We stumbled upon a real Buenos Aires find over on Defensa, a large warehouse of mid-century furniture, chock-a-block with dusty pieces piled on top of each other, it’s a real treasure trove. Naturally my eye fell upon a classic 70’s dining table and four chairs (it’s the bronze wire chair in the window – one of four with matching table base and marble top) and was told in a very casual manner that it was 18,000. Pesos? I ventured eagerly. No, US dollars! Asking about some other items, the prices were US$1500 for that, US$2000 for that piece…. some lovely pieces… But the point is we fell into conversation with Pedro the owner (his English was good), and we talked about the strife the country is experiencing (his words) ‘it’s not a good time to be in Argentina right now….and it’s only going to get worse, much worse by the end of the year’. I asked how business was doing and he said for him it was ok, rich locals still wanting mid-century glamour and plenty of rich Amercians buying pieces online and shipping them back home. But the mainstay of his business, he says, is in renting pieces out for movies. But he did concede that many local businesses were closing and that we were right to notice the number of Vende signs.