Our loft type apartment was situated in the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, within walking distance of the centre and full of restaurants and bars. Of course, we found some favourites…..
This district was where some of the first colonial homes were built – often elaborate mansions which, because of reasons I will now explain, later became “conventillos” [tenement buildings].
To form the base of the settlement, a series of tunnels, sewers and cisterns were constructed above one of the three tributaries of the river Plate. However, during rainy season these tunnels, and therefore the houses above them, flooded. A resultant outbreak of yellow fever in the early 1870’s caused the original families to move to the north of the city and the mansions were converted into a tenement buildings where many low-income families lived – sometimes 32 plus families per building
El Zanjón de Granados was one such property which, in 1985, when practically derelict, was bought by a businessman who saw development potential in the San Telmo neighbourhood.
When the recovery works began, the existence of the tunnels of the stream bed was discovered by accident, so the owner decided to carry out archaeological studies. The excavations lasted more than 20 years and helped historians to better understand the daily life of Buenos Aires in the past.
Visiting the house, we saw the excellent restoration of the exterior and some of the main rooms…
…. parts of the cistern system….
…. and walked through some of the labyrinth of tunnels – though photographs were not allowed in the tunnels.
Just across the street is “Casa Mínima”, its claim to fame being that it is the narrowest house still in existence in Buenos Aires.
It was part of a residence built in the 1820’s and, as you can see, at just 2.5m wide features a simple frontage and a small balcony with iron railings on the upper floor. Houses like these were typically for freed slaves, who were given small plots of land adjacent to their owners’ properties.
Having shaken off its tenement days, San Telmo is now one of the city’s most attractive neighbourhoods with cobbled streets….
….. a splendid plaza….
…. and a fabulous market.
We loved its wrought iron interior and original ceiling and fully enjoyed the atmosphere it created. There are antique stalls to browse, beautiful local produce to buy….
…. and café bars at which to while away time.
San Telmo is also the location for the open-air Sunday market which got a brief mention in my previous blog and which, as I said then, we hadn’t planned to spend much time at. Until we got there! It was huge, stretching approximately ten block lengths of “Defensa” [the street name].
Having walked from one end to the other, jostling with all the crowds, we were ready for a late [mid-morning] breakfast. We found this brilliant street food stall….
…. where a huge sausage sarnie between us and a glass of excellent Merlot each set us back the princely sum of £2.50 equivalent.
Because we were actually heading down to the “Boca” district of Buenos Aires we had to retrace our steps and then continue south. La Boca is very much a locals’ neighbourhood and one which I would be wary of visiting late evening or when there is a football match being played at the famous “Bombonera” stadium.
It too [the neighbourhood that is, not the stadium!] has a small open-air market with this statue at its centre.
We found a plaque naming the sculptor, but there was no title. We think it possibly commemorated slavery in some way because the tower or funnel looking part has people in chains engraved on it but there are also lots of fish and whales so maybe it was linked to seafaring in some way?
La Boca is the home to three Museums/Galleries of which we visited two – the third being the “Futbol” museum.
“Fundacion Proa” invites cutting edge contemporary national and international artists to exhibit in the white walled large display halls and, by now, regular readers will know what that is likely to mean – “Claire won’t understand it”!
However, I did manage to understand – and even like – this green collection which was all about ecology….
Almost next door is the “Museo Benito Quinquela Martin”. A recurring theme in his paintings are silhouettes of stevedores, smoke stacks and water reflections and some of his work, which I liked, kind of reminded me of Lowry…..
The maritime theme continues in the permanent exhibition hall which displays a collection of painted wooden “proas” [bowsprits].
Most of the smaller figureheads were made in La Boca, but these two came from Scottish ships and were restored in La Boca.
The museum was originally Quinquela Martin’s house and his former kitchen and hand-painted objects make for a very colourful display.
Having said there are three museums in this neighbourhood, some people claim that the street art is a fourth, open air, museum. “Museum” or not it was certainly very vibrant…
… and surrounded the favourite street for tourists to visit – “El Caminito” [little path] ……
….. full of bars and restaurants….
…. with caricatures of famous figures hang out of windows – including Che and Maradona [but I didn’t find those] …
But its not all tourists – local families come too and I think I was lucky to get this shot.
La Caminita was named after a tango song which tells of love lost, and, speaking of Tango – it would have been unforgivable, to go to Buenos Aires and not attend a Tango show. As you might expect, there are several to choose from – some requiring formal evening dress which wasn’t something we could attend in our backpacker-based clothes! We opted for a mid-priced show with dinner and had a fabulous evening at “El Querandi” .
The food was surprisingly good….
…. and the show, really excellent.
We were led through the history of Tango – from what is believed to be its inception in the 1880’s when lonely immigrant men sought the company of waitresses and prostitutes and a passionate dance evolved in the bars and bordellos – sometimes with an almost fighting edge to it.
Music, influenced by pampas “milonga” verses and accompanied by accordion was introduced. This started the transformation from the slow, languorous steps of early tango into a faster paced and “happier” dance. Whilst the tango was frowned on by the older elite, the bright young things took the novel dance to Europe and, later to the US, where it gained respectability as a dance form.
I did video one of the earlier dances
…. but only took photos of the later ones because I wanted to watch – or try to watch – what became ever increasingly fast leg and foot work.
Amazing. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was clever and classy and just about as close to sex as you can get with clothes on.
