Dos Dias en Campo

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I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday in an Estancia in a town called Capilla del Senor, just south of San Antonio de Areco (see last year). I needed the R and R.

There are two ways to visit the Estancias in Argentina. The most common is to take a Dia en Campo (day in the country). You arrive at the ranch mid morning and are treated to wine and empanadas. You then have about an hour and a half of free time where you can ride horses, take a carriage ride, and at some, take hay rides. Then comes lunch, which is a multi-course Asado with live entertainment. In the afternoon, there are demonstrations of Gaucho skills followed by a break for mate and alfadores (pastries with dulce de leche). Then the day trippers get back into the shuttle and head back to Buenos Aires.

I chose the second way which is to spend the night in the ranch guest house. This is an authentic 19th century farm house furnished in fabulous antique furniture. I even had a claw-foot bathtub! The strange thing is that on this particular night, I was the only overnight guest. I was told that mid-week in the winter that is not uncommon. Add to the solitude that there is no phone for guest use, no internet, and no cell phone reception, and you see where this is something that could really be an opportunity for reflection, relaxation, and finally use of the one piece of technology in the guesthouse, the plasma screen TV. I heart Ally McBeal reruns dubbed in spanish. Las Ofencas Pasadas (Bygones).

It still would be fun to stay over with more people. There are all kinds of fun board games and such in the guest house.

I spent most of Wednesday sleeping, and then Thursday enjoyed the full Dia Del Campo. I got to ride horses, get pulled in a carriage, and enjoy a really good lunch. We had about four courses of meat (not all beef- there was a chicken on this Asado too) while being treated to song and dance performances from around the country. We even had a short dance lesson at the end of the meal.

After lunch was the best part. The gaucho's demonstrated there skills by roping statues (real cows would have been mean), and by playing their favorite game. There are three small rings hanging from a hoop. The gauchos ride their horses as fast as they can under the hoops and try to spear a ring on this long stick they carry. If they get one, they pick a lady to present it to and she gives him a kiss.

Let's just say, I am now the pround owner of four rings.

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