Las Flores, May 19th, 2011

After I left the Estancia, I spent a day driving around, and this is one of the towns I fell in love with: Las Flores!
The chocolate was so good, as were the other sweets.
I wanted to buy one of each of the flowers as they were lovely and tasted perfect.
It was autumn there, and I passed a few hours in the town center of Las Flores, enjoying the cooling air and the beginnings of the color changes.
The streets were nearly empty, and I felt as though I had the entire place to myself.
This window was so colorful that a smile was instantly on my face as soon as I saw it.
More medialunas, and more caffeine!
Driving out of Las Flores, I found this particular estancia sign to be amusing.
There were also random buildings and monuments along the roadside. I am assuming they are religious prayer-stops, but I really have no idea.
The journey continues.....

Around the Estancia

The view from outside my window looking inward, if the drapes were open! Inside (below) was the family dining table, which was just outside of my room.

I loved the thick leather! I could imagine the old families gathering around after a long day out in the sun, or in the evening after a crisp sunset.

As it was, it was cool enough to enjoy the fire after lingering over my own sunset. The below picture was taken just 1 step from my bedroom door.

Around the grounds, there were smaller, cheaper rooms which you could stay in and provide your own food. For me, the food was half the experience!

If you can imagine an almost warm day with a hint of a cool breeze, you might almost be able to smell the impossibly clean air. And emus.

I was told they were not actually emus, but a smaller version of the bird, a relative, of which I have forgotten the names of.

Strolling around the grounds...

After a long day, I was ready to leave the estancia

...and I left the estancia to begin my next day of adventure...

The animals around the farm

This guy seemed menacing, but really he was just bored and interested in our milking of the cows.

Relaxing around the Estancia was an amusing experience. There were 9 emu-like birds on the premises, and one of the best games was "where are they all?"

At any given time, it seemed like there was not quite all 9 of them in view. Sitting in the yellow lounge chairs pictured above, periodically counting them again, in the sun, well, it was a delightful experience.

Estancias have horses, as I have mentioned, but this guy above was great. Gotta love a red-head!

What a great scene for a cat bath!

This was our bird-dog, who was faithfully stopping and pointing out every "Bird!" with his right paw up, nose right at it and tail stiff. In this shot he is leading the way back to my room, which is the corner room pictured above.

Estancia Foods

Sitting in the front yard of the estancia, one of the staff suggested I have a pomegranate from the yard. I stained my shirt with its juices, and it was totally, completely worth it!
The wine was divine, and the lemon mousse just right after a long day.
Tea, jams and homemade breads were ready for us upon returning from our horseback ride, and very welcomed.
One of the other guests had gone hunting and had gotten some hares, which were turned into a stew....
...and the dish to the right of that was from the birds he shot.
Perfectly scrumptious!!!
The group who were there, none of the names of whom I can remember, but the lady sitting to my side was the leader for the horseback rides. The guy at the head of the table did the hunting and was the British husband of the girl on the far left. They live in Pennsylvania, and her mother is in pink, and now lives in Buenos Aires. She had told me that the hotels along the roadways were rented "by the hour" and were used for "inappropriate recreational use" and warned me to be wary! Yes, I was scared, and very, very glad to get to sleep in my own, very very safe room for the evening. I made a mental note to not stay anywhere unless it was in a city! (or estancia)

...and I headed off to bed, tired and ready for the next day of adventure.

8/18/11 Leaving Mar Del Plata

The day I left Mar Del Plata, I suddenly remembered that I could not remember what my rented car looked like, and the valet guy had parked it for me, so I would not be able to just go back to where I parked. Add that to the fact that my car did not have a "clicker" so I could not push a button and expect my car to light up and honk at me.
Luckily there were only 3 cars in the parking lot, which helped a lot. Not wanting to make that mistake again, I took a picture of the car and license plate for future reference. Then I headed off for my Estancia. It was a 4 hour drive on the freeway, and another 1/2 hour of dirt roads before I came to this:
Estancia not to be seen, but I imagined it was back there somewhere, which it was, and no sooner than I was parked, I was invited to come for the afternoon ride, which I was very obliged to do! A quick change into jeans and running shoes and I was on a horse within 10 minutes!


I was told the horses were "neck trained" which I quickly learned meant that they did not speak english or spanish, and did not do anything with the bit.
The pampas were stunning, and I had the feeling that time stood still. I have no idea how long I was out there in the pampas, but it will certainly be one of those memories I will go back to and re-live well into old age.

When we arrived back at the farm in one piece (my horse, "the black one" was not as broken in, and when they asked me if I wanted to gallop I stupidly said "sure!" with a little too much enthusiasm. The horse took this as an opportunity to show off, and gallop I did! I was so impressed with myself, that is until the stirrup came loose, and I suddenly had no footing. Not wanting to spend the rest of the trip with any broken arms or legs, I hung on, and did my best to not fall off. Admittedly, I was also a bit more concerned about my camera, not wanting it to be broken so soon into the trip!!! I did end up getting the horse to stop, and we got the stirrup back into appropriate place, and off we went again!!)...as I was saying, when we arrived at the farm in one piece, we were invited to help with the milking of the cows. This guy was much better than me, although I did get milk on the first try!
The rest of the evening before dinner was spent strolling around the grounds, taking in every second of bliss.

I had been told the sunsets were incredible, and they were right.

After the sun was down, and color retreated safely for the night, I made my way back to my room with the fireplace already crackling to take a shower and a quick rest before dinner.
The floor reminded me of my grandparents floor, which was comforting. More to come....

5/17/11 continued

Walking back I turned inland to go into the city area. This descriptor was part of the central park, although I did not catch the name of the park. Nearby was the shopping center, where I did buy an Argentina jersey so I will be ready for the 2014 World Cup!!!!! (yes, I plan ahead.)

There were interesting bits of art tucked here and there.
I could imagine having this be my house, with this in my garden. It was so peaceful and inspiring, despite being tucked into the city.
There was a bit of political influence as well.
The most interesting parts of any city, I find, are the grocery stores. For example, I had not ever seen yogurt in bags before!!!
Not suprisingly, they had Argentinian wine!!! Lots of it. I bought 3 bottles back, although regretted buying them so soon into my trip, as I had to carry them all the way back to the hotel, and then on for the rest of the trip. I would say it was worth it!
The churches of the region were impressive to me, as were the squares with thier statues to whoever they happened to be of.
I giggled to see the bird perched on this elegant man's cape.

At the end of the day, I was ready for bed again, and looking forward to another day!