My old love

Went to San Telmo today, reminiscing all of my first encounters in this barrio (neighborhood) which has played a big part in my attachment to this city. You can still see and feel a lot of the old world here, with 100-year-old cafes in their old self still open for business; cobblestone streets which you have to watch where you step or else you may risk springing your ankle by walking into a hole (ladies, absolutely bad idea to wear heels in this area); European-style antique buildings with beautiful architectural design outlined by years and years of dust and dirt… I can go on and on about how much characters this area has. I continued to discover new things every time I walked around.

Including today, I saw new things there; in fact, quite a bunch of them. Other than lots of repaving going on (great news for ankles), new stores, which could only be found in the more ‘proper’ area before, have now opened shops in San Telmo, like Freddo (known for being the BEST ice cream in BA), Havanna (the latin coffee chain, move over Starbucks!) and some trendy clothing stores. It was quite an OMG to see Freddo there (last year, I had to get my ice cream fix some 30mins away). At the same time, however, I got a bit sad that, like many other places on earth, the innocence and the authenticity of this place is slowly being camouflaged by all these businesses because of economical reasons. Looks to me that the status of San Telmo in tourism has jumped even higher in the last year or so. These new shops took over spots that were previously local kioskos where you could grab that gum you need. They became competitors to many one-of-a-kind home-style shops, like there is one very cute ice cream shop that sells home-made ice cream, and Freddo is now located, well, right across from it. Btw, is it totally hypocritical of me for saying all these but then I’d still choose to eat Freddo instead?? If you got to try it, I’m very sure that you’d forgive me completely and would even put your hand up and say ‘I’m totally with you on that Iso.’

Anyway, the point is I’m so going to find a place to live in San Telmo!