Leave the still hot city behind to spend a breezy weekend at La Costa del Atlantico, in Valeria del Mar. Sounds like a great idea and a convenient reason to visit Argentina's vacation coast - after thousands and thousands of vacationing Portenos have returned to work, leaving the coast relatively quiet and access highways reasonably drivable.
The whole enchilada: transport to and from El Obelisco in Buenos Aires, hotel and meals, tango clases, a milonga in the beach town of Pinamar...all that for about 250 US dollars.
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| Ok, let's tango a la naturaleza - a little change from the milongas en el centro de Buenos Aires.... |
Argentinian travel schedules are somewhat flexible. Our 9:30 departure finally occurred an hour later after all the milongueros had leisurely and sleepily arrived at El terminal de Combis, which is a bus station practically underneath the Obelisco. Too much luggage for the mini bus luggage compartment, hence the little aisle of the bus was plugged with carry on bags. Off we went into BsAs traffic, with a first unexplained half hour stop in the midst of 9 Julio, the Grand Avenida of downtown. Reason: wait for someone to bring a couple of dozens bottles of water to the bus.
Ah, finally on the road again...past the old bridge across Riachuelo in Boca, the cradle of tango, and along miles and miles of 'villas' which is a nice word for slums, or what is called 'favelas' in Brazil. Finally La Pampa, flat and endless like the plains of Manitoba. Brown Herefords, black Angus cattle munch their way through savoury pampas grass to the asados, parillas and BBQs of Argentina and the world. Pink flamingos, black and white storks, and flocks and flocks of native birds keep them company. Horses graze among them, and the odd estancia proves that there is human live in them thar plains.
By now, our little group of passengers - all Argentinos/as - except for 'El Koreano' and 'La Canadiense' had settled in for the long drive to the coast. And it felt even longer than the six hours it took to get to Valeria del Mar, thanks to a 'talkative' mountain of a man with a loud and unpleasantly penetrating voice, who kept talking NON STOP for six straight hours - mostly tonterias, i.e. rubbish. El Koreano in the back of the bus could not believe this waterfall of words (mostly directed at the driver who had the misfortune to be seated closest to this annoyance), I sat a row behind THE VOICE and was near a mental breakdown by the time we arrived. A half hour stop at El Minotaur, a food and comfort station - as large as a shopping mall to accommodate the summer crowds - gave a little relief, at least from the noise. However, one needed Wellington boots to navigate the bathrooms; food trays were as sticky as if covered with crazy glue...I did not eat in the restaurant (THE VOICE had to have a BBQ steak which extended the half hour stop to a little more than an hour, with everyone seated in the bus waiting for the hungry man to eat his last bit of asado).
Finally el Mar, the sea, lined with dunes and backed by pine forests. Valeria del Mar is a smaller version of Pinamar, which actually means Pines by the Sea.
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| Valeria del Mar village centre...shoulder season tranquillity |
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| The usual souvenirs.. |
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| Pines, and more pines.... |
As we were in for a tango weekend, classes started shortly after arrival. About forty-six tangueras and tangueros attended, mostly from 'La Provincia' with a few dancers from Buenos Aires, and one girl from Venezuela.
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| Evening Class in La Hosteria Sirena, our hotel |
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| Hosteria Sirena |
Saturday - Beach Day! At least for me, I skipped the beginner milonga class at mid day to explore Pinamar nearby (another beach resort, a little more urban than Valeria del Mar) and walk the wide sandy beach of Valeria del Mar.
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| Retirement in Pinamar |
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| Part of a 'balneario', where beach goers can rent a canvas beach hut or an umbrella and chairs. Unused beach umbrellas serve as 'storage' for plastic garden chairs until someone wants to rent a set. |
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| Carritos sell water and icecream - welcome sustenance on a hot sunny day |
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| Family vacation on the beach of Valeria del Mar |
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| Forgotten your swimsuit or pareo - no problem, one may just buy another one on the beach |
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| The summer crowds are gone, one can almost feel alone.. |
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| Walking the hot sands, which for my bad knee was not a good idea. Walking on the shifting sands seem to activate every little bone chip in my left knee, a rather painful experience which cut my romantic 'paseos' on the beach to a minimum. |
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| Honeymoon by the Sea |
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| Preserving the Dunes... |
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| Seeking a spot of shade amongst the dwarf pines on the Dunes |
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| Beaches of the World....sand, sky, hardy vegetation... |
No tango weekend - beach or otherwise - would be complete without a milonga. Valeria del Mar offers one twice a week. On Saturday evening we attended La Luna, a very small venue in Pinamar, where the men hung out at the bar, and the women sat on couches lining the walls - cabeceos worked just fine, whenever the men could tear their attention away from their 'refreshments'.
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| Filled to overflowing, the small milonga bar accommodated 46 'extras' from outside of town. |
Edith and Victor, the organizers and tango teachers of this excursion, treated us all to a mini show.
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| Victor and Edith.... |
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...dancing tango, milonga and vals
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Back in the hotel at 2:00 in the morning, I had company of the winged kind
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| Last day...taking the obligatory group snap shot... |
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| The morning after the night before |
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Tangueras lining up at the beach...
Scheduled departure....16:00 on Sunday afternoon. It took until six before we had everyone aboard the bus (luckily THE VOICE had left earlier by different means). A couple of ladies just did not want to leave, and kept everyone waiting again seated in the bus, until they finally decided to slip out of their bathing suits into 'travelling clothes'.
Final stop before leaving town to gas up - after waiting forever for the line up at the only open gas station for our turn. That's when the driver discovered that he had left his wallet with drivers license safely in the strong box at the hotel. De revuelta - back to the beginning.
Well - after another six hours we arrived at El Obelisco, tired out, and merely able to hail a taxi home.
