San Antonio de Areco or Bust!

Here’s a brief look at what it took to get to the Fiesta de la Tradición in San Antonio de Areco this weekend.

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just seemed to work out? Well, for my buddy Nate and I that day came when we needed it the most. We decided the night before to try and get to the Fiesta de la Tradición in San Antonio de Areco. We didn’t have any tickets, knowledge of the town or any idea of how we were going to get there but we knew it would be a good adventure. So we just sucked it up and winged it.

Here is a quick look at the series of events from Saturday night until Sunday night which led to the best night/day in Argentina yet…

11:00pm – 3:30am – Argentine Birthday Party

3:45am – 6:30am – Met up with Nate & Friends at a cool bar in San Telmo

6:30am – 7:15am – Left the bar, changed clothes, grabbed a taxi and raced to the Retiro bus station.

7:15am – 7:40am – When we arrived at the correct bus vendor he told us that the only available bus was for 11:30am (which basically meant we would miss all the festivities). After trying to communicate with him all the different options I decided to walk down and see if there was any other buses heading that way earlier. Not 2 minutes after I started walking Nate called me over and said the guy had 2 tickets available for San Antonio de Areco for the 7:40am bus, but there was no return tickets available. The only thing that was important to us at that point was getting there so… we bought them.

7:50am – 9:50am – Despite the overwhelming size and chaos of the bus terminal we managed to find our correct bus with help from a really nice security guard. And although we told each other over and over not to pass out on the way up to San Antonio de Areco because we would miss our stop… I passed out almost immediately after leaving the station and Nate stayed awake to make sure we got there.

10:00am – 11:15am – Fueled up. Got some much need coffee and some ham and cheese tostadas at a local cafe right in the main square. We ordered something completely different than this but I guess that was the special of the day.

11:15am – 3:00pm – Walked around the town and watched the parade. My favorite part is the Gaucho’s who have a whole heard of horses without any rope or saddles and they follow everything he says. It’s really an amazing site to see. Luckily all our walking paid off because we just happened to find the amazing public asado near the river. We didn’t see any signs or advertisements for the event so it took some exploring discover this hidden gem.

Asado in San Antonio de Areco Argentina

3:10am – 3:40pm – This is what made the entire trip. So, as mentioned, when we got back to the bus terminal after all the days events and running on little sleep we were ready to get back to Buenos Aires. However, the man at the window said the next bus is at 8:45pm. There is no other availability. So after weighing our options we decided to buy the tickets just in case and go try to work something out. As soon as I stopped filming the 3:30pm bus arrived to Buenos Aires and we decided to try to get on. We waited in line and the ticket-guy came out as we were talking to the driver. The guy said “these guys aren’t supposed to be on this bus” (in Spanish) and the driver said… “Tranquilo” (Relax) and he took our tickets and even turned down the $20 pesos I used as “extra incentive”.

Just when I thought we were home free, another bus aid came upstairs where we were sitting and started yelling at us about our tickets. It didn’t help that we were also sitting in his seats. We played dumb because the bus had already left the station and after a few minutes the man finally gave up and told us to go find other seats. There was literaly 2 left on the entire bus.

5:00pm – We made it back to the Retiro bus station 6 hours before expected with full stomachs, sun burns and tired bodies.

What a great day… I love San Antonio de Areco and the Fiesta de la Tradición.

T2t Words of Wisdom: Don’t settle for any bus ticket. Don’t cross any lines but try to get on the one you want. We figured the worst that could happen trying to get on that 3:30pm bus home was that they told us “No”. Many times people won’t make it or they will have extra seats so you might as well try.

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!

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