Day 4 - San Antonio de Areco

As I opened the curtains in our hotel room, I could see along the horizon of the river, a cruise ship coming into the dock area.  Tomorrow, we will be boarding the Princess Cruise ship, which will cruise along the eastern side of Argentina to Uruguay and then to the Falkland Islands and thence around Cape Horn to explore the western side of Chile up to Santiago.

The phone rang to let us know that our tour guide, Lucia, was waiting for us downstairs to take us to San Antonio de Areco and then onto Estancia El Ombu de Areco.

In the van, there were four other families that would be touring with us.  The families were from Chicago, Las Vegas, Houston and New York City.  We felt right at home as we climbed into the van.

Lucia talked about the history of Buenos Aires as well as the country of Argentina.  The highways were crowded as we headed north.  San Antonio de Areco is about 70 miles north of Buenos Aires.  It is a small town of about 23,000.  I also found out that it's sister city is Laredo, Texas.  That was very interesting to learn as I have been to Laredo many times.

In the town, we went to a silversmith shop, where a man was working on designing new silver pieces.  We then saw a group of ladies making pottery.  We walked to St. Anthony of Padua church, which was erected in 1728.  It overlooks the center of the square.

We gathered back into the van to head towards Estancia El Ombu de Areco to ride horses, eat steak and drink wine and sing folk songs with the gauchos.  The ranch was only about fifteen minutes away from the town.  But as we drove, we could see dark clouds accumulate on the horizon and we knew that a rainstorm was about to hit.

As we turned off the main road onto the muddy road, the skies opened up.  The van could not go any further on this muddy road.  The ranch which was about five miles from the road.  The owner sent four wheel drive trucks to come pick us up.

Skidding and sliding through the mud, we arrived at the ranch.  The gauchos were waiting for us to serve us empanadas, drink wine, ride horses/carriages and sing folk songs and dancing.  The gauchos also entertained with stunning displays of equestrian skills, including horse whispering.

The flocks of green parakeets flying and the horses roaming in the pasture were a sight to see.

As the sun began to set, we had to leave this quiet pace and endless beauty of the pampas.

If you are wanting a place to escape from the city life of Buenos Aires, this is the place to go.

On my next blog, I will write about the gauchos.  Stay tuned for "Romancing the Pampas".