Returned from over seas

"I had passed an exiting week in the capital, and I felt the need of getting back to myself before sitting down to write about it for people faraway"

(William Bulfin, Rambles in Eirinn 1907)

After a beautiful sunset in the countryside around the pulperia Esquina de Arguas in Coronel Vidal - which reminded me of Borges' description of 'el crepusculo' - we left the department of Mar Chiquita and traveled to the coastal town Ostende.

I was fascinated by the history of Ostende. The Belgian Ferdinand Robette founded it in 1913. Togheter with Augustin Poli they bought a part of land on the deserted Atlantic Coast of Argentina and built the Hotel Thermas. The hotel still exists by the name of Viejo Hotel Ostende and became popular as a seaside resort among a lot of writers. The Belgians Robette and Poli are described as pioneers, stimulating and promoting coastal tourism. Viejo Hotel Ostende well conserves the history and atmosphere. In front of the ocean there is a part of the old rambla hidden and occupied by the beach attractions of today in between the popular destinations of Villa Gesell and Pinamar.

We had a nice talk with the owners of Viejo hotel Ostende, I was eating mussels for the first time in Argentina we had a rest and start to prepare the material to hit the road again into the rural areas and explore more of "the infinite vastness" of William Bulfin.