Buenos Aires – Part 3 – San Antonio de Areco and Tigre

As I told you in my first Buenos Aires post, there is Buenos Aires, the city, and there is Buenos Aires, the Province. Much of the Province is covered by Pampas [grassland] and produces most of the country’s beef. Traditional “Gaucho” culture is there to be discovered and, just like the Tango experience, a day out at an “Estancia” [ranch] was a must do.

We opted to visit “Estancia Ombú de Areco” named for the old tree in its grounds…..

It is a large [often 40-50ft girth] evergreen with a canopy that is a bit like an umbrella. It is the only tree that really grows on the pampas because it doesn’t need much water which, surprisingly enough, the grasslands don’t get. Also, because it retains much of the water it does get in its soft, spongy trunk[s] it is fire resistant – apparently a big plus due to often intense grassland fires in this area.

We were picked up outside our city accommodation and taken, first, to the town of San Antonio de Areco which is 113km [68miles] to the north west. There is a bus from Buenos Aires which takes two hours but we would then have had to get to the ranch – some distance out of town – and stay overnight either at the ranch or in San Antonio itself. It would have been a great thing to do but, as I said previously, a week wasn’t really enough time to enjoy everything that Buenos Aires [both city and province] offers – so taking an extra day to do this would have been remiss.

So, our Estancia Day was a “package” and, as I said, our first stop was the town – some say, the prettiest town in the region.

Walking round the town we stopped off [as tour groups do!] at a few artisan shops…..

….. the last being the most fascinating as we were told about the “Rastra”. The belts were made of woven cloth or leather which Gauchos began to wear in C18. As “roving” workers they were sometimes feared by townspeople because the latter thought they might be attacked and robbed. In actual fact, the gauchos were generally relatively wealthy and they took to attaching silver coins to their belts to prove their worth. It is perhaps more likely that they would get robbed than be the robber – though maybe the large knives they wore tucked into the belt was sufficient deterrent.

We also visited the “Museo de Arte La Recova”…..

….where the rather entertaining Miguel Ángel Gasparini told us about his and, previously, his father’s work – drawing and painting Gauchos…

I can’t remember the name of the Gaucho in this drawing, but the slogan in the surrounding frame loosely translates as “No more blood[shed]”.

On the south side of the main plaza is the parish church….

….and to the north of it “El Puente Viejo”…

It was once a toll crossing, spanning the “Rio Areco” as part of the main cart track to northern Argentina. I must say that we found it rather underwhelming. The Gaucho leading his horses down to drink was much more interesting.

We then went along to the Estancia – a 300 hectare ranch and colonial mansion….

…..which also offers accommodation….

…… where before going horse-riding, we were served the best Empanadas we ate during the whole trip.

We were taken around part of the grounds and saw, amongst other things, parrots and a parrot nest.

Had we not wanted to be on horseback we could have taken a carriage ride but it was Gaucho Day, not Namby-Pamby day!

Our next treat was a filling Parilla lunch with BBQ Chicken and three different cuts of Beef which was, of course, served with wine.

Towards the end of lunch, the entertainment arrived. Music….

….. dancing…….

…and a bit of horsemanship. Another great day.

This wasn’t, however, the only trip we took out of the City. At the end of the first Buenos Aires post I mentioned Tigre as a place where boats from the marina might sail to. Obviously, we didn’t have a boat – though trips were available by boat [at a price]. However, we thought Tigre would be well worth a visit so we caught the train from the British designed and beautifully restored “Retiro” rail station in Buenos Aires.

The small city is a very popular weekend spot for “Porteños” i.e. people of the port [residents of Buenos Aires city]. It sits approximately 30km [18miles] NNW of Buenos Aires centre on the third largest river delta in the world.

Its waterways are the main mode of transport….

….. but the city is small enough to walk to all the main sights, these being three museums. We were particularly interested in seeing the “Museo del Mate”, mate [pronounced Ma Te] being the national drink of Argentina. It is a caffeine rich infused herbal drink and we saw it being drunk everywhere we went. People even have mate kits [the dried infusion, the glass, the spoon, a flask of hot water and, sometimes sugar] all in a special bag. The “ceremony” of drinking mate is linked to feelings of kinship and we often saw families, or friends, passing a brew around.

Anyway, true to form, we didn’t get to see the museum. No, it wasn’t closed, it just doesn’t exist anymore!

So, how about the other two. Well, they were closed – first, the “Museo Naval”…..

….. was shut for lunch/siesta and, second, the “Museo de Artes Tigre”, housed in the 1912 Social Club, was closed for renovations.

But, hey, it was still a fun day out and we did see the rather splendid Buenos Aires rowing club, rowing seemingly being second to polo in elite society sport.

So, that’s it for Buenos Aires. I have tried to give it you in bite size pieces, though I admit that Part 1 was quite a big bite!