Day Trippin'

Not long after we arrived in Buenos Aires, Liz and Eriks sought out a church to attend together on Sundays. They were able to find one through the The Buenos Aires Herald, BA's English-language newspaper. Because services are held alternately in Spanish and English, the community there ended up being full of English-speaking expats who -from what I've heard- all sound quite lovely.

Among the congregation are Katie and Luis, a sweet pairing of Argentine man and British woman. After having them over for dinner one evening, they offered to take us out to San Antonio de Areco, a town that dates back to the 1700's and has been recognized by presidential decree as historic and of national interest. Encouraged by newly warm & sunny weather and the promise of some much-needed fresh air, we accepted their invitation for the following weekend.

We arrived around lunchtime that Saturday, and opted to sit down for lunch before doing the rounds. Luis suggested Esquina de Merti, which faces the town's main plaza. The restaurant, somewhat recently restored, is decked out in vintage ads for Quilmes (an Argentine beer) and antique tills. A severely broken-in upright piano stands in one corner, buzzing with energy of past players.

There I encountered something that could easily fall into Eriks's Surprise Series. Thinking I'd do myself a favor by ordering a few small bites to eat, I went ahead and ordered two beef empanadas and what was described as a potato and chorizo tortilla. What I have come to learn is that the word tortilla does not mean the same thing here as it does in, say, Mexico. Instead, apparently, it means something more along the lines of soufflé, as evidenced by my massive, fluffy-but-not mound of potato, egg and meat.

Between Liz, Eriks and myself we managed to get through approximately half, but had to throw in the towel lest our chairs break beneath our engorged selves. It was delicious, if something I'd expect more as some sort of shared breakfast dish rather than something to introduce an entire other meal.

From there we took a walk across town to the Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Güiraldes. The property, a preserved estancia (ranch) with the original house and stables, exists to educate visitors about the life of gauchos, or Argentine cowboys. The rooms of the building are filled with photographs, paintings and traditional gaucho clothing as well as accessories like guns, spurs and bridles and bits for their horses.

It's certainly interesting, especially the curious and somewhat unsettling wax gaucho models in the entrance, having a drink at the local pub, but to be perfectly honest I was just glad to be out in the fresh breezes, walking through big, wide fields of grass.

Next we made our way to the other side of town to visit the home/studio/museum dedicated to a late local artist, known for his depictions of gauchos on the plains. The operation is maintained by his...how should I put it? ...eccentric artist son. After paying our pesitos to walk through the house, we were greeted by this son, who wore a beret and was missing several teeth. He beckoned us to follow him to his desk, where he got rolling on a 30-minute ramble about how he draws horses, how he's very famous and has been invited into the city because of his work. He showed us other areas of the property - art was hung in the garden and in the guest house. Soon we came to a wall full of photos of him with people who are apparently important in some way.

Keep in mind this is all in Spanish, spoken through a gappy grin and in gruff Castellano, the name for Argentine Spanish. That said, I had no idea what was going on the entire time, other than he was showing us a lot more of his own work than his father's and that he was saying "horses" a lot.

At the end of the tour, he brought us back to his workspace and commenced making a sales pitch: 50 pesos for an original piece, complete with protective tube decorated with yet another drawing of a horse and his signature. As he worked it as hard as he could, Liz tried to take a candid shot, which only resulted in exciting him, at which point he pulled all of us in for a group picture. As you can see, he was a special man.


After letting him down gently, we headed to a small cafe for some tea before heading back to the city.

There is more to see there, more history to learn and artists to visit, but all in all it was a lovely break for the day. Katie and Luis are a sweet couple, the countryside was beautiful, and it was just nice to finally get out and see another part of Argentina, even if only for a few hours.