Thursday 18 June 2015

A walk along Defensa during the Feria de San Telmo

 

There is nothing quite like strolling along San Telmo's main street, Defensa, on a Sunday morning when hundreds of stalls have been set up selling everything from antiques to mate flasks and alpaca finger puppets. In fact, this is one of the most quintessential experiences to be had in Buenos Aires and one that I will never tire of having.


The smell of these delicious nuts fills the air
and adds to the general atmosphere of the feria.


Anyone for mate? A taste for this herb-based drink
is somewhat necessary in Argentina, as it is fairly
ubiquitous, with everyone carrying around their kit
and places to refill hot water at regular intervals.


These traditional soda siphons are the real deal.
You can tell a true antique down to their colours,
as only clear, blue, green and turquoise
were originally produced.


A fantastic assortment of
odds and ends on sale.


Gardel lives indeed.
The famous tango singer is regularly
emulated on the streets of San Telmo.


This incredible lady could be found at
the quieter end of Defensa, making a
lot of commotion of her own. She was
very cheerful and playing a setup made
from all manner of household objects.
She even threw her drumsticks in the
air every now and then. She also had
a little trumpet fashioned out of plastic
bottles.