Ode to San Telmo

My favorite thing about my entire experience in Buenos Aires? Living in San Telmo. Hands down.

It's not for everyone. All the cool people live in Palermo. San Telmo is dirty, dangerous, and covered in dog poo. None of the "coolest" bars are here. Everything is poorly marked. Most of the stores and kioskos require you to ring a doorbell to get in, or have bars on the doors that you have to reach through to buy a Coke or a pack of gum. It's not exactly luxurious, but it has a historically-rich and shabby-chic appeal that I find downright lovable.

In fact, looking off my balcony at the trash-littered streets and the sketchy types standing on the corner below me, make me incredibly happy and can always get a smile out of me. It's so real. When I am in San Telmo, I feel Buenos Aires in a way that I don't feel in Palermo or Recoleta or Belgrano or even downtown. They are places that are absolutely beautiful in their own right, but often make me feel like I could be in any international city. In many ways, for me anyway, San Telmo is Buenos Aires.

San Telmo, along with la Boca, is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. By Buenos Aires standards it's a small neighborhood, and it's characterized by beautiful, (albeit run-down) colonial architecture, older locals recalling the good old days, and plenty of young, artsy bohemian types hanging around. It is home to a bursting tango scene, tons of art shops and galleries, cheap and amazing restaurants, and some of the best antiques shopping in the world.

My experience during these past nearly 10 months in Buenos Aires has had its ups and downs. There have been days when I've been really happy, and others when I've been miserable. Such is life. But one thing I've never regretted is my decision to live in San Telmo. It wasn't recommended, and even I myself wasn't quite sure why I was choosing it, but my apartment seemed nice and the area had a certain mystique that I just by instinct felt like I would jive with. All these months later, choosing to live here remains the best decision I've made during this entire experience.

I've compiled a small list of my favorite things in and about San Telmo, this barrio that I love so much.

Bar El Federal: (Peru y Carlos Calvo) Not only is it either the oldest or one of the oldest restaurants in San Telmo, but it's also fantastically grungy and perfect. The waiters give awful service, but never get an order wrong. The coffee is great, the decorations rustic and dusty, like being in an old cantina. It's one of my favorite places to sit for hours... and I do. I also live directly across the street, so it's one of the first things I see every morning.



La Poesía: (Bolivar y Chile) El Federal's sister restaurant. Same menu, same owner, different location, better service, plus a piano you can play if you're so inclined. Every table carries a plaque that lists a famous local person that used to sit there and what they used to work on (plays, books, etc)... neat.

Pizzeria Pirillo: (Defensa y Independencia) One of my more recent discoveries, which is a crying shame. It's so small that I've been walking by it for 9 months without noticing. Hole in the wall pizza joint, standing room only, selling slices for $3.25 pesos of either pizza, fugazetta (a pizza with cheese and onions), or faina (a baked chickpea yummy pizza thing). The make huuuuuuge round pizzas and then cut slices randomly out of it, so they're not necessarily in the shape of a triangle. Greasy, cheesy, perfect. It's been there since 1932 with the same, magical ovens. Marry me, Pirillo.



El Desnivel: (Defensa y Giufra) BEST STEAK IN BUENOS AIRES. I don't care what your guide book says. They are cheap and unpretentious and you'd be an idiot to miss out.

The Sunday feria and antiques market: (Plaza Dorrego and all along Defensa) There is nowhere else I'd rather be on a Sunday afternoon than right here in San Telmo at the feria. Every sunday, Plaza Dorrego becomes a diverse and very impressive antiques market, covered corner to corner with old jewelry and dishware and keys and musical instruments and bottles and coins and anything else you can think of. Calle Defensa, all the way from Plaza Dorrego to Avenida de Mayo, is covered with artisans and street vendors selling their clothes, jewelry, mates, toys, hand-painted signs, knick-knacks and a million other little things, while bands play all along the street, street performers strike poses, and a drum circle is always in progress. You can snack on a delicious pan relleno or fresh roasted nuts, or sip a glass of fresh squeeze orange juice while you enjoy the music and the vibe.

