Today is Sunday, and so again I had the day free to see more sights. Mercedes and I left early in the morning and headed for an area of town called "El Tigre". This area was about 30 to 45 minutes away, but it was not a bad drive.
We arrived and immediately I knew that I was going to like this place. I could see outdoor market-type shops everywhere, and stores were selling items very typical of Argentina like bamboo baskets, furniture, wooden blocks for carving meat and much more.
This area is also by a river, and there is a boat that cruises around the banks. We went to check on departure times and ticket prices, and we found out that the boat ride would take about an hour and a half. We decided that we would rather look around and shop a bit, so we decided not to buy a ticket for the boat.
We headed to a big tent filled with shops and started to look at different things to buy. This place was great! It kind of reminded me of "Canton" near Dallas, the way the vendors and stalls were set up, and I was really kind of going crazy, looking at all of the things there were to buy...I knew I would have to calm down and focus on buying just a few little things for friends and family. I needed to "put on the brakes" because if I wasn't careful I would spend all my pesos...and even worse have no way to get all my stuff home!!!
I ended up finding a few really neat souvenirs to buy, and after about two hours we had seen most of the market. We decided to head to another place that also had an outdoor market, called "the Mataderos". We stopped by to pick up Mercedes' friend Claudia, and then we headed to the market.
This was also a really nice place to visit. There were little tents set up outside with things to buy, and there was also a stage with musicians playing music typical to the area. Mercedes and Claudia explained that this area was known for its "gauchos", which are kind of like Argentinan cowboys.
In front of the stage there was room for people to dance. The dancing they did was very authentic to the area, and while people danced, they waved little handkerchiefs in the air. It was so much fun watching the older people from the village come out dressed in traditional costumes and dance for everyone.
We watched the dancing for a while and then decided to buy something to eat. We stopped at a stall and bought some empanadas and drinks. We took our food to a nearby table and ate and talked. The empanadas were awesome...again, just like all of the food has been so far!
Afterwards, we passed by all of the stalls and looked at the things to buy. We even got invited to sit up on a carriage pulled by a pone and get our picture taken. It was a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment