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.