down for about 20 blocks.  Not only vendors, but music, dancing, drinking and a general sense of community.  Today was extra special due to the National Holiday on Monday.  As Caroline and I approached Defensa, around 6 PM, things were still in full swing.  The street was packed and we opted for the sidewalks behind vendors to be able to more quickly maneuver the celebration.

The pictures below do no justice in showing the enormity of the fair:

We stopped to admire the works of a few artisans.  I contemplated buying a set of leather placemats, but passed...perhaps a non-purchase that I will regret as I've yet to buy a true souvenir anywhere in South America.  Quite honestly, nothing has spoken to me and I've been concerned about the size and weight of traveling with anything substantial.

We arrived at the square across from my B&B and I learned that it was the primary square of the entire Street Fair...wow, who knew when I booked the reservation months ago.  We were tired of the crowds and ready for a late day coffee.  My second coffee product in two days...that's more than I've drank in the past 5 years combined.  Oh well, when in Buenos Aires...

We both had coffees and shared an apple crumble as well as more interesting conversation.  Caroline teaches history and politics at a private high school in the UK, so we ventured into American history and I must admit that it was truly testing my recall of High School Junior history lessons.

Our coffee cafe:

Every wooden surface in the cafe had customer etching:

We said our good-byes around 8 PM and headed our separate ways after a lovely day together.  My walk was fantastic, about 1000 feet.  

Once in my room, I could hear the celebration and revelry continue on the street below.  I asked the B&B manager how much longer it would last and I received an exhausted look with indication I could expect the noise for many more hours.  Santo has been with the B&B since it opened in 2001, so I can understand his lack of enthusiasm for the weekly spectacle...every week, 52 weeks a year for 13 years....and I was tired of it after just a few hours.

Around 10 PM, I decided I should have dinner.  Caroline had suggested a place a few blocks away (Mash) based on her Lonely Planet guide book.  I headed that way - and unfortunately it was closed.  I headed back towards the B&B - there were several restaurants on the main square that I hadn't tried and thought it would be fun to be in the middle of the festivities.  I found a great place with amazing Argentine steak...the national specialty I'm quickly discovering.  During dinner I had sensory overload...there was a band performing upstairs at the restaurant, there was music playing via speakers on the main floor where I was sitting and there was a band performing outside on the square (and the windows were all open).  With all three competing, I mostly just zoned all of them out.

As I'm writing this, it is now 12:25 AM, I just finished my meal of a huge steak, a side of "scalloped" potatoes, a side of white Tuscan bean salad, a green chile sauce for the streak, a bottle of water and a "glass" of wine (another fun discovery in Argentina - a "glass of wine" is usually a half bottle of wonderful Mendoza Malbec for less than $10 US).  Festivities are still in full swing on the square and folks are still entering the restaurant for dinner service.  Ah, Buenos Aires....