Trip Report 5- Estancia

Sun. Apr. 10

Today I took an excursion to an estancia/ranch (Santa Susanna) about 70 km outside of town. I had lined it up prior to my visit on the website www.argentinago.com and, despite being moderately tired from the night before, it worked out pretty well.

----------------------------------------------------------------- The bus picked me up right outside my hotel; it was a gray, dreary Sunday morning and the streets were eerily and completely empty. Although it was not previously announced as part of the itinerary, we first stopped at the much-discussed San Telmo antiques fair for half an hour. It was pretty interesting to wander around there; most of the antiques are tchotchkes but I bought some tango-themed coasters and wallets for later use as gifts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ The ride out to the countryside was pretty relaxing, and the tour guide pointed out sites in both English and Spanish. At the estancia here were several other tour buses as well, and one could ride a horse or in a horse-drawn wagon (basically traveling for a brief distance in a circle, nothing too rigorous or major). I didn't really feel like doing either, so I just checked out a house/museum decorated in period style and took in the scenery of La Pampa, imagining how much of this area must have looked prior to European settlement. There was a large asado (barbeque/grill), probably about 20 feet long, upon which a wide variety of meats were being grilled. I hope that the pictures of the meat turn out well.

------------------------------------------------------------ It was not too difficult to meet other people on this day trip. I ended up sitting at lunch with a chick from Mexico and had the pleasure of watching 4 40ish, probably upper-class women from Guatemala get drunk during the meal. None of them spoke much English so I tried to keep up in the conversations the best I could. Lunch itself was quite good; there were a few salads but the overall focus was on meat. After the meal a couple performed some tango and traditional dances. Although it was in an utterly touristy setting, it was the first time I had seen tango dancing performed live and it was incredibly captivating. After the dancing there was a styled gaucho show outside, which was pretty cool if you like horses (the horses run around and the men perform some tricks and whatnot).

---------------------------------------------------------- While my more cynical side (which has been kept in check this entire trip, refreshingly) would deem the day as touristy, it is totally worth it to get out of the city for a day and on top of that the whole thing only cost US$35. Plus on the bus there was a chance to try mate, a tea drink that is closely identified with the River Plate area (but, ironically, not available in restaurants, as it is usually prepared and shared amongst family and friends). I slept most of the way back to town, and chilled in my room for a few hours afterwards. I didn't have to wander any farther than across the street from my hotel to briefly peruse the selection at a music store (CDs are US$8 for everything, even new stuff. I am stocking up big time before leaving) and pick up a few empanadas from the same place I went to the other night. At this point a long night of sleep was the sole remaining item on the agenda.