Little Germany on Foot

Today I took the local bus out of the village of General Belgrano to an even smaller town called La Cumbrecita. It´s probably only about 20 miles away but it took an hour and a half to get here over a dirt road. The landscape reminded me of the eastern Sierras: lots of rocks, wild grass and occasional arroyos with trees and vegetation and a creek. They do take advantage of the rocks. There were rock walls that extended for hundreds of yards (yikes! the work!) separating whatever from wherever. Even though the dirt road appeared to be out in the middle of nowhere, I was surprised by the palatial summer homes leading off the road. There would be trees and hedges hiding what was behind them, but I could occasionally spot swimming pools, tennis courts, and magnificently groomed park-like grounds. If I lived in Buenos Aires, I would also want to spend the weekend in a place like this!

Like Belgrano, Cumbrecita was also founded by yet another displaced German looking for a second Black Forest or Baviarian Alps. The village is located on both sides of a steep ravine with the river down below. The area is green and shady, due to a large number of cedar and pine trees which grow thick on both sides of the arroyo. What´s interesting about this village is that you have to park in a lot outside town, and only pedestrians are allowed in the village. You walk past dozens of houses, all looking like something straight out of the Black Forest: balconies,. red tile roofs, planter boxes on the balconies, garden dwarves in the front yard. Overlooking it all is the huge Hotel La Cumbrecita. It´s about 4 stories high with balconies at every level and a large overhanging roof. There are planter boxes with flowers.It looks like a small scale Claremont Hotel with just as dramatic a setting.

At a nearby much smaller hotel, I saw a sign, in German, that said: "Here it´s clean enough to be happy; and dirty enough to be healthy." There were bed comforters draped over the balcony railings, getting aired out for the day. Many of the stores have signs in German and offer German kitsch for sale: beer mugs, chocolate, and , of course, German pastry.

The main attraction of the town is its numerous walking paths. You can walk to a waterfall, or to a delightful swimming pond, and you never seem to be very far away from coffee and pastry or a micro brew beer. About 98% of the tourists are Argentinians. It´s very nice to hardly ever hear another American voice. Occasionally, I´ll overhear an English accent or German.

Next time: Argentine (German?) micro-brewed beer!
Prost!