Busy Day Yesterday

We had a busy day yesterday...and a tiring one.  So much so that I couldn't bring myself to writing about it. 

We started out taking the subte to San Telmo to check out the famous outdoor antique market there.  The scene is really something, I'll post some pictures from there shortly. It has an impressive number of booths crammed into the small plaza, each over-flowing with random crafts and antiques (anything from brass ship bells, to knives, to .50 caliber rifle brass, to silver pesos from the mid 1800s), and the whole area lined with cafes.  Prices are about what you find for similar stuff in the United States, which kept my wallet firmly in place.  Speaking of wallets, the place is known for lots of pickpockets...so we had to be extra vigilant.  I have been wearing a holster strapped around me inside my pants whenever I want to carry more than about 400 pesos ($100).  It is quite comfortable actually, and makes me feel secure even when carrying large amounts of money.  Someone would have to strip search me (or read my blog) to know I had a wad of cash down there.

From the San Telmo market, and after eating a couple jamon y queso tostados (simple white bread toasted with ham and cheese inside), we decided to brave the bus system to head to the "Feria de Mataderos" on the far outskirts of Buenos Aires.  We bought a Guia T (bus guide) at the newsstand and determined that the 126 would take us right to the fair.  We made sure we had a few pesos in coins (which are worth their weight in gold because you don't often get them and they are required if you are going to use the bus) and hopped on the next bus.  1.25 pesos each was enough to get us to the other side of Buenos Aires (that's about $0.30) - 1 hour on the bus! 

We made it to the fair, which was really just a bunch of vendors with booths set up on the streets, like any other BsAs market, but with the added draw of a stage in the middle of everything with traditional Argentinian songs and dancing.  It was very neat to see.  It was also nice because we were among the few tourists there.  It was genuinely a place where Argentines go...especially families with their children, but also couples out to see the music and dance numbers and shop at the booths.  You could buy nearly anything there, stuffed animals, mate, wine, cheese, knives, llama blankets, clothing, animal hides, cured meats, hand-woven baskets, jewelry, even a llama.  (No joke, there was a llama at one end of the fair, tied to a cart filled with hay and wood furniture, with a "for sale" sign on him!)  Rose wouldn't let me buy the llama, although in hindsight, it may have been a faster and easier method of getting home than the one we took (I'm getting to that next). 

We ate some amazing empanadas..fried (I'm totally on the side of the Argentine argument that regards fried empanadas as the best...although the baked ones are also delicious) carne (beef) and cebolla y queso (onion and cheese) empanadas and bought ourselves a mate cup and straw to bring home.  We had had quite enough of the sun at that point and decided to head home.  The 126 bus line doesn't go anywhere near our apartment in Palermo, but we knew the 55 would take us to 2 blocks from our place, so we set out to find the stop for the 55.  We found the stop, but it was the stop for the bus on the way OUT of Buenos Aires, so we asked a couple where the 55 stop into the city was...they were very eager to help us, and while it was clear they had an idea where it was, it wasn't clear that they knew exactly where, and it was very much clear that Rose and I didn't understand everything they said.  But they pointed a lot, and we caught important words like alli (there) and derecha (right) and took off thinking we knew where we were going.  Well, we didn't see any sign of a bus stop where we thought we would, but never fear, it must be up that hill on that major road up there.   So off we went, up the hill about 8 blocks...no bus stop, or at least no 55.  So, to the right...10 blocks...no 55.  So we asked in a store, only to be told to go back the way we came...lots of blocks.  We didn't catch how many, not sure she knew, but did get the idea of lots.  Turns out it was like 20 blocks.  We did eventually find the bus stop for the 55, but then, only after getting on the bus, did I find that I was 25 centavos short of 2 bus tickets.  Luckily the friendly woman in front of us on the bus had extra change that she was willing to change for a 2 peso bill and we were off.  Another hour on the bus...standing room only this time...and we managed to get off the bus at the right place and got home.  Like I said, I'm pretty sure the llama would have been easier!

We decided that we wanted to see a tango show when we got home.  To be continued...(I have to go pick up our laundry down the street)