San Telmo through my eyes

The neighbourhood is charming: Cobblestone streets, antique architecture, old stores managed by its 80 yo owner, etc, etc.

But....

The pipes of the building don´t work as they should so your downstairs neighbour calls you at 7 on a Saturday morning to tell you that there is a leak in his bathroom coming from your apartment. And then he sends you the plumber on Sunday at 8 am.

You want to buy groceries but you have to wait for ages till the owner of the store finishes the chat with a client that has been shopping there every single day for the last 2 centuries.

It´s a very international, diverse and interesting neighbourhood since a lot of young and bohemian tourists choose to stay or live here.

That´s why...

They are turning San Telmo into the new Palermo Soho. Now you can find an Havanna Cafe, a freddo ice-cream store, and in some stores you have to buzz if you want to go in. Not to mention the menus in English (something impossible to find not so long ago), the prices in US Dollars (or Euros) and the Leather stores!!! I hate leather stores, they are depressing.

Plus a lot of strangers keep saying "hello" ( in English) to you in the streets, because they think you are a friendly (or stupid) tourist who is whiling to have a conversation and then take them stranger to your temporary apartment to dance Tango naked (and more). When this happen to me for the first time - the hello part, I mean- I thought it was kind of nice, after a few weeks, it´s annoying, plus you know the real intentions and you want to spit on their face.

It´s a quiet neighbourhood only 5 minutes away from downtown

mmmmm.....

well it´s 5 minutes away on a Sunday morning when there is no traffic!

And when they say quiet, they should warn you that what they mean is that there are no taxi cabs at night, or that you cannot find kiosks open 24/7 or big supermarkets and that some stores close at siesta time (this is nice, actually). Or they should also tell you that probably your neighbours are a bunch of international students who party at least 6 nights a week.