JIM HAMILL
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SAN  ANTONIO  DE  ARECO

RETURN TO buenos aires
Estancias stays are a popular addendum to a Buenos Aires travel itinerary.  Numerous ranches are within a few hours drive from Buenos Aires and make for a terrific escape from the city.  I took an alternative approach and bused out to San Antonio de Areco, a well preserved, colonial era town, that happened to be hosting a Pioneer Day event.  Unfortunately when I arrived I learned the event had been abruptly canceled (signs were still out promoting the event).  I quickly changed my bus ticket to an earlier return departure.

Without the headline event there's not much else to see.  It is a picturesque town to walk through with either well preserved or refurbished historical homes.  There's central plaza square and a Catholic Church.  Around the square are a few restaurants and places to eat breakfast.  The town's grid street road organization made it very easy to wander without getting lost - the town is at most ten streets wide by ten streets long.  Everything shut down between 3-4 in the afternoon.  
Picture
Street Scene
Picture
Street Scene
There's a narrow river that runs along the north side of the town.  Across the river was a park that had a vintage foosball table.  A ten minute walk from here has a restored hacienda and fort.  Tonight was to be the Pioneer Days main event, however, construction workers were dismantling a stage near the hacienda.  
Picture
Foosball Table
Picture
Hacienda
The longer I was here, the more touristy this place felt.  When I first arrived I thought I had stumbled upon a hidden gem of a well preserved working colonial town...the more I was here, the more I felt this place relied upon and catered towards tourists...not necessarily international visitors, but Portenos looking for a weekend escape.  Some of the restaurants were a little too fancy and others that seemed authentic I think were just putting on a show.  I had the worst meal at the steakhouse below - the place looks awesome, however, I received three pieces of burnt fat and I only received that because I think the waiter forgot my order, realized I'd been waiting for a while and brought me some scraps.  There's a couple of places that look like this along the main road off the plaza...I'd avoid all of them.
Picture
Worst Meal Ever
Picture
At Least I Saw One Gaucho

For additional San Antonio de Areco photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
  • Lifetime Travels
    • Best Of... >
      • 2014 World Travels
      • Videos
    • Africa >
      • Egypt
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Tanzania
    • Asia >
      • East Asia >
        • China
        • Hong Kong >
          • Essentials
          • Attractions >
            • HK Free
          • Coffee
          • Cooked Food Centre >
            • Best Cooked Food Centres
          • Culture
          • Dining
          • Districts
          • Expat and Colonialism
          • HK Skyline
          • Nature
        • Japan
        • Macau
        • South Korea
        • Taiwan
      • Indian Sub-Continent >
        • Bangladesh
        • India
        • Maldives
        • Nepal
        • Sri Lanka
      • Southeast Asia >
        • Brunei
        • Cambodia
        • Indonesia
        • Laos
        • Malaysia
        • Myanmar
        • Philippines
        • Singapore >
          • Singapore >
            • Singapore Layover
            • Central
            • Coffee
            • Dining
            • Hawker Centers
            • Kopitiam
            • Suburbicity
        • Thailand
    • Europe >
      • Balkans >
        • Bosnia and Herzegovina
        • Bulgaria
        • Croatia
        • Moldova
        • Montenegro
        • Romania
        • Serbia
      • Central Europe >
        • Austria
        • Germany
        • Czech Republic
        • Hungary
        • Slovakia
        • Slovenia
        • Switzerland
      • Eastern Europe >
        • Kazakhstan
        • Russia
        • Ukraine
      • Nordic >
        • Iceland
      • Western Europe >
        • Belgium
        • France
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