As many of you know, I love to travel.  And when I travel, I oftentimes visit the flea markets of the cities I'm visiting.  Whether it's Paris or Palm Beach, visiting the flea markets is always a fun way to see the history and culture of a city.  I've been to the flea markets in Russia, France, Argentina and several throughout the U.S.  This March I took a trip to Buenos Aires Argentina to visit one of the world's largest flea markets as well as to enjoy some great food, local wine, and a unique blend of French and Italian inspired architecture.  But beyond the expected steaks and tango, I found a culture with passion for art and history and an eye for aesthetics that surprised and delighted me. What I found surprising on my trip though was the contrast of old world formality contrasted with streamlined modernity -  rococo vs. graffiti, french settees vs. mid-century modern, taxidermy vs. industrial sleekness.  The contrast was quite amazing, and it is a similar sense of contrast that I often bring to the interior design projects at Summer Thornton Design where we blend new with old, antique with modern, and so on.   Of course as Buenos Aires was originally settled it had an influx of beautiful antiques from France and Italy, and we loved seeing those pieces at the flea markets.  Check out some of the antiques and photos that we took on our trip below...

Recoletta Cemetery in Buenos Aires

Graffiti Art Painted House in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Flea Market

Furniture at the Buenos Aires Flea Market

Buenos Aires old world architecture contrasted with contemporary graffiti