Couch Surfing in Rosario
One of the amazing things we’ve encountered throughout our journey is the hospitality of Argentines. Whether it’s a free ride, tips and advice, dinners or even free nights in an apartment, we’ve been spoiled by the generosity of this country.
One such example was our recent stopover in Rosario. While in Mendoza, we met Alejandro and Andrea. After talking to them for a while, they offered us a room in their apartment if we ever passed through Rosario. A few weeks later, they dropped us an email reaffirming their offer. They weren’t just being nice, they actually were nice.
So, on our way back to Buenos Aires, we made a stop in Rosario, which wasn’t in our original itinerary, but how could we refuse?
|
|
Rosario is the second largest city in Argentina, but is overshadowed by Buenos Aires, a quick 4 hour bus ride away. However, the peace of the city cannot be overstated. With wide walkways through town and along the river, lots of green space and an impressive plaza – Rosario was the calm before the storm that is Buenos Aires.
Our friends Alejandro and Andrea were very gracious and opened their apartment to us, giving us our own room. Our first night, we got to really test our Spanish. It had been some time since we really got to practice our Spanish beyond reserving a room or ordering dinner.
The next day was full of wandering through the city led by our fearless guide, Alejandro. We visited the nearby park, Parque Independencia, which border’s on the Newell’s Old Boys Club Atletico – home of the town’s premier futbol team. We wandered down Boulevard Orono to the river and walked a while along the river.
|
|
Sunday morning, we explored the plaza, which was quite impressive. We took the elevator to the top of the Monumento Nacional a la Bandera and had a bird’s eye view of the whole city. After a walk back along the river, we stopped for a drink and to rest our feet before the final walk home.
|
|
As our guidebook said, the people of Rosario are hospitable and ready to make you feel at home. Thanks to our friends Alejandro and Andrea – we can affirm that statement. Hopefully we can pass on the hospitality to someone else some day.
