August 2

On Wednesday, we headed out to San Antonio de Areco, a town about two hours north west of Buenos Aires. I had heard the busses in Argentina were pretty comfy, and they were--double deckers with big seats and footrests, kind of like business class in an airplane. The town was touted as an epicter of gaucho (Argentine cowboy) culture and silver work. I think we hit it on an off day, as it was very quiet and shut down. We did visit the charming little church and Ricardo Güiraldes (the gaucho museum), where there was some beautiful saddles and silver. It was in an old ranch surrounded by a moat (empty of water at this point) and a drawbridge---I guess things were a little wild there. We also had an incredible lunch in a tiny little parilla, eating steak and french fries, accompanied by the house wine. (Neilson ordered the sirloin and I ordered the ribeye--then we cut them in half and shared them). While we were eating, an Argentine couple who was leaving came over and asked us (in English) where we from. When we said New York, the man exclaimed "Madison Avenue!" We also visited the weaving studio of Cristina Giordano de Bincaz, where we admired her textiles, inspired by tradition designs. It was back to Buenos Aires for dinner, where we had some pasta, a relatively light meal.