San Telmo

San Telmo is an area of Buenos Aires that was considered the first suburb of the city and was built along the river.  It was originally settle by sailors and those in the fish industry but the rich liked the area too and built big houses and mansions there.  In 1871 a Yellow Fever outbreak devestated the area, lots of people died and many more moved away from the river and into newer districts like Barrio Norte.  It wasn't long before the abandoned mansions were converted into tenement housing for the poor.  Today it is seeing a revival.  Artists, antique dealers, restoration of old homes, tango and tourism is helping to renew the whole area without taking away its charm and curtural identity.

Today, it again started out with pouring rain that cleared up in the late morning.  But because of the rain, our first stop was the Museo de Modern Arte.  Some pretty weird stuff showing.  We then wandered around for a bit and took in the San Telmo Antique Fair on Plaza Dorrego before visiting the indoor Mercado de San Telmo where we found fresh fruits & vegetables next to leather coats and antique/junk shops.  When we came out of the building, the vendors on the street had increased in number as well as the number or tourists.  

After lunch we toured El Zanjón (Spanish for creek) which is a 1840's mansion that was built by a rich family, then turned into a tenement house for 23 families then sat empty for 30 years.  When a gentleman bought the house, he was going to restore it as a home until tunnels were discovered running beneath the foundation.  These tunnels were built to cover unsanitary creeks that ran through the area and then these were used as foundations for homes.  The restoration of the house and tunnels took almost 20 years but they now have this great representation of what life was like 150 years ago.

We dined at La Cabrera, just below this apartment, then watched the Bronco's succumb to the Seahawks with the sound muted as we didn't understand the Latino talking heads.