San Telmo and a New Friend

Des nivel:  this was the name of the rustic asado we went into randomly in San Telmo.  It was loud and bustling - there were huge bbq pits where the chef had all different cuts of meat and all different kinds of meat cooking on the pit behind him.  We sat down past the smoking area (smoking isn't banned in restaurants like in Canada).  Whenever you sit down at a restaurant, they give you this huge basket of bread and usually butter, but last night it was a dip of some kind and then today it was  a soft cheese - very creamy.  There was also this steak sauce already at the table filled with chilies and oil and spices - chimichurri - so good to dip bread.  The menu was extensive - tons of meat!  We ordered grea big chunks of meat at 2pm!!!  Sunday brunch was steak heaven!  Papa's was mustard, mine was garlic and Larry's was peppercorn and all of our potatoes were different!  Papa ordered vino tinto (red wine) that came in this jug shaped like a duck and Larry got an enormous bottle of beer - the standard size no less.  My 2nd steak already - and the bill was just over 20 bucks for each of us - including liquor! 

When we were done, we proceeded outside and wandered around the biggest antique/flea market I've ever seen (in the Plaza Dorrega).  Hundreds of people and the stalls spanned many streets in the barrio.  There were so many antiques - we went into a home that had been converted into an antiques area but it had the three levels of patios where typically the first was living quarters, the second for cooking and washing and the third was for livestock (we were on Calle Defensa - the main drag for vendors).  There were tango dancers, men on stilts, puppeteers, many spoofs to attract tourists and their money (i.e. people pretending to be statues that only move when you went near them) and even the locals!  There were so many people!  This little old lady was playing homemade drums (I think they were cups) and when Papa tried to take her picture, she held up a sign that said "show me the money".  So Papa gave her some pesos and she let me hold a drumstick while he took a picture.  I also got a picture with one of the people pretending to be a statue.  A band went by banging drums and when Papa gave them money they stood around me and played while I danced a little bit.  Half-embarrassing.  All the antiques - old gloves and tango shoes and hats; old telephones and chandeliers from before the city became so poor; old tricycles and signs; parts of doors and houses; statues and furnitue - and tons more.  I can't wait to go back there. 

tango in San Telmo

on the weekend there is an enormous amount of people

this guy's act was to look like the wind was blowing him away

this man can do beautiful paintings with his feet

this man is a puppeteer and his puppet has the same outfit as he does

mate bowls

part of the antiques market

Papa and Larry were ready to head back to the apartment for naps, but I was going to stay.  So I walked back the way I came and went into a couple of crazy antique and arte moderna stores. At Calle Humberto 1 378, I found myself taking my own tour of the Museo Penitenciario Nacional which only operated until the 1870s and first served as an asylum for crazy women and then as a prison shortly after that. 

the penitentiary

Outside was a band playing - a number of violinists, 4 acordians, piano player, vocalist - for a pretty big crowd.  I then found myself outside the Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Belen, built in 1770.  It was beautiful but Pilar is 10x moreso.  Just when I finally got to San Lorenzo (I wanted to go to this cafe), I stopped to look at some signs for rental properties above the stalls, when this guy approached me.  Tall, dark and handsome, his English was bad, and my Spanish was no better.  I gathered that he lived in Buenos Aires province and his family lived outside the capital - he has a sister , works for the city and is going to show me around B.A, thank god, since I have no friends here yet.  It was exhausting trying to talk to him in broken spanish all afternoon.  He was nice enough to walk me the 15 blocks back to Reconquista.  Papa and I had dinner at La Barra which is around the corner - total was less than 30 bucks including the wine!!!  What a crazy day!