San antonio de areco

I'm cheating a little bit by fudging the date on this post but hey! I've been sick! And I definitely wanted to get a post in on my trip to San Antonio de Areco. Its this small town about 2 hours outside of Buenos Aires and it in the Pampas, gaucho (Argentinean cowboy) territory. There are a lot of estancias (ranches) and farm land out here and its a great escape from the hustle of Buenos Aires. A lot of the estancias are also hotel of sorts where you can stay, ride horses, shear sheep and eat asado (BBQ!). They tend to be pretty pricy but a lot of the guide books recommend it.

I've been wanting to go but was balking a little at the price. But then my friend Hunter found a quasi-estancia that was much much cheaper than the other estancias and we were off! We were a little skeptical at first but it turned out to be fantastic. We stayed at the Casa Bellavista in Villa Lia, a little pueblo of less than 1,000 people about 15km (I've stopped trying to do the conversions). It used to be an estancia a few decades ago but the owners sold the land off so now it only consists of the house and maybe a couple of acres of land in the middle of this tiny town. The best part was, including breakfast and lunch, it came out to USD$20 a night!

The house itself is gorgeous. All the rooms, including the dining room the kitchen and all the rooms open up to this gorgeous courtyard. Right of a villa in Italy. Shady trees, old crumbling sheds and best of all, a hammock in the back corner. The rooms were also beautiful. Incredibly high ceilings, brightly painted walls and doors. All really old but with tons of charm. And the owners were the nicest people imaginable. Picked us up from the bus terminal and also when one of us got food poisoning, made sure he had medicine and everything. If you are ever looking for an estancia experience in BA, look no further than the Casa Bellavista!

All the rooms opened up onto the courtyard

Our room had 3 beds (for the 3 girls). Beautiful wrought-iron frames.

There was also this super-cute puppy at the estancia. Some neighborhood kids came by to play with "Odie".

They served us lunch and breakfast and it was amazing. The spinach raviolis we had at lunch were probably the freshest I've ever had. It was a 3 course meal with salame and bread to start and ice cream to end. All with wine, of course. It was so relaxing to have lunch outside, under the trees and just hanging out.

Lunch al fresco! (Hunter, Wes, Thalia and Robin - friends through the language program)

We spent some time wandering around Villa Lia on some bikes. We saw a bunch of horses, sheep, farms and the beautiful countryside. Some of the others also rode horses but after my experience in Costa Rica (well, it was really the pain afterwards that killed me) I decided that as cute as horses are, I don't need to really ride them. Plus, I was starting to come down with the flu so I thought it would be better for me to just rest instead.

Bike riding around the pueblo of Villa Lia.

Look at all that Pampa grass!

Lots of horses and sheep. Actually, at the restaurant for dinner, I wanted to order the lamb but I didn't know the word in Spanish. I tried to describe it to the waitress and she finally went, "Si! Sheep!" She then called it "sheep" all night. "Your sheep will be right out." "How was your sheep?" Hilarious.

Lots of cute horses! To pet, not to ride.

We also spent some time in San Antonio de Areco, shopping and walking around. They had some really cool gaucho themed shops where you could get gaucho wear and quality leather and silver goods. On Saturday night, we also went to this folk music thing. It wasn't quite a concert because it felt like a neighborhood party in someone's backyard. There was a grill in the back and with beer and ice cream. The patio was covered with picnic tables filled with Argentinean families and people of all ages. The music was also really awesome. The music was really traditional and there were also a bunch of people dancing. Really pretty and definitely not touristy. Actually, when we first walked in, everyone just stopped for a second to stare at us. But that's what I'm here to do, to really experience the culture, not just the touristy things.

Listening to folk music and watching the people dancing with scarves. The place was pretty packed but it was a really nice night to be sitting outside.

Anyway, overall a really great weekend. The town was interesting and the estancia was just beautiful. So far, I haven't really been disappointed with anything I've done here so I feel pretty lucky. I just want to say thanks again to the owners of the Casa Bellavista! Our weekend would not have been half as nice if it wasn't for their help and kindness.

Very happy estancia visitors