One of my favorite local groups, Orquesta Tipica Ciudad Baigón, performing tango music at the feria:


The choripan place on Carlos Calvo y Bolivar: AWESOME. Filled with disgusting old men. Piles of meat. $5 pesos for the choripan of your dreams. Open pretty late, just gets sketchier and more delicious with every passing hour.

The guy who sells Bugambilia flowers from the back of his bicycle.



Origen Café: (Humberto Primo y Peru) When you need something vegetarian and organic, or when you want to drink an ENORMOUS café con leche. Also the perfect spot to bring your laptop and spend hours using the wifi.

La Puerta Roja/ The Red Door: (Chacabuco y Chile) I was here every single weekend almost the entire time I've lived here. My friend Emilia worked here, I knew all the bartenders, they serve the amazing "chili bomb" (a shot of jalapeño-infused vodka dropped into a glass of Red Bull and chugged), and it was always good for a good time. It was basically my Cheers. These days, with most of my friends gone and Emilia no longer working there, I haven't been going much. But it'll always have a special place in my heart.

The epic quantities of trash in the street: I know I'm supposed to hate it. And I guess I kind of do. But it's also pretty uniquely disgusting, and that's saying something.

Just a wee bit of trash outside the Red Door:


Pride Café: (Balcarce y Giufra) Cute, cozy little gay-owned and operated café. Yummy coffee, plus they serve ham and cheese waffles... only in Argentina!

Calle Balcarce: My favorite street in Buenos Aires. Just so, so pretty. Cobblestones, sleepy cafes, and just a general sense of quiet. I stroll it often, just for the smell and the feel.

Guevara: (Plaza Dorrego) Coolest little hole-in-the-wall divey rock bar ever. Great music, great people, disgusting bathrooms. Get a liter of Warsteiner and dance the night away. Currently this is my favorite bar in the area... every time I go something exciting or hilarious happens!

MY APARTMENT: (Peru y Carlos Calvo) Obviously. It's the best, and even though my landlord keeps raising the price and that's obnoxious, and even though the internet is never working properly, and even though there was an iceberg growing in my refrigerator for 6 months and we don't really have a living room, it's still a place that makes me smile every time I walk in the door. My roommate Andrea is one of my favorite people ever, and standing on my balcony and looking down on the street below is one of the simple pleasures in my life. I've lived now in 3 of the 5 bedrooms here, and my current room is perfect. This place will missed.

A love/ hate relationship

Last week was undoubtedly one of the worst weeks I've ever had. It was up there anyway. Just about everything that could go wrong went wrong. My boss yelled at me, then made me trek across town for my paycheck, only to stiff me out of some money. My cell phone died, and when I went to buy more minutes, I was sold a fake card and got ripped off yet again. Then turned out the parts they sold me for the phone were broken too, and to fix the phone I needed to go to the store, but since it was Semana Santa the store was closed. General stress and all the "little things" started to pile up, and financial worries and work worries started to settle in. By Wednesday night, I had ended up in some sort of mental break down. No fun. My poor (wonderful) roommates bore the brunt of it. Much wine was consumed by all.

Then yesterday, I had one of those days that made me remember why I'm here. Just one of those great, lovely days. Sure, a lot of my problems still exist (work! broken phone! no money! ugh!) and I need to deal with that, but not yesterday. Easter Sunday was a great day, despite its total lack of anything remotely related to Easter.

My roommate Andrea has a friend in town, Yasmine, and the three of us started off our day by sitting at the café across the street drinking coffee on the street. Coffee and company were good, and things were looking up. Sundays in San Telmo are the best (as long as you can handle it), as it is the day of the feria when all the antiques dealers, artisans/ artists, and street musicians come out to play. We spent the afternoon walking up Defensa (the main drag, just a couple blocks from my house) and checking out all the interesting art and music, just having good clean fun.

