This is by far the best market for imported goods in all Buenos Aires, and that is a bold…read morestatement to make. They have excellent bathrooms (flowers, clean and with art pieces above the toilets) and their food selection its impressive for Argentinean standards. You get some tasty fresh goods and local takeout delicatessen made right on the spot! Yes! In front of your eyes! From roasted meats flavored with local species, to authentic sushi made by a Japanese sushi master! While the personal its horrible to dealt with (and extremely rude as well) I find that the food selection alone makes this the place to go shopping for tasty treats in Buenos Aires. If you are coming here, you need to stop by this Bay Area chain supermarket. Kumbo has a free parking lot underground, and if you pay with your credit card instead of cash (rare in Argentina) they have one of these self-checkout machines you can use instead if wait in line like a bum! Also, they have a dry-cleaning service right inside the store, so you can get that jacket clean while you shop!

Our walking tour ended here and we were free to dine, explore, etc…read more The Mercado de San Telmo is an indoor market place that has many small dining options, antiques shops, fruiting veggie stands and souvenir shops We weren't hungry so we decided to peruse the shop and see what they had to offer. My friend purchased some fresh figs from a stand - she said that they were good. After perusing a few more stores checking out some of the antiques, clothing and artwork we found thw place to just be uncomfortably hot. It was very busy early on Sunday afternoon so the crowd was substantial and with no air-conditioning, it was very warm. So we left soon thereafter. Perhaps if we were in the city longer, it would be worth returning amd spending a little more time looking around or getting small bites or drinks. You may want to include on your list of places to visit to decide for yourself.

Topping the list of things I wanted to experience in Buenos Aires was San Telmo Market (aka Mercado…read morede San Telmo), a national historic monument and market hall that's been around since 1897. Because I also wanted to experience the Sunday street fair (Feira de San Telmo) outside its doors I came, initially, on a Sunday. Big mistake. By all means, enjoy the street fair on a Sunday but by no means try to enjoy San Telmo Market that same day. By late afternoon, when I tried to enter the market hall (consisting almost entirely of food and drink purveyors), the place was so packed that one could barely move. The sole place I found with any space was an unoccupied stool in a wine bar so I plopped down and drank wine for the next 90 minutes, not an entirely bad idea. Getting food - let alone navigating myself around the place - seemed a task beyond my abilities. I left San Telmo Market vowing to return on a day when I could walk its aisles, see all of the places to eat and drink, and sit down to enjoy a meal. I did all of this on a weekday afternoon with success. The hall is filled with places to eat and drink (and really, not a lot more than that) and checking all of them out was fun. You could find similar food elsewhere in Buenos Aires but then you'd not be sitting inside a historic market hall. Make time for San Telmo Market but if you go on a Sunday, don't say you weren't warned.