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San Telmo - Feria every Sunday (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

The neighborhood San Telmo  is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  It has a really cool vibe to it.  It is hard to explain it to you if you have never been there.   I couldn't wait to get back to see if anything had changed since the last time I was there two years ago.  After attendingng the Thumbs Up Fest on Saturday night Jared, Hayden, and I slept in until about two PM on Sunday afternoon.  We were all definitely still tired from the night before, but I made sure that Hayden and Jared got up to do some sight seeing, because the best day to go to San Telmo is on Sunday! 

Every Sunday there is a Feria (street festival) that runs up and down the street Defensa in San Telmo.  It starts very close to the Plaza de Mayo on the cross street Venezuela, and goes all the way to Avenida San Juan (about 9 blocks long).  Up and down Defensa there are people selling jewelry, art, paintings,  posters, clothes, etc.  My favorite part about the Feria is the street performers!  There are bands,  guitarists, tango dancers, and other crazy people acting like statues that you can take pictures with if you give them a tip. picture of map from Pocket Map Buenos Aires)

 It was really easy to get to San Telmo from Palermo.  We took the Subte from Estacion Bulnes all the way to Estacion Catedral which is located in the Plaza de Mayo.  It was only 1 peso to take the subte, and we were able to skip all the traffic that was on Sante Fe...too easy.  Once we walked out of the subte we walked across the Plaza de Mayo, and onto the Calle Defensa.  Defensa is located directly across the Plaza from the Catedral.  

As soon as we walked 2 blocks down Defensa we started to hit the crowds of people.  There were so many people that it was a little hard to walk down the middle of the street.  We started weaving in and out of groups of people.  We stopped in a couple local stores, and looked at some things that people were selling but Jared, Hayden, and I are not the best shoppers in the world.  So we decided that we would make little pit stops in bars and restaurants along Defensa to make the day a little bit more interesting. 

The day definitely got more interesting in a hurry!  Here is a quick summary of the events from the Feria:

1. We ate a Fugazi Pizza (at Continental which is located on Mexico y Defensa)...probably our last Fugazi Pizza ever.  This thing was laced with so many onions you couldn't even see the cheese on the pizza.  I can still smell my onion breathe. 
2. Hayden's leg was pinched by a solo guy traveler at Bar Seddon.  Definitely made things akward to the point Hayden stood straight up and said it was GO TIME!  I think this Swed is still walking around the streets of Bs As looking for Hayden.
3. Jared got pooped on right outside Plaza Dorrego by a pigeon that was on steroids!  Check out the Video of the Week.
4. Had a steak dinner at my favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires...Des Nivel.  It is located on Defensa in between Estados Unidos y Carlos Calvo. 
5. We ended up hanging out with a local that was a Keith Richards look a like!  Jared ended up meeting a random guy with his girlfriend at Des Nivel.  This guy looked and acted like Keith Richards.  We ended up going back to Bar Seddon for 2 hours to hang out with this guy.  Too funny!

   

We ended up staying in San Telmo for about 11 hours that Sunday!  This random day of fun reinforced why I think San Telmo is one of the best places to hang out in Buenos Aires.  Every time I go to San Telmo I have a great time.  Check out the Feria if you are ever in Buenos Aires on a Sunday!  It runs all day until about 7 pm.

How to get to San Telmo

1. Subte - The easiest and cheapest way to get to San Telmo is by taking the Subte to Plaza de Mayo.  The beginning of the green, blue, and purple line all start in the Plaza de Mayo.  You can walk less than 5 minutes to end up in San Telmo from the Plaza. 
2. Taxi - The easiest and fastest way to end up in San Telmo is by taking the taxi.  The taxi can drop you off any where on Defensa, and you will be right in the mix.  This is definitely the most expensive option of the 3. 
3. Bus - It is only 80 centavos (20 cents US Dollars) to take the bus from almost anywhere in Buenos Aires to San Telmo.  This option could also take you the longest to get there depending on where you are starting in the city.

