Mar del Plata beach

There is no real beach in Buenos Aires. The Rio del Plata washes across the waterfront with quite a bit of brackish current. The coastline there is mostly rocky. There are lots of big parks and people hang out and sun in the grass of the parks. The only problem is all the dogs and the fact that almost nobody ever cleans up after their dogs. The sidewalks frequently are covered in crap and the grass at the parks stinks at best from all the dogs. Most of the dogs in Argentina are very well treated compared to other Central and South American countries. So I wanted to go to a real beach. I asked around and everybody praised Mar del Plata which is about 250 miles south of Buenos Aires. I looked into how to get there and there was a train, buses and tours going there. I just wanted to go see the place and if I liked it I might stay so I took a cheap tour to get there. It was an all inclusive tour.

I found the bus at the hotel down from my apartment and climbed onboard. There were almost all locals on the bus and they were mostly families. The bus ride took almost eight hours of screaming kids and crying babies. Next time I will find a better way to get there like renting a car or something. I talked to the people around me in Spanish and we joked a lot about my poor use of the language and my funny Costa Rican accent I still spoke with.

We finally got to the hotel and we all checked in. The hotel was just across a wide road that ran along the beach. The weather was kind of cool and windy with just a little bit of cold misty rain falling around sunset. Not exactly the nice hot tropical beaches I am so familiar with from Central America. My hotel room was ok and our service was also ok. Nothing special just nothing to really complain about either. I took a shower and cleaned up. Our all inclusive dinner did not start until 10pm so I had some time to kill. I was tired from the long ride and I was having some pain issues so I just hung out in the hotel and talked to some of the guests. I did walk across the street to look at the beach. The wind was whipping now and it was dark so I could only see the beach from the city street lights. The beach curved along and was totally built up along the beach right up to the beach itself. In the dark the beach looked kind of rocky but maybe that was just the poor light.

I ate with some young Argentinians that were at the beach to party hardy and gamble. They were pouring down the wine all through the meal of meat, meat and meat with wine. I think there were a couple of green beans and some salad was circulating but I think everybody just rubs the vegetable and salad bowls for good luck and takes another serving of beef. I did not see anybody eating the green stuff. The wine was popular however. They did not understand that I could not get drunk because I was taking medications for pain. They all just said they thought the wine would help me to forget about the pain. I laughed along with them.

The next morning after my buffet breakfast I went over to the beach with my towel and my swim suit on under my long pants. I ended up going back to get a sweatshirt before I even crossed the road. On the beach side of the road there was a wide sidewalk with miles of green chairs lined up. There were already people claiming their spots for them and their friends. The booze was already flowing too. The skyline of highrise buildings built along the curving beach in the large town reminded me of a New Jersey boardwalk. The beach was wide and my first impression from the night before was correct. The beach was not nice sand but instead was course sand and rocks. The waves down at the water's edge were breaking loud and high. Nobody was in the freezing cold water or even close to it because the wind was blowing the cold spray up over the beach. The entire crowd was up on the boardwalk sitting in chairs eating and drinking in a big spring break kind of mood. So much for my beach time. I needed more than my sweater just to keep from shivering. I walked a short way along the beach and then gave up because it was just too cold. I walked back along the rows of chairs and bars and restaurants until I found one that looked friendly and warm. I went in and had some coffee and pastries. I thought about flying back to my condo in Buenos Aires but thought I should try to make it through the three days of my tour. At least the food was good for my all inclusive hotel. I enjoyed myself for the next couple of days talking to various people. I weakly tried to pick up a girl to help me pass the time but I was not very enthusiastic so I just went to bed early every night by myself. The ride back to Buenos Aires was better because I made sure there were no babies nearby me. The bus ride was kind of boring with not much scenery to look at. I made it back to my condo in one piece still longing for a tropical beach.