Easterbreak at the beach!

Marianne Kraai, 21 years old. Student Language and Culture Studies at Utrecht University. Intern at Fundación Ciclo from March 1^st to July 1^st 2010.

After almost 8 hours in a bus, my colleague Dorien and I finally arrived to Villa Gesell on the morning of the first of April. Following the advice of people at the Fundación, we had decided to spend our free days during Semana Santa at the beach of this small but cosy town. Villa Gesell is a typical beach destination; overloaded and hot in summer, empty and cold in winter. It is build along a beautiful coastline with dunes, where you can sunbath or just make a walk from north to south on the wooden walk-way. Villa Gesell has only a few paved streets, and one big street with bars and shops. The rest of the town has been build in accordance with nature, so it seems. It is calm, there is a lot of green and since there is not so much traffic, you can hear birds whistle in the early morning. All Porteños who are once tired of busy and noisy Buenos Aires should come to Villa Gesell for a few days, and emerge themselves in the calm and friendly atmosphere that this cosy town has to offer.

Villa Gesell was founded in 1931 by the German Don Carlos Gesell. He bought some square meters of sand dunes on the Atlantic coast, and transformed them by planting trees and vegetation. In the same year, he built a house for his family, on a beautiful location near the beach and in the woods. This house functions nowadays as a museum about Carlos Gesell, who is considered a hero in Villa Gesell and surroundings.

One day, when the weather was not so great, we visited with some people from the hostel the nearby town called ‘Mar de las Pampas’. Only a bus ride away you’ll find this town located in the woods, and overloaded with cosy places to eat an excellent pizza. Unlike Villa Gesell, it was quite busy, because that day there was a market that attracted many tourists. At the ‘feria’ were all kinds of things for sale, typical Argentine things like mates and bombillas but also clothes and souvenirs. Let me summarise that we had a wonderful day!

Dorien and I spent our nights in Villa Gesell at the Deseada Hostel, beautiful and clean, with lots of facilities. We had a kitchen, a big common room, and we even used the barbeque to prepare a typical argentine Asado! The owners of the hostel, Jorge and his wife Lily, made us feel at home from the moment we arrived. Also the other guests of the hostel, all people from Argentina, made us feel welcome. We ate together asado and chori-pan, drank mate on the beach and saturday night, we went to some bars. Our group was a colourful mixture of nationalities, ages, and sexes, but nevertheless we had a lot of fun, and Dorien and I spoke Spanish during the whole weekend. Therefore, we also learned more Spanish, and we’ve even made some new friends. All in all, our trip to Villa Gesell was definitely worth the hours spent in the bus, and I would love to go there once again! I would like to thank the Deseada Hostel for making our stay unforgettable!