San Antonio de Areco

The four of us had a laid back Friday night, simply getting a late dinner at a cafe down the street, The idea was to wake up at 9 am and head to the bus terminal to catch an 11 o'clock bus to San Antonio de Areco. We made it to Retiro on time but the next bus wasn't leaving until 11:30, so we finally rolled into town at 1:30 pm. First we walked around towards the center which was only about five blocks away from the bus stop.

Along the way we asked a woman where we could get some food and she recommended a place not too far away. Though the prices weren't too bad, they were still a little high for me. My friends were happy with it though and we had a great meal, along with some cheap house wine. We really had no plan on what to do, but the idea was to get out of the city and see some of the pampas. So after lunch we walked to a park, saw the old bridge, and then found our way to a tienda.

I saw that they were selling alpargatas, which are traditional gaucho shoes that I've been trying to find for a while. They're actually pretty hard to come by, but they are very cheap. I got a pair for $18, which is the best deal I've seen so far, and since we were already there with nothing else to do and two hours to kill, we got some beer. For the next two hours we just sat in front of the tienda and played cards while drinking a few beers.

The sky was dark gray and had the feel of the calm before a storm, but it was pleasant and fun sitting there with my friends. Before long it was time to head back to the bus station to go back to Buenos Aires. For our last dinner we went to La Cabrera in Palermo. It was hard to get a table and by the time we sat down with some food on our plates it was already 12:45 am, but the place was still packed. The restaurant has a warning on the menu saying you should share the meals, and we saw why pretty quickly. Enormous portions came out one by one, and though they were expensive, we agreed it wouldn't be too bad if you split it evenly.

It was a good way to end the vacation, and though I was sad to see them go, they left my apartment early this morning to head back to Ecuador. Today is a rainy and cold day, but it's also the Superclasico, which is the Boca Juniors vs. River Plate. It's a big game and the whole city will be watching.