Humberto Primo 1462 (between San Jose & Saenz Pena), San Telmo

La Milonga de los Consagrados - Useful information

Saturday afternoons 4.30pm-10.30pm; Entrance fee of 10 pesos; Reservations: 15-5892-2056.

Reservations are really necessary unless you attend alone, and then they can squeeze you in someplace. Usually this tango salon is full (more than 300 people) by 8.00pm.

La Milonga de los Consagrados is organized by Enrique “Gordo” Rosich, and although it is officially in the barrio of Constitucion, it would probably be referred to as San Telmo by most (official barrio borders are largely ignored in Buenos Aires).

Same venues, different milongas…

As I pointed out in my overview on Tango in Buenos Aires, even if a milonga is in the same salon as another, each milonga will still have its own character depending on the day of the week, the organizer, the crowd, and if it’s in the afternoon or at night.

Los Consagrados is in the same salon as the famous Nino Bien of Thursday nights (in the wonderful Centro Region Leonesa), but it is a totally different experience. And to my mind, the best afternoon milonga of the week. The fact that it’s held on Saturday afternoons, the traditional “difficult” day for singles, makes it even more of a plus…

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Plaza Dorrego (corner of Defensa & Humberto Primo), San Telmo

[Photo Credit: Paula Holt]

Note from Alan: Hello! We’re back! Sorry for the long break again, but this time the blog will be back for good, with more regular updates. We start off today with a post from a new contributor to the blog, Kim Winternheimer, who has written a great piece on the Feria de San Telmo. Look out for more posts from Kim, and maybe, just maybe, I might even start to write some stuff myself again soon. One more thing, I’ve started giving walking tours of Buenos Aires again, after my recent break. For now, over to Kim…

In case you didn’t know, and you really should…

The Feria de San Telmo is one of the most notable and popular events that takes place in Buenos Aires. Nestled in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, the San Telmo fair is bustling with unique artisans and antiques every Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Perhaps its greatest qualities, besides the architecturally beautiful neighborhood which it calls home, are its exclusive goods and reliable nature. Never a Sunday will there be without tourists pouring into the cobblestone streets of San Telmo for one of a kind antiques, trinkets, art, tango and delicious food.

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An Introduction to Dancing Tango in Buenos Aires

[Photo Credit: SMeaLLuM]

Note from Alan - We are lucky enough to welcome a seasoned Buenos Aires tango and milonga expert to the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide, in the form of Cherie Magnus, from the Tango Cherie blog (see the end of this post for more info on Cherie). Her first offering is an excellent guide to the types of tango salon in Buenos Aires, for those interested in the real world of social tango dancing in the city. So, over to you Cherie…

If you want to dance tango in Buenos Aires, where do you go?

Actually it depends on many things: your age, what style you dance, what day or night of the week you want to go out, if you go with or without a partner, and so on…

Dancing social tango in Buenos Aires has nothing to do with the Tango Show Dancing on the streets of San Telmo, La Boca, calle Florida, or Recoleta, or the many Tango Cena-Shows with an orchestra, stage dancers and dinner. The first thing to know about tango is that what you’ll see in those places is a different dance - Tango for Export. And that is another post entirely!

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Peru 535 (between Venezuela & Mexico), San Telmo

[Note from Alan Patrick: Just a quick welcome to Alan Epstein to the blog as a guest author, with this post on Club Museum, and perhaps some other posts on Buenos Aires nightclubs in the future. So, from one Alan to another - good to have you here, and thanks for your contribution! :)] 

Buenos Aires Before Hours

In a late-night city like Buenos Aires it isn’t hard to find a club that stays open until the crack of dawn, or an “after hours” party that will keep you dancing until 10am the next day. This is what makes Club Museum in San Telmo so special: on Wednesdays, the people come pouring into this massive three-story club early, at around 7pm, for their “After Office” party.

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Peru (corner of Carlos Calvo), San Telmo

[Photo Credit: Villamota]

El Federal: People watch, relax, socialize, or dine

Grab a buddy and head to El Federal, one of Buenos Aires’ most beautiful and classic cafes (in operation since 1864), for a relaxing afternoon coffee, lunch, or dinner. It’s a pleasure to sit in this café and admire the vintage ads decorating the walls, under a glow of soft yellow lights. Bar El Federal is a perfect example of how the city has made an effort to preserve its cultural patrimony by maintaining old establishments in good condition.

El Federal also has a beautiful lowered bar (giving you the strange perspective of looking down on the bar staff) with an amazing carved wood and stained glass arching mantel above (see photos later in this post), an open kitchen which you can sneak a glance into if you sit in the back, two rooms full of sturdy wooden tables, and even a quaint little bookstore hidden within. The crowd is a mix of porteños relaxing with friends and family, tourists with their heads buried in Lonely Planet guide books, and eclectic San Telmo ‘locals’ from all over the world.

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