Gauchos

Because beef is such a big part of the Argentinian diet, so of course are cows a big part of the Argentinian economy. With all those cows, of course there needs to be Cowboys, but they call them Gauchos. The Gaucho has a big roll to play in Argentinian national idenity. Before arriving we found out that Nov 10th is Dia De La Tradicion a day to celebrate these horseback heros. Also we found out that the biggest festival of them all was in San Antonio Del Areco, a town about 2 1/2 hours away from. We were going to be in the area during the festival, so we had to go. We had a great time, even though we didn't stay the whole festival. It was a bit too expensive. All hotel prices were jacked up during the festival, so we couldonly aford two nights there, but it was well worth it. We got to see racing, roping, dancing, singing and eating (we partook as well) as the Gaucho does. San Antonio itself is a nice town although possibly a little sleepy for most peoples tastes, outside of festival time.