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Published: February 5th 2008
The train to El Tigre
The man in the yellow shirt in the background is playing Bandeone in this picture.Friday, Feb 1
I was going to meet a woman from Phoenix who I’d sat next to on the plane named Jeanne. She and I had planned to go to El Tigre - we were to meet in the train station, Retiro, at 10:00 am. I arrived at 10:00 and waited and waited. By 10:45, I got tired of waiting and decided to just go on by myself. Apparently, she showed up a few minutes after I left. Time in Argentina is much slower and more flexible than time in the U.S. If people say 4:00, it could be 5:00 or 5:30 and no one gives it a second thought.
The commuter train to El Tigre takes about 45 minutes and it was a comfortable train, although interesting that people get on to play music or preach the gospel, or sell various products. El Tigre is a small town on the river delta. (Buenos Aires is located on the banks of the Rio de la Plata).
http://www.aldelta.com.ar/
There are tons of little islands in this area and you can take una Lancha from El Tigre to visit the islands. There are many yacht clubs and rowing clubs
in this area. It’s an interesting town, apparently a very popular holiday destination for the people of Buenos Aires as well.
After arriving at the train station, I explored the town a bit, then took a launch to the “Tres Bocas” area. I had a nice lunch on the deck of a small restaurant, then set off to explore the island. There was a trail around this island and I was planning to walk all the way around it, about 3 miles. However, I got sidetracked when I saw a sign advertising rowing lessons, “clases de remo,” and stopped to investigate.
I saw a family sitting in the yard finishing their lunch and they and their dogs came up to greet me. I introduced myself and said that I was a rower from the U.S. They were Ines & Julian Rey. They were so hospitable, invited me to sit down for a glass of juice and then offered to take me rowing. Ines even loaned me clothes to wear. They were so nice - and it was so amazing to row around this island through a narrow “arroyo” often narrower than the length of the 2 oars, so
it was quite a challenge.
I got home about 8:00, just in time to grab dinner at la casa and go dancing with Luis (my tango teacher) and Francois (another guest) and his friend Jorgelina (a tango teacher also). We went to the Gymnasio - a place that reminds me of the Elks Club in the U.S. Mostly older people go there, but the dancing is good.
¡Qué largo día agradable!
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Rocio
non-member comment
time...
Hey... please do not forget that time is irrelevant in Mexico, Centro America and South America... just enjoy it, wait with a big smile and wait a little bit more :-) The important thing is that "the person is there and/or arrieved" and that you will have a great time... Everything looks so beautiful and peaceful. Lucky you! Big hug mi amiga...