The Sunday Market at San Telmo

San Telmo and Sunday are linked by the words tango and market. Every Sunday there is a large market at the San Telmo Square in Buenos Aires. The square where you can learn to dance the tango in the evenings. At the market there is a lot of Brique-a-braque. People enjoy themselves walking along the stalls, looking and listening. This time there was an elderly couple dancing tango for the public. So, people over 60, tango is a way of life for you too!

You can spend some nice moments looking at the second hand goodies that are for sale.

For many years the bottles steal the show. 

And what to think of using your old jeans for slippers.

Anything for your dinner parties.....

Of course the Mate "cups". No real Argentinian goes without them. Mind you, don't forget to carry the thermos with warm water.

Or a fancy glass for the fantastic wines they grow here.

Hats to keep the sun from your head or hide the thinning hair. What is a man (or a lady) without a hat?

Anything you might need urgently one day....  like figurines of dogs, a soft green night gown, vases, candle sticks, cups, plates....  

These trendy bags made from old records. Who did think of this! Close to your favorite music from Elvis, the Beatles, the Stones, Piazzolla or Gardel all day long.

Personally I cannot get enough of these beautiful bottles. Especially the blue ones. But then what are the blue ones without the green ones or the lightly colored ones.... Why did I never buy one? I must get back soon. Maybe even better to print the picture and hang it on the wall.

Highlights Peru and Chile (1)

In May and June of 2013 I made a round trip through Peru, Chile and Bolivia. In my blog Check in...  you find an extensive impression (pictures and some text) of this journey.

Here now links to the different posts covering the first 11 days of the trip.

Getting there.... flying from São Paulo (Brasil) to Lima (Peru).

At the end of the day: The seaside in Lima

Going south on the PanAmericana to Ica

Living along the Panam

The sand dunes of Huacachina - a small Sahara

The Ballestas Islands

From Ica to Nazca: An ever changing landscape

The Nazca lines

Spiral water wells 

Mummies in de Chauchilla necropolis

Arequipa the White City

 

The market at Arequipa ..... potatoes!!

The convent of Santa Catalina

The first high pass - 4910 meters

Cruz del Condor

From Arequipa to Arica: crossing the border to Chile

Arica: The famous Eiffel was here....

 

Rayen Kvyeh, poet from the Mapuche people

The Valley of the Moon in Chile

The border between Chile and Bolivia (Bolivian side)

The catchword is "large"....

The day before the Festa do Divino  is the day of the "Afogado" or "Prato da Casa". The signs here says "prata da casa", the silver of the house.... but this is about the bands. The "Prato" is about food (and not so much about the plate or the silver..... )

Country songs are very popular.

The free food is distributed to people (originally the poor people). Many people take larger quantities home; for the family or to just eat for some more days. The food exists of rice and potatoes with a beef sauce. This is the "Afogado" part: "The dish is drowned." To make it less fluid you can add some "farinha de mandioca"  flour from the cassave. This year 15 bulls ended up in the broth in the enormous pans.

Every year 2 different families are responsible for organizing this event. (This year the families Rodriques and Teodoro.) All people participating are volunteers. It is an honor to serve the community in this way.

The food is distributed in the marketplace of São Luiz do Paraitinga. Huge pots are resting on purpose built fireplaces.  The catchword is "large".

Here you can line up for "Afogado"

A view from behind the counter. The very large pans...

People getting the food on their plates.

Serving the customer.

It is a happy day.

The smaller pans..... and a very large one on a customized fire.

Some wood for the fires, sacks of potatoes and very large pans....

The medium to large pans....

And here a huge pan with the broth.... hanging in a customized fireplace

At the end, everything has to be cleaned up to be ready for the next event.

For more pictures of São Luiz: see Flickr

All you need is fruit…..

We used to watch a program on the BBC about wines…  There were two enthusiastic  presenters, a woman with blond curly hair and a more or less bald man. As they tasted the wines they would always start to contemplate their first sip and then cry out hmmm nutty, hmm hmm fruity…. As I provide the nutty bit of life myself… all I need to get is the fruity side.

Brazil is a very fruity place. Of course we all know bananas, water melons (melancia), pineapples (abacaxi), apples and pears…. Bananas come in different sorts: the large hard banana da terra (banana from the earth) to fry, the small banana maça (apple banana) and the more common banana nanica (our banana)

But there are also more fruits. Acerola; a kind of cherries for making juice or jelly. Maracuja; the fruit of the passionflower. 

Yellow (unripe) caqui, red acrerolas, green maracuja....

Juice of acerola

Mamão = papaya

I love the mamãos; that we call papaya. The seeds are so beautiful (don't eat them).

Then there are the real exotic fruits: Fruta de conde (fruit of the count); a very messy fruit. I wonder what count had time to eat that one. They look like little porcupines. This should at least make you be ware. Innumerable little seeds hidden in the white flesh.

Frute de conde = fruit of the count

Red caqui that is delicious and easy to eat. I was presented one that was still yellow (fresh from the tree), but in no time it became ripe and red like a tomato.

Caqui and frute de conde in the market

Sometimes we buy pinhão. The giant seeds of huge pine cones from large pine trees. First cook them for a good hour and then you peel them and eat them. They taste very good with a glass of wine.

Huge pine cones

At the market the fruit is fresh and cheap. Don’t forget to sit down and drink some água de côco (coconut milk) before you go home…..