A brief post because the free/filched wifi is patchy at the moment.

This is Bar El Federal in San Telmo, the old touristy tango and antiques barrio in BA. We wandered along here after yesterday's Spanish lesson. You can see that the bar is low, about thigh high, and the bar staff have to step down to work behind the bar. It does have a lot of character, and a lot of bottles from the past on the shelves, one of the bottles of cinzano looked like it was last opened before the second world war.

Oh and the coffee machine was an ancient italian job, dark copper and huge. The till had two sets of buttons and looked to be an original feature (from 1867). The bar has been designated a bar notable by the city so it should stay that way for ages (that or someone bribed the city so they didn't have to refurbish...).

We only had a coffee and a medialuna (the verb for taking afternoon tea is merendar, afternoon tea is called la merienda) so we can't comment too much on the food but it's an atmospheric place. Liz pointed out the cheese behind the bar, and the stuffed artichokes. I noticed the twenty tins of peaches just behind them (meh!). I couldn't see any pickled eggs though... shocking oversight.  ¶ 8:01 PM