Some of the highlights of the antiques market:



One of my favorite bands that plays on Sundays, a tango group featuring lots of hot accordion players: ;-)



In girly news, I also finally broke down and bought myself the bag I've been obsessing over for a week, as a little shopping therapy for myself. Oooh it's so cute! And as if that wasn't great enough, then my friend Charlotte met up with us, and we all went to enjoy a big fat choripan (chorizo sandwich with chimichurri and provenzal). YUM! [nom nom nom]

We spent a long time watching an amazing street artist paint live portraits of famous musicians (here with Amy Winehouse) to music, all with his hands and some splattering techniques. He's so entertaining to watch! I always see this guy around, and love his work.



As the day grew later, we ended up with some litros of cerveza on the sidewalk, planted in front of an amazing cumbia band playing their hearts out. We watched the dancers, wiggled a bit ourselves, enjoyed the cervezas and each other's company, and just appreciated the music, and being in a place where moments like that exist. Really, as I sat there am looked out into the crowd of happy people dancing, talking, and enjoying the music, I looked at the gorgeous cobble stoned street and the lovely colonial buildings around me surrounded by balconies covered in flowers, and I thought to myself, "this is why I came here." The stress of the week melted away right then, even if just for a moment.

On the way home, we walked by a man selling gorgeous Bugambilia flowers (called Santa Rita in Spanish) out of the back of his bicycle, and I had to have one. I ran after him, and Andrea and I both bought a couple for our balconies.



They make all the difference! Our balconies are now vibrant with lovely white, purple, and pink flowers. Plus, they look great alongside my other happy little plants, Flor and Máximo Junior.





Then to top off the whole evening, my other roommate Julie, who is French, and a friend of her's also from France, made us delicious crepes! We had some with ham and cheese, others with tuna, and then tons with nutella, dulce de leche, jams, and even one I insisted on making with peanut butter and chocolate. Oh man, what a dinner!

And now, I'm ready to begin a new week. I start a new job tomorrow, one I trained for last week, but officially begin tomorrow. I have a lot of work ahead of me and a lot of business to take care of. But... one step at a time.

The new apartment

I have "officially" been living in my new apartment in San Telmo for 4 days now, ever since I got back from the beach trip extravaganza. I really like living here so far!

Though it's a 5 bedroom house, right now there are only 3 of us living here, me, an American girl name Andrea and a French girl named Julie. I really like both of them so far, and they also seem like they'll be good roommates (ie. clean, respectful, etc.). Apparently there is an Australian guy moving in tomorrow, so hopefully he'll be cool. And the 5th room is sort of in question, as my landlord Diego (a very cool 26 year old guy who is opening up a hostel around the corner) keeps telling us people are moving in and then they never do, and also from time to time suggests that he may move in... so we'll see.

Anyway, other than the 5 bedrooms (of which mine is by FAR the smallest) there are 2 bathrooms, a nice eat-in kitchen, a kind of entryway area that doubles as a living room-esque space with a couch, and every single bedroom has its own little balcony. Super sweet! There is also a shared roofdeck, though I haven't actually been up there much, as it doesn't have any furniture, and it appears it is primarily used for hanging laundry.

Anyhoo, I'll cut to the chase and show you some pictures! I know that's what you really want.

Here is my doorway. (I took these pictures today, which is a Sunday, so normally you'd see a little store to the right on the corner and a dry cleaner to the left, but both are closed for the day.) Of course, I couldn't resist using a photo with a bicycle in it. :-)



Here is the entryway as you walk in (luxurious, huh?):



And here is the side of the building where my room is. My balcony is on the right side of the building, 3rd floor up, the one in the middle.



Here is the view of the street from my balcony:



Alrighty, so moving into my room, here's what it looks like:







I hope you enjoyed the tour! Overall it's a very nice house in a very cool, funky little neighborhood. I've already done some exploring, and am trying to get to know the area a bit better. I love how the streets are cobblestoned in most parts of San Telmo, and the whole area has a very colonial feel to it. The architecture here is beautiful, and I'm obsessed with the fact that everyone has balconies covered in plants. I can't wait to get some plants for MY balcony!