Get me out of Buenos Aires!
Greg made fun of me when I expressed the sentiment: “wouldn’t it be great to get away from Buenos Aires with a trip to an estancia (ranch) in a cute small town outside of the city?” OK, I get it: we are living in Buenos Aires, one of the most amazing cities in the world, which was a getaway from our life in Denver. And I want to get away?
How to get to San Antonio de Areco
We did and loved it. An hour and a half outside of Buenos Aires is the adorable town San Antonio de Areco. Highways and high rises give way to green open fields and a two-lane highway lined with trees, which we watched from the front row on top of a double-decker bus, which happened to be one of the nicest buses I have ever seen.
The town of San Antonio de Areco
The town itself is small and quaint, but packed with history. San Antonio de Areco is often described as a gaucho town, referring both to the many gauchos who have lived here but perhaps moreover it is related to the famous book Don Segundo Sombra by Ricardo Güiraldes. The Güiraldes book is based on a real man who was a Gaucho here in San Antonio de Areco.
Organized like many Latin American towns on a grid based around central plazas, the many one story colonial/belle epoque buildings will instantly capture your fantasy and heart. Aside from local business, the main companies of interest to tourists can be split into the trinket shops (platerias focusing on jewelry, leather goods, and woven scarves) the restaurant/bars (notably the pulperias and almacens), and locutorios which offer internet access to hordes of children and tourists.
The Estancia La Cinacina
My favorite part of the trip was a night at La Cinacina Estancia, a working ranch (2nd) and a tourist experience (1st). The room was luxurious, and the grounds offer the opportunity to horseback ride, swim or lounge by the pool, walk around the grounds, or play games and drink tea by the fireplace in their salon. We treated ourselves to a visit at the estancia on Thanksgiving day, a holiday where we thought it might be tough being away from home. It certainly was the luxurious, tranquilo, and historic trip I needed before getting back to our original getaway: Buenos Aires.
so funny! i just wrote greg about rain skirts, and happened to ask if it is beautiful there (which to me means clean and bucolic), or rather more of a cosmopolitan existence. guess this answers my question.
i have been looking into tickets to come visit, but not sure how it will fit into our budget. things are much tighter with reid in school, and FREAKIN CA rent prices. for crap’s sake—i always want to tell prospective landlords: “we want to rent your home for a fair price, not send you and yours on fabulous vacations each season” which any landlord could afford with the prices they charge here. ick.
i don’t have skpye yet, BTW, still looking into it. i just, literally, blew up a new-to-me computer (you mean, it’s bad when sparks fly out the back? hu.”), so i’m getting ready to buy yet another. i will make certain you are my first call.
have fun. love one another. libby
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