Sunday is always market day! We ventured our way to San Telmo again. To be safe, we never ventured off the tourist path. When I envisioned the market, I thought that it will just be in the Plaza Dorrego.. Not the case. From the top of the hill walking north of the plaza, the stalls are never ending on both sides of the road all the way down Calle Defensa. The stalls are filled with different hand crafted souvenirs: leather bags, belts, shoes, toys, wine holders, scarves, drawings, recycled art, etc. I feel like these items you could almost guarantee that it was made in Argentina and being sold by the maker itself. In the Plaza Dorrego, you can find an assortment of flea market items! No two stalls were the same and we only made it down a few blocks of stalls because of time.
The economic situation in Argentina is not the greatest and we took full advantage of that when we could. It is quite illegal, but it is a widely known exchange! One of the leather works stall we purchased bags from looked at us cautiously and up and down the street before he told me what he would take in USD. The official exchange rate is roughly 8 Ar Pesos to 1 USD. Most stalls and retailers take 12:1. One place in Palermo took 13:1! Carry as much USD as you can if you ever find yourself traveling to Argentina.
Another tip our walking tour guide told us was to stay after the stalls were taken down in the Plaza Dorrego to watch real people tango, not a choreographed show. Just as she said: the stalls came down and in the dusk of the plaza, the tango music played over the speakers and couples came together to tango. I could only watch in awe as a handful of couples danced together and flowed between each other never bumping or stepping on each others' toes. It was so magical watching them on a warm summer night under the lit street lamps.
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