The Keith Richards of Bs As

 

My favorite part about traveling is meeting new people!  One the day Jared, Hayden, and I walked through San Telmo while we were in Buenos Aires.  Jared met this Keith Richards look a like at the restaurant Des Nivel (best place for a steak!)  We were standing in line waiting to get a table, and Jared randomly started talking to this guy when he walked by.  The next thing we know we get a table right by where he, his girlfriend (Caro) and his parents were sitting.  When they finished eating and were about to leave, he walked over to our table, and told us he was walking his parents home, but would be back in 15 minutes to meet us and to take us out.  We walked a couple blocks down from Des Nivel, and ended up hanging out with this guy and his girlfriend for about 2 hours at Bar Seddon.  It turns out this guys name is Javier, and he runs a rock n roll radio station in Buenos Aires.  This guy was all about music...The night was so random, but was so much fun!  Check out Javier's web site and blog:

http://www.radioba.com.ar
http://bonustrack891.blogspot.com/

El Caminito - La Boca - Video of the Week

The video of the week comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina.  In a previous blog on travelingbug.org, I wrote about a barrio that is called La Boca.  This is a really popular tourist destination when traveling through Buenos Aires.  Jared, Hayden, and I were walking down the street El Caminito.  It is a very cool street to walk down!  The buildings in La Boca are famous for being very colorful!  La Boca has places to eat, street performers, art work, and people trying to sell you anything they can!  Enjoy the video!  Peace.

Jared gets crapped on by a bird - Video of the Week

Every Sunday in San Telmo (Buenos Aires) there is a Feria.  A Feria is basically people selling things in the middle of the street.  There are so many people walking up and down the Calle(street) Defensa.  After we had done a little bit of shopping we decided to get a drink on the corner of Humberto Primero and Defensa which is basically Plaza Dorrego. While we were hanging out, and talking, a huge pigeon came by and crapped on Jared's shorts.  I remember hearing something hit Jared's leg, and I wasn't sure what it was until he looked down and started dying laughing.  I knew at that point in time that a bird had given Jared a little love.  This is not just any normal bird poop.  This must have been a pigeon on steroids?  The funny part about this story is that the shorts Jared is wearing are not even his.  They are his roommate James'.  Check out the video!

Thumbs Up Fest - Sheraton Hotel - Bs As

I still can't get enough of Buenos Aires.  I get excited thinking about how much fun I had on my last trip.  The second day we were in Buenos Aires Jared, Hayden, and I were invited to a party in the Sheraton Hotel in Plaza San Martin.  My friend, Eugenia, had invited us to this huge party.  I had no idea what to expect, but since a local was taking us with them I knew it was going to be a lot of fun. 

Everything in Buenos Aires starts so much later than anywhere I have been around the world.  Eugenia had told me that the party was not going to start until about 1.30 am.  So before we headed out Jared, Hayden, and I went to dinner around 12 am.  We found this local restaurant on the corner of Santa Fe and Aguero that served us unbelievable Bife de Lomo (steak).  We were just at a regular restaurant, and the steak was better than most steakhouses in the States!  By the time we got done eating it was 1 am so we headed back to our apartment to meet up with Eugenia and her sister Cecilia.   (I had met Eugenia two years earlier on my first trip to Buenos Aires.  We have stayed in contact over the last two years, and have become really good friends.) 

It only took about 10 minutes to drive down Avenida Santa Fe from Palermo to arrive in Plaza San Martin.  Once we got to the front door we met some of Ceci's friends and headed into the party.  The ticket to get into this party was $40 Argentine Pesos (around $13 US Dollars), and that included one free drink.  Once we got past security we headed down these stairs into the bottom of the hotel.  They had this huge ballroom that where the party was being held.  The funny part about us showing up at 1.30 am was that it was still early for Buenos Aires.   It wasn't until about 3 am when the party started to really get going!  (the video is really dark, but you'll get the feeling of how the party was)