El Gato Negro

A cafe cum tea and spices and coffee store...that smells of coffee and cardamom!

Dogs waiting for the dogwalker

Day 1

Day 2 (I wonder where the other are....)

The MALBA

The MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) hosts exhibitions of contemporary artists and has a display of 20th century Latinamerican artists, among them the Mexicans Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera as well as the Argentinian Alexander Xul Solar.

I watched a show by the noted Argentinian conceptual artist Marta Mijuín (* 1943).

She rubbed shoulders with the greatest of the performance and happening/fluxus scene, such as Andy Warhol...

...their joint project is called "The Latin American gold", referring to the corn that is to their feet. 

... and participated in a Three Country Happenng with Allan Kaprow in the US and Wolf Vostell in Germany: Simultaneidad en simultaneidad (1966).

Marta also designed hippie clothes...

She created an oblisc, the landmark of Buenos Aires, entirely made of sweet bread (El Obelisco de pan dulce, 1979).

In Medellin, she set a huge statue of Carlos Gardel to fire: Carlos Gardel de feugo (1981).

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In her later years she became/becomes more tame: "Venus en technicolor" (late 1980s)

More graffitos

"Who remembers us?"

San Telmo

Impressions from the Ezeiza mansion, an influential General after whom the airport is named. If you look past the touristy antiques shops you get an impression to see how the rich Porteños in this part of the town lived.

Houses along calle Balcarce.

On Plaza Dorrego...

Plaza Dorrego: a Tango dancer, waiting for her performance to start.

Pedro Benavente, also dubbed "El Indio" due to his native south american roots, performs on Plaza Dorrego. 

The covered market of San Telmo. 

A butcher ... very important in this country.

Paseaperros

This is one of the many professional dogwalkers (paseaperros) that cruise around the more wealthy neighbourhoods in this city. If you don't have time to walk your dog, you have it walked!

Feria de Mataderos

The Feria is a weekly market that takes place on Sundays (and holidays) in the barrio of Mataderos, which is in the west of Buenos Aires, a 45 min bus ride from the city centre.

There are folk dances, such as Chacarera on display...

Many different things can be bought, among them the gourds (cups) from which to drink your mate. In this tent they are made of aluminium. 

A vendor taking a break behind the tents. He is dressed in Gaucho gear with the characteristic hat, the vest and the trousers that are tied around the ankles.

Small pony waiting to take children for a ride.

No feria without food. Loads of meat, of course. Either at the outdoor parilla (grill), where the big junks rest on the roast close to the floor...

...or at the table parilla, a sort of mini grill that is brought to your table...

...or indoors with Carlos Gardel watching over you.

Time for the display of Gaucho skills: Gaucho waiting for his turn in front of a car advertising a brand of mate.

Horse stretching its legs

The Gaucho galops through the "goal" and has to stick a pencil through a small ring that hangs in the middle of the blue construction. If he is successful, he catches the ring.

This is the the "goal keeper", he adjusts the ring, depending on who is racing. For a young gaucho, one of the ones we saw was still a child, the ring is lowered so that he can reach it.

One of the successful Gauchos (on the right hand side) hands the ring that he caught back to the "goal keeper".

People, watching the Gaucho display. A true Argentine doesn't go out without his Mate: notice the leatherbag, inside is a thermosflask to add hot water to the mate leaves that are in the wooden "pot".

Gauchos resting after the show

We leave in the late afternoon, however, the locals picknick and stay until late at the feria.

In the Retiro district

The General Mitre station, one of three that make up Retiro.

A "cafe americano" in the Cafe Retiro...

Bustling life in front of the Retiro bus station - here, you feel for the first time that you are in SOUTH America.

The museum of immigration is closed, however ...

... real immigration is ongoing: people cuing at immigration.

On Avenida L. N. Alem