The Neighborhood

Travel Journal: The Neighborhood

In which our heroine acclimates to her surroundings.

San Telmo is a neighborhood of crumbling cobblestone streets, dusty Magnolia trees, and narrow buildings with ornate art nouveau doors. The streets are rarely labeled, so on our first day of wandering about, my valiant beau navigated with the use of a laminated Buenos Aires Pocket-Pilot map (www.Pocket-Pilot.com) which folds up into a discreet three-inch square that can be easily slipped away once you are heading in a confident direction.

The buildings in San Telmo are mostly two-story apartment buildings which feature several apartments that surround a miniature, internal courtyard. Most of the buildings were built in the 1880’s through the 1920’s. Art Nouveau and Art Deco details are common, from the brightly painted window signs to the plaster curls around the eaves and molding. Many of the bottom floor units have been converted into storefronts and small restaurants.

Most of the second floor apartments have balconies overflowing with potted herb gardens, violets, and geraniums. The potted balcony plants are beautiful, but also drippy. When walking on the side-walk below, you have to dodge drips of water that fall upon you from above.

Everyone has a dog in San Telmo. Young people smoke cigarettes and walk idly down the streets with their pouches trotting behind them. Little old ladies wrap dog leashes around the bars of their aluminum walkers. Their little tea-cup poodles strain at the collar, eager to run, but are held back by their aging owners’ slow and assisted pace. Because of all the dogs, there is also a lot of dog poop. Apparently, picking up after your pet is not the norm in Argentina, so you have to be careful where you step. On average, there are at least two decorative poop piles per city block.

Most Portenos, both pedestrians and drivers, rarely observe traffic lights. The people and the cars seem to go forward whenever they feel like it, and crossing busy streets like Avenida San Juan, Avenida Independicia, and the very wide, multi-lane Avenida de Julio, requires a certain amount of grade-school courage. It is not uncommon to see people weaving between multiple lanes of slow-moving cars. When it came time for me to cross a street, I usually followed behind the locals.

My valiant beau and I spent most of our time walking along Avenida Defensa. Avenida Defensa features a long, consecutive string of very luxurious, high-end antique shops specializing in antiquities from the 1880’s through the 1940’s. You can find everything from furnishings, silver tea services, antique microscopes, typewriters and telephones, and enormous merry-go-round horses. Most of the featured items are much too large to fit in a suitcase, but Abraxas at Defensa 1092, showcases some delicate, exquisite antique jewelry organized in different cases by decade. Right next door is a watch shop featuring antique time-pieces. Avenida Defensa also runs parallel to the San Telmo Market building, which features more antiques stuffed into the small stalls of individual vendors.

Avenida Defensa runs alongside the famous Plaza Dorrego. Plaza Dorrego is a small, elevated square lined with aging houses with elegant architectural features that have since been turned into bars, restaurants and cafes. On the sidewalks around the elevated plaza, local vendors sell handbags, jewelry, and decorated gourd cups for drinking yerba mate. The Plaza felt a little bit like a tourist trap with higher prices for food and beer, and employees trolling the perimeter to hand out flyers to tourists. But on the day we were there, there was a drumming group on parade. The group was a delightful collection of people; young and old, light and dark, banging away on bongos of various sizes. Local Portenos clapped and danced in the streets as the parade made its slow march around the perimeter of the square.

We also spent time walking along Humberto Primo, which features a more quirky, eclectic collection of shops. We found a small bookstore with dusty copies of Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar in the front window. The bookstore, La Jaboneria, on Humberto Primo 805, advertizes itself as a literary salon and features several first and second editions for sale. Next door was a second hand clothing shop, Cambalache Vintage that also specialized in antique Bakelite buttons. Most of the second hand clothing was under 10 pesos.

Travel Tip: What to Do When You Arrive

On your first day in a new place, you will want to wander around the area closest to your apartment. Here are a few things to look for and memorize in order to make your remaining days, weeks, or month more convenient and enjoyable.

1. Locate a bank.

Find a bank with ATM machines. It is much easier and more economical to withdraw cash with your ATM card then it is to use your credit card or Traveler’s checks. Many places offer a 10-20% discount if you pay in cash. If they don’t volunteer the discount, you can always ask for it. Look for an ATM machine that does not suck in your card. Some machines do not recognize American cards and they will take your card and not return it. If the first ATM machine you come across needs to suck in your card, keep looking. You want a machine where you can swipe your card. We found a bank called Itau located on Avenida Defensa. ATM machinces give out a maximum of $400 pesos a day. That’s approximately $115 bucks. So if you plan to do a lot of shopping, you may need to withdraw money daily.

2. Locate a grocery store.

If you’re renting an apartment, this probably means you will be doing some cooking at home. Locating the nearest grocery store and examining prices can help you in planning meals. I usually start out by buying water, sandwich fixings, eggs, and pasta. That way, I at least have one breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

3. Identify your cross streets and parallel streets.

It’s your first day, so use a map. Spend time walking down the street where your apartment is located. Notice landmarks, pay attention to cardinal directions and the consecutive order of streets. Make sure to notice the two cross streets parallel to your apartment. Walk those streets next. Then cut over and walk the two streets that run parallel to your apartment on either side. Being familiar with the immediate radius of streets around your new home can help you if you get lost.

4. For Catholic City Girls Only…Locate Your Nearest Catholic Church.

When I was very little, my grandmother once told me that every time you enter a new church for the first time, you get to make a wish. Traveling is a good excuse to make wishes.