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Inland, and some 113km northwest of Buenos Aires is the charming town of SAN ANTONIO DE ARECO ; if you visit only one pampa town during your stay in Argentina, this is the one to head for. The town is the recognized centre of pampa tradition with a popular gaucho festival, the Dia de la Tradicion , held in November, some highly respected artisans, and an extremely attractive and unusually well-preserved town centre. San Antonio also has a prestigious literary connection: the town was the setting for Ricardo Guiraldes' Argentinian classic, Don Segundo Sombra (1926), one of the first novels to celebrate the gaucho - previously regarded as a undesirable outlaw - as a symbol of national values. The town's only real sights are a couple of museums. The most important of these, the heavily promoted Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Guiraldes, is actually a little disappointing, though it makes up for its rather run-of-the-mill collection with a spectacular collection of paintings by the Uruguayan artist, Pedro Figari. But what really makes San Antonio memorable is the harmonious architectural character of the town's centre; all cobbled streets and faded Italianate and colonial facades punctuated by elaborate wrought-iron grilles and delicately arching lamps. Another plus is the town's setting, on the banks of a tranquil river, the Rio Areco. The riverside area is a popular picnicking spot and also has a number of attractive campsites. Despite its modestly promoted status as a tourist destination, San Antonio has retained a surprisingly authentic feel. You may not find the town full of galloping gauchos outside the annual festival, but you still have a good chance of spotting estancia workers on horseback, sporting traditional berets and rakishly knotted scarves, or of coming across paisanos propping up the bar of a traditional establishment such as the Boliche de Bessonart . The town's traditional gaucho atmosphere also extends to the surrounding area, where you will find some of Argentina's most famous estancias, offering a luxurious accommodation option to staying in Areco itself
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