Sierra La Vigilancia – Day 3 (Balcarce outing)
Aug 3, 2005 – Wed
Today was our daytrip dedicated to Balcarce. We could stock up on groceries and Sean could visit the Fangio Museum.
We headed to the main road with plenty of time to spare to catch the next El Rapido — a task easier done during the daytime. Balcarce is about 20 km from La Vigilancia. It was very cold, about 45-50 degrees. We decided to walk down the road a bit. We had to wait quite a while, then flagged down the El Rapido bus.
For 2.25 pesos, we got to the Balcarce terminal. The terminal area looked pretty bleak. We saw a local bus, so I aksed the driver if it goes to the center, and he said yes. We hopped on, and ended up getting off at an area that looked pretty central.
First order of the day was to get lunch. Balcarce is not a happening town! We went to look at one place, which was closed. So we found a cafe to eat at across the street. Sean had a milanesa and I had a ham, olive, and cheese pizza. Not great, but enough to fill me up.
Then we headed over to the Fangio Museum. Juan Manuel Fangio was a race car driver born and raised in the little town of Balcarce. The museum — 7 pesos (abit over $2) is well worth it. Its a large museum, houses many old race cars, history of Fangio and other Argentine and Brazilian race car drivers. Sean loved it. I was also pretty impressed.
We went to the tourist info office moreso to get a map to find our way back to the bus station. But the lady gave us a whole itinerary for Balcarce. She was so excited to tell us all about Balcarce..I couldn´t be rude and stop her. Seems that not too many people visit Balcarce!
It was time to pick up some groceries for the rest of the week. The selection was limited, but we made out with about 45 pesos of groceries — mostly packaged soups and pastas. Just enough to hold us over for the rest of the week.
We were going to take the red or green collectivo back to the station, but couldn´t figure out where to catch them or which busses they were, so we ended up walking all the way back. At one point, I was tired, so we sat on the side of the road to rest. Then crossed the median, only to find the bus terminal about 100 meters away. Duh!!!
We caught the 5pm El Rapido back to La Vigilancia, cooked dinner later, and then called it a night.
Tags: Sierra La Vigilancia, Travel
Marisa