Yesterday was an incredible day spent in the countryside. The province is called Pampas and so is the landscape. Here the gauchos heard cattle and farmers work the land. I (Glen had meetings) went to the San Susana ranch to experience an Argentinian barbeque.Due to the rain, my tour bus was late. Apparently those who usually walk or take the subway to work drive on wet days so traffic was snarled. So I waited in the lobby for an hour not knowing when they would show up. There were two English-speaking people, a couple from Columbia and one from Peru on the tour. The Peruvian worked in Miami so we chatted with her. Elke was from Germany so we were quite an international group.
Because of the delay, we missed riding the horses which was something I had decided not to do anyway so it was no great loss. I was able to photograph others doing the ride. I also got pictures of all the meat cooking. We had lunch in a big restaurant-like room with a stage. The gauchos served us from platters of meat after we ate a light salad. We had sausage, blood sausage, beef, ribs, and chicken. It was served with wine but Elke saw someone drinking beer so asked for a bottle. It was 2 litres so I shared with her.
The show featured the tango but not as polished or modern as the show we had seen the night before. We also saw several folk dances. Afterwards we watched the horse demonstration. I have never seen men control so many horses with just a whistle or a word. It was like watching the RCMP musical ride without riders. The gauchos then raced toward hanging rings and caught them on pencil-like pieces of wood. They gave these rings to the women in the crowd and I was lucky enough to get one. Of course, they expected a kiss on each cheek in return. Some of the younger girls then rode around the compound behind the gauchos.
Comments for this post
