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Published: September 26th 2006
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Chascomus
Welcome to Chascomus. The train station was like taking a step back in time. We decided to spend our wedding anniversary weekend up in Gualeguaychu. Unfortunately there was a mass protest taking place against the proposed paper mills over the river in Uruguay. That meant we couldn't get a room in the hotel we wanted to stay in. Never mind, onto Plan B!
2 hours away from BA on the bus is the beautiful town of Chascomus. Our dreams of a tranquil relaxing weekend seemed thwarted again at Retiro as we couldn't get onto any of the buses we wanted to. Instead we ended up travelling in the evening amid torrential rain and amazing lightning flashes in the sky. We weren't really sure if that boded well or not! We got to Chascomus at about 9.30, or rather we got to km122 on the Mar Del Plata road where the guy at the petrol station gave me a taxi number to call. We waited, and waited, and finally our taxi arrived. Apparently there is another petrol station near to km122 and he thought we would be at the other one. Maybe I should have specified which one we were waiting at when I called!
Anyway, with no information online about hotels in Chascomus
By the lake
Ah, beautiful. And fresh air to boot! I had telephoned one which looked pretty central on the map. It turned out to be very well located and more than comfortable enough for a long weekend. We went straight out for dinner and the parrilla just down the road made us realise just how expensive BA has become! After that it was a beer in a Sports Bar where they have a good collection of memorabilia covering football (and Diego Maradona), basketball, cycling and motor racing. We decided not to go to the nightclub next door (marked by the inflatable bottle of Speed and can of Bud) in favour of soem sleep. Here's a tip though, if you want to go clubbing it was closed on Saturday night!!
On Saturday the weather wasn't great, although it did stay dry. We walked around the town and the lakeside but the wind was cold and the water was incredibly choppy, ruling out a boat trip! The museum was pretty good and killed an hour or so, but it really is a town where you go to chill out rather than looking for loads to do.
We decided to have our anniversary meal a day early as you can
The Cathedral
The whitewashed Cathedral. never be sure what will be open on a Sunday evening in a sleepy hollow! We chose what looked like a posh restaurant and we were not disappointed. The fish (pejerry/kingfish and tararira/wolf-fish) were delicious and the ambience was befitting of an anniversary celebration.
On Sunday the weather was glorious to begin with. We hired a couple of bikes and cycled around the lake, 35km in total apparently. It was beautiful as well as very flat. The road was good most of the way round and we spent about 3 hours cycling and pausing to enjoy the view. When we got back to the town to drop off the bikes it was packed. It seems hundreds of daytrippers come up from BA to enjoy (ruin?) the tranquility of the place.
On Sunday evening we went to the train station to explore the possibility of taking a ride back to BA on Monday afternoon. The bus times were not great anyway, so we were happy to find out there was a 12:21 train. Tickets bought, it was time for pizza and beer and an early night!
When we got to the station on Monday it was like stepping
The (non) Parade
It was the "dia de nuestra senora de mercedes" and therefore we expected to see a parade full of colour and noise like this. Nothing happened despite promises of a "procession" in the local rag! back in time. The signals are still done using wires strung alongside the track and they wave red flags at the traffic to stop them crossing ahead of the train! How quaint!!! By British standards teh train was on time and by 12:30 we were looking for the coach number printed on our tickets. Of course, it didn't appear anywhere and the guard was hardly helpful so we just sat where there was space and nobody bothered us all the way home!
Chascomus proved to be just what we needed for a relaxing break. It's on our highly recommended list if you need to de-stress and get away from it all!
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