feria de mataderos

this past weekend i went to the "feria de mataderos" or in english the "slaughterhouse market".

the neighborhood is called "mataderos" (slaughterhouse) because...well, it used to be an area of live stock markets and slaughterhouses. the area is far away from the center of the city, well back then it was, now it is a neighborhood within the city of buenos aires, and no longer a area of slaughterhouses. It took one hour to get there by colectivo.

i really enjoyed the market. there were more handcrafted goods than the other markets in the center of the city and there were real gauchos (argentine cowboys). there was dancing, both a show and people on the street, tons of food and what looked like a guacho horse race on the street.

(photo below: the llama is wearing a for sale sign. the sign reads "Llama for sale")(photo below: ok ok, so the sign really reads "LLAM for sale")
(photo below: the sign on the wall reads "cine" cinema)(photo below: gaucho dancing)(photo below: gaucho dancing)
(photo below: people in the streets gaucho dancing)(photo below: even a nun is gaucho dancing)(photo below: cooking beef on the street or a grill over the street.)(photo below: home made alcohol)
(photo below: i love this llama! (pronounced "shama" in argentina). check out his tiny sombrero and pacifier around his neck )(photo below: the sign clearly states "no parking". must be an illiterate horse)(photo below: gaucho gearing up for a fast pace canter down a macadam street. once at the end he stands up in the sturrups positions his knive and trys to put his knife through a hanging ring)(photo below: giddy up)(photo below: putting a new ring up for the gauchos)(photo below: llama still for sale but with a new sign)

tip: take the 92 collectivo, it drops you off right at the fair (Av.Directorio and Av.Lisandro de La Torre) the stop to take it back to the centro/recoleta/palermo area is right there too (on Av.Lisandro de La Torre very close to the intersection of Av.Directorio). both tell the bus driver where you are going so he can tell you and follow the route in your guia-t or another map so that you know when you are close. it will take one hour from recoleta.