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As with any family outing, our day trip to San Antonio de Areco included laughs, good food, dirty pit stop bathroom breaks, near-death experiences, "Kodak moments", and the creation of memories which we all hope to remember 20 or 30 years down the road. I'm quite sure that a typical trip from Buenos Aires to San Antonio would be quite eventless, however, we had a chatty driver (who continuously forgot that it was his job to watch the road) AND we were traveling through clouds of smoke.. literally! Argentina was on fire, and had been engulfed in grass fires for almost a week. As our van sped along the "Panamericana" we just about plowed into 50 or so STOPPED cars (which our large van would have smoked!) but were saved by my mom's habit of backseat driving when she stood up and started screaming "STOP!!! STOP!!" We skidded, we swerved, and I (who had been sleeping on a middle bench) just about hit the floor. It was quite the adventure!
Near-death experience out of the way, we arrived at Estancia La Cinacina just before lunch, and after our welcome beverages and
empanadas, were served a delicious
asado-style meal. I feasted
on various fresh salads and rolls while my family members were served interesting looking chunks of barbequed meat. Almost as funny as my Dad having to "politely" eat fishy raw fish last year in Japan, was my brother's expression every time the server dug through his platter of meat in search of the fattiest slabs for him (as the fatty pieces are considered the better cuts). LOL.. nothing like a large chunk of steak with only a bite of meat! Later, as we enjoyed our ice cream desserts we were entertained by two dancers who demonstrated traditional Argentine dances from all areas of the country. The dancers and musicians were very talented, but unfortunately for them we soon found that the carbonated water bottle was much funnier. Picture this:
Innocent Lisa is sitting at the end of the table with helpful brother Chris on her right side. Joker Glen is seated to the right of Chris. Innocent Lisa politely asks Chris to pour her some "agua con gas." Funny Glen jokingly remarks (and I quote), "Blast her with it!!" Not paying attention, Lisa tilts her glass toward the carbonated water jug which Chris is now ready to pour. BLAST!!!!!! My Dad and I Keeping Watch for the Indians
... although I wasn't doing a very good job because the top of the lookout was swarming with wasps and there was no way I was getting close to them! (I guess I'd rather be captured than stung!) Water hits the inside of the glass and shoots straight into the air, arches over Chris, and soaks Glen's pants!!! Hahahaha! Karma Glen, karma! Who would have thought that there is so much pressure inside those bottles before the first pour!! I cried with laughter... as did everyone at our table and the table next to ours! Loved it!
After our eventful lunch we were invited outside and entertained by
gauchos as they displayed their horsemanship and charged on horseback towards a coin-sized ring, which hung on a string, with hopes of catching it on the tip of their spears. Their talent and hours of practise were evident.
Our last activity at Cinacina was simply walking around the
estancia and checking out the different buildings. Forgiving our drivers for the near-death experience only hours before, I went with them from building to building and learned of
gaucho history and traditions. We took a gazillion pictures and then piled back into the van to take a quick tour of historic San Antonio de Areco before returning to Buenos Aires.
SHOUT OUTS FROM JAPAN: • A big "thank you" to Silvia and Adrian for planning such a
Gauchos! Gauchos!
Argentine cowboys. wonderful day!!
• ... and a quick reminder for Dad to Google search the little "black sausages" and find out what kind of meat he really ate! 😉
• Thank you and sorry to the nice man in the "ma and pa" shop on the corner. The raisins and nuts our driver was feeding me were delicious... and sorry, I did not realise that he had not purchased them. ...Oops!
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Mom
non-member comment
Near death experience aside - I still think the Siphon Bottle experience was the best ever !