A getaway to Diego Gaynor, a gaucho settlement with Irish airs

The irish immigration in Argentina it put down solid roots in the prosperous lands surrounding Capilla del Señor in the mid-19th century and, little by little, the entire extension of the district of Exaltation of the Cross It was enriched with the contributions of Celtic culture.

From there he transcended the pioneering work of chaplain Antonio Fahy -the organizer of the community, who arrived in the country in 1844- and the decisive presence of the Culligan family, owner of a cheese and butter factory and a hall where his compatriots could profess Catholic worship without being spied on or persecuted.

Less renowned than those revered heroes, Elena Gaynor de Duggan decided to donate some plots for the construction of a stop for the Argentine Central Railway -14 kilometers from the district capital-, which he would name after his father, as a way of honoring the vocation for work that he had instilled in him.

Without having proposed much more than the work of a solitary train station lost in the immensity of the humid pampas, the woman’s gesture was the genesis of the Diego Gaynor areasomething like a hidden treasure of the old road from Buenos Aires to Pergamino, which today – more than three decades after the closure of the branch, in 1992 – adds another point to take into account on the map of Buenos Aires minitourism.

Backed by the central place it occupies in the history of the town, the station marks the starting point of the route proposed to visitors by the neighbors most willing to chat with the newcomers.

They are usually seen and heard in the traditional Betty’s store and along Lázzaro Avenue, where the birds chirping that prevail on both sides of the road alternate sporadically with subdued voices that seem to celebrate one of those unforeseen encounters between strangers.

Verónica Giménez, one of those spontaneous guides that appear on the sides of the main street, mentions the station, the San Cajetan chapelhe Aerobic Circuitthe children’s playgroundlos two ecological walks recently inaugurated and the La Materina country dining room as the essential landmarks of a possible route.

Rigorously retracing the proposed itinerary in that order makes sense when you average the walk. After walking the paths that converge on the centenary platform – perfumed by the fragrance of grass moistened by the dew of dawn – and immersing yourself in the fresh air of the paths of the two nature reserves that vibrate at the feet of enormous eucalyptus trees, the mind and the stomach point decisively in the direction of the homemade dishes that the restaurant offers on their tables spread out in the park and in the living room.

A while later, Giménez becomes the friendly waitress at La Materina, who resumes her vocation of service to recommend the house’s specialties, while she releases some individual pieces that her memory recovers (“the train was passing in front of my friend’s house.” grandmother and she extended her arm to stop him, like a bus,” he says candidly).

One by one, the diners are stunned by the exquisite flavor of the empanadas, the provoleta with garlic bell pepper, the beef eye with rustic potatoes, the bacon ravioli with plum, sorrentinos, vacuum, chorizo ​​steak, the flan, the dulce de leche pancake or chocolate mousse.

During the after-dinner meal of the unmissable ceremony of tasting the typical flavors, the host’s contributions are added to the host’s rescue of moments, characters and places. Carolina Quirno Costa says that she had the privilege of meeting “Pancho” Culligan, “the last Irish pioneer“, a character full of money,” he says, who died more than twenty years ago.

For her part, Carolina Soto says she lives in the best of all worlds. Her little Eden stretches out to two points, between Chenaut -where he lives- and Diego Gaynor. She enjoys it every day along the 20-kilometer dirt road that connects the two towns and she travels without tension, always courted by the flights of birds, until they are lost on the horizon of the planted plots.

• From the city of Buenos Aires to Diego Gaynor it is 99 kilometers along Route 8 (Panamericana Pilar branch).

• Miter train from Retiro to Capilla del Señor (14 km from Gaynor) with transfer in Victoria, $794 one way in cash or $356 with SUBE.

• Bus 57 of the Atlántida Company also arrives from Plaza Italia (branch F, $831; with SUBE, $374; branch N, $1,454; with SUBE, $654) combined with bus 429 from Pilar.

• Remís Los Gallegos from Capilla del Señor to Diego Gaynor for 4 passengers, $10,000 one way (02323- 492-429).

• Empanada at the La Materina country restaurant, $1,400; field table for two people, $6,600; ham and mozzarella sorrentinos or pumpkin and mozzarella with stew, $9,650; pork bondiola with garnish, $11,500; rustic potatoes with herbs, $11,500; dulce de leche pancake, $4,000; homemade flan, $3,500; lemonade with mint and ginger, $2,200 (152-2880503 / lamaterina@gmail.com).