A thermal park, the origin of Argentine cake and a great feat, on a getaway to Dolores

Halfway from the city of Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata, Dolores had to exhibit more than one proof of her own identity in order to leave behind that stigma of a “passing place”.

Without making much noise, for just over a decade, the city founded in 1817 It began to be viewed as a possible final destination for travelers seeking rest and less traveled horizons.

One of the most solid pillars of this reconversion was the enhancement of the Argentine cakethe greatest emblem of local gastronomy, created by two maids with 25 layers of puff pastry alternating with dulce de leche and butter, a great success to delight the palates in the still inhospitable pampas of the 19th century.

That delicacy tried out then without great expectations to offer to neighbors on national holidays is today a deep-rooted tradition which are rescued all year round by the experienced hands of Yanina Battistesa – representative of the Argentine Cake Festival, which is celebrated every May 25 – and 29 other producers from Dolores.

The most genuine circuit of Creole gastronomy extends to smoking grill runner and stalls selling regional products, where all the attention seems to be focused on the cross-roasted cuts, a staging to the elements that summons every frequent or unsuspecting traveler from the two shoulders of Route 63.

At the entrance to the city from the northern access, the salty and sweet waters of the Thermal Park They are the first good reason to set foot in Dolores and give it a few days to discover its charms and some central passages in the country’s political history.

The purely recreational profile of five swimming pools (two of them covered with glass domes), a park, a shopping center and children’s games rewards visitors who decide to break away from the dizzying progress towards the Atlantic Coast.

Around this pleasant gathering of tourists caressed by the warm waters, a brand new neighborhood of cabins unfolds along newly laid out streets, an incipient urban complex that barely alters the rural landscape.

Only the facilities of the Days Inn hotel stand out, a modern venture with high-end services, an indoor thermal pool and the menu of the Romeo y Julieta restaurant, based on international dishes, but without deviating from the typical flavors of the area.

“We change the menu according to the seasonsalthough you can never miss the traditional asado banderita with Spanish potatoes and roasted vegetables, bruschetta with pistachio mortadella and warm mozzarella, chorizo ​​steak with herb butter and roasted garlic, sweet and sour bondiola with bacon, plum and caramelized onion sauce, cheese and sweet and homemade flan,” highlights chef Lucía Coria, most recognized in Dolores for the homemade pasta she prepares – the best lesson she learned from her Italian grandmother – and the artisanal croissants she kneads and sells at Pizza Mía, in the center of Pains.

Two kilometers from the thermal complex, the cabins and the best-equipped hotel in Dolores, in Castelli Square the sounds resonate. echoes of the Cry of Doloresthe uprising of the group of ranchers from the south of Buenos Aires who formed the Libres del Sur group to rebel against the authority of Juan Manuel de Rosas, who had imposed a rigorous blockade of imports and exports.

About 170 residents supported the uprising, although they could do little in the battle of Chascomús on December 7, 1839, when they were defeated by the Government militias.

The revolution that was left halfway is told in detail in the mansion with tile roofs and white walls of the Historical Museuma superb touch of colonial style in the middle of the paths and groves of