“The philosophy of La Pasionaria is to allow you to feel at home away from home. It doesn’t pretend to be a hotel, it’s a house… it’s a home”
This is how Silvina, owner of La Pasionaria, a small, privately owned and run guesthouse, describes the rural retreat to me as she collects me from the bus station in the countryside of Las Heras, two hours from Buenos Aires.
The sprawling countryside that surrounds La Pasionaria is a far cry from the black smoke and bustling traffic of Argentina’s capital city. Despite its farm animals and allotments, it’s a posada, not an estancia, as the focus is on the guests over the animals living on the land. The whiff of the countryside starts to creep through the windows of the bus as we are more than 10km away and upon arrival, the long, tree sheltered drive instantly made me feel the journey was worth it.
This, according to Silvina, is the entire purpose of this beautiful country retreat. Relaxation. Everything is laid back and unscheduled. “There are no timetables for mealtimes; guests eat when they’re hungry.” As every guest is different, so is every stay, customised according to his or her needs and wishes.
Over some of the best empanadas I have tasted in Buenos Aires, she tells me that there are people who come and ride horses all day, and then there are guests that come just to relax, “they don’t want to do anything except eat and rest”.
Anything is possible. A married couple are permanently in residence at the posada to help with your every whim, be it a lift to the nearest town, or a special cut of meat for the asado, which you have decided to eat outdoors on the huge wooden table, and stools, made from trees cut from the extensive grounds.
One of the most special things about La Pasionaria is the decoration, which sets the mood of the entire place. “Nothing is new. Everything has its own history, reclaimed from somewhere else” explains Silvina. While the asado is being served, she shares a few of these stories with me. The huge metal pillars, which hold up the porch roof and outside doorframes, were bought from the Kennedy University after the old building was demolished and rebuilt. They sit alongside a bed-turned-outdoor sofa, which was the childhood bed of her father who is now more than 70 years old.
Indoors, each of the three bedrooms is tastefully decorated in a style that I can only describe as “mismatched country chic”. Homemade patchwork rugs cover the floors, and the pillars of the four-poster bed in the master bedroom are tree trunks, again, taken from the grounds a long time ago.
Lunchtime is an extremely casual affair, after the homemade empanadas, we watch gaucho-turned-chef Cesar cook one of the best asados I have ever tasted. The choripans and ribs in particular deserve a mention, as does the salad, which is composed of three different types of lettuce, grown organically just metres from where we are sitting.
Whilst eating, we are joined by a few thousand flies, which, at first, bothered me greatly and I frantically tried to wave them away from my food. But as Silvina shrugs and says “well, this is how you know you’re in the real countryside”, I become much less uptight, and accept the uninvited guests as a sign that I am breathing real fresh air for the first time in two months.
It is impossible to get agitated at La Pasionaria. It is so peaceful, to the point where part of me feels I should be walking barefoot, reading Keats. There are some wonderful places to just sit and watch the day pass: in a deck chair by the small, but very well maintained swimming pool, in the protruding roots of the huge, old tree, even in an old barber’s chair on the west side of the house, which somehow works within the style of the posada.
Just before dusk, we embark on the part of the stay I have been looking forward to most: horse riding. I am by no means experienced, having not ridden a horse since the 90s, but I am assured that the horses are very calm, and although wary of me at first, I feel sad by the end of our trek to have to say goodbye to my horse Picaflor.
Horse riding is not easy. It takes me a good ten minutes to get Picaflor to do anything except walk in circles or backwards, but after some gentle persuasion, we begin out tour around the fields of the posada. My newfound skills are tested, when after some heavy rain, we discover that one of the fields has flooded and I have to guide Picaflor through metre-deep water.
Silvina explains how the ideal stay at La Pasionaria is two days, one night, where you can horse ride and take a bike tour of the surrounding villages and old railways. At the end of the day, tired, yet well rested we regrettably head back to Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, although the countryside slowly starts to fade into the city, I manage to retain a little of the serenity from today’s visit, and the two and a quarter hour journey seems to fly by.
Extra info:
La Pasionaria is not the easiest place in the world to get to without a car. Buses are irregular and confusing; much better is the train, which leaves regularly from Once, with a change in Merlo. Upon reaching Las Heras, someone from La Pasionaria will collect you and drive you the 11km to the posada.
A day stay, from 10am to 6pm costs $260 per person and includes breakfast, an asado lunch with coffee and dessert, a snack at 5pm and use of the horses within the grounds or a guided tour to the village. A two day stay costs $830 per person, incudes all the above plus a full day bicycle tour of the nearby areas on the second day with picnic. For reservations and further information, visit www.posadalapasionaria.com
