San Telmo - The Old Town

On Sunday after mass in the cathedral, we walked along Avenue 9th de Julio, the massively wide avenue (22 lanes) to the old town section of Buenos Aries, known as San Telmo.  This whole area explodes into a massive street market on Sundays, starting at the old Mercado building.  The streets are filled with thousands of vendors selling everything from food, crafts, antiques, entertainment, etc. We spent a couple of hours absorbing the cultural experience, then had lunch in a local restaurant.   The streets were packed with people, as this was clearly a popular place for people to visit on weekends.

The San Telmo Mercado is located in the old town and goes back over 100 years 

There was lots of fresh food available

And of course the local coffee shop was there

The 'mercado" was a typical market environment with lots of stalls

The streets around the mercado were also full of locals selling their goods

There were several "street performers" who were entertaining the people

The streets were full of people spending their Sunday walking around

They love their Tango in Argentina. This "dance troup" put on quite a display 

of the various Tango steps.  It's a very sexy, passionate dance.

Even old "gramps" got into the act

Many local artists had their works of art on display

Including these unique tea pots where you brew 

the tea and drink it from a special straw

There was also lots of local cultural colour on the streets, 

like these antique Peugeot limos

And of course lots of BBQ meat being served