After the hustle and bustle of the city streets in Buenos Aires, it was finally time to take a break and head into the mountains. This past weekend, six group members and I made the trek up to the Retiro bus station and headed out on a ten-hour bus ride. Destination? Villa General Bellgrano. Where exactly is that? Think small German influenced town northwest of Buenos Aires. It is directly outside Córdoba and barely reaches the population of 6,000 people. The inexpensive bus ride provided us with “camas,” so I quickly got on the bus Friday night after work and drifted off to “sleep” as we drove through the night.
Thanks to my roomie, Ann, we had a room at Hostel Rincón, a small ranch-like place run by a Dutch family just walking distance from the bus station (Oh wait, everything in the town is walking distance). We quickly dropped off our bags as the sun rose and grabbed a quick breakfast at a local café in town. After breakfast, we had the whole day ahead of us. But first, the fútbol game! Argentina played Nigeria in the late morning, so we sported our newly purchases OFFICIAL jerseys and sat down at a little German inspired pub in town. After a few celebratory drinks, it was time for “caballos.”
After a few comedic telephone calls with the horse owners, Grace finally had set up a horseback riding trip for the group that afternoon. At about 2pm, Patuco (an 82 year-old Villa General Bellgrano native), showed up with 10 horses for our choosing. We all hopped on our chosen horses (some with experience and others with none…sorry Erik!) and we started our trek up and through the mountains for four straight hours.
My horse was quite the fat-so, constantly stopping along the way to munch on every piece of grass or leaf, so naturally I took it upon myself to name him “Gordo” (No, not Lizzie McGuire’s BFF…the Spanish word for “fat”). We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a better tour guide. Given no rules or instruction, we took paths I couldn’t have dreamed of taking in the States. We traveled through rocky terrains and up a mountain to forest-like areas complete with a trek through some streams. It was nothing short of amazing.
Back at Rincón, we finally checked in, however we were hit with a bit of a surprise. A surprise roommate. The lady in charge explained that if we roomed with a young man, our hostel room would cost significantly less. Obviously, we all agreed to go for it. We met the “chico,” Dan, who spoke less Spanish than me (I was just as shocked!). We find out that he is from a small town in New Zealand and plans to backpack through South America for the next four months, even though his Spanish is very minimal (and by minimal, I mean he thought an ensalada meant enchilada at dinner that night…we didn’t think he looked much like a “salad guy”). Bueno suerte, chico.
Sunday, we took the day as it came. After breakfast at the hostel and a few tunes on the guitar, we headed out to the mountains once again. We made a group decision to hike up a mountain trail, given that the day was almost as nice as the previous. It took us close to an hour to get to the top look out onto the entire town. After a few (or more than a few) snapshots and nice long chat, we made the hike back down, which was almost as challenging as going up!
Of course our group can’t go a day without sweets, so we stopped for some homemade ice cream at a local “heladora.” Yum-my. However, nothing can top the previous day’s treat: Conitos. Chocolate covered brownie and dulce de leche cones that melted in your mouth. Double Yum-my.
Exhausted from the two days outdoors, we hopped back on the bus, but of course, not without another mild heart attack. Bridget lost her ticket, which somehow ended up with her and Erik taking a trip to the police station to fill out a report on the missing item (not quite the way we do things back home, but whatever). Bridget was allowed back on the bus as long as she did this, so Erik accompanied her on her journey. We had no idea that this “journey” to the police station would take as long as it did. Luckily, after much debate on how to handle the situation, Erik and Bridget made it back to the station and on the bus with only minutes before take-off.
It’s easy to see that this was a successful trip. And there are many more getaways plans in the works. Until then…
No comments:
Post a Comment