My favorite place to visit here in Buenos Aires is Avenida Avellaneda. This is a district in a poor part of town where clothing of all sorts is sold wholesale. The thing is, if you go there on Saturday, you can buy clothing in retail quantities at wholesale prices, with no paperwork needed, just bring cash. The prices one pays are usually 40-50% of the usual retail price elsewhere in town, or less, but the middle class, the respectable people, won't go there because they are afraid. Afraid of what, you ask? I don't know. They say they are afraid of being robbed, but I suspect it's just snobbery.

God knows, there's no parking for blocks around. I ride the bus myself, but use of public transportation, especially the buses, is another thing the middle class is reluctant to do. Oh, they'll ride the major subte lines to and from work, if they absolutely must, but get on a bus and actually rub elbows with the working poor, heaven forbid!

I love Avenida Avellaneda because it's a free for all. There are cops around, but they usually have their heads buried in their phones. The district stretches for 6 blocks or so along Avellaneda itself, and extends 2-4 blocks on either side of the Avenue, in a raucous atmosphere of cheerful anarchy. Everything is all mixed up, there is no organisation to it, you can't say well, shoe stores are over there, or anything of the sort. Manteros, or sidewalk vendors, lay their stuff out in front of the stores, blocking the way and hawking their wares loudly, blocking the way both with their goods and the crowds of those who stop to buy. Several of the side streets regularly have big pools of muddy water at the intersections, and you have to watch out you don't get splashed as the vehicles go by with much honking of horns and shouting of cheerful insults at the other drivers.

Families of indigenos from the interior are a frequent sight, and the side streets often include little restaurants and coffee shops. The best Lebanese food I have ever had comes from a little hole in the wall place down there, and everything is notably cheaper than in the "respectable" parts of town. In some ways it reminds me of Tijuana, the sister city of my own hometown of San Diego.

It's an hour-long bus ride from my little apartment in downtown Buenos Aires, and then a bit of a walk, but it's worth it. In fact, I think I'll be going this Saturday, gods willing!

Somehow I don't think you intended our replies to be half a page long, so I'll stop now, but if you're ever in BsAs you should check it out, just don't confuse Avenida Avellaneda in the city of Buenos Aires with the town of Avellaneda in the Buenos Aires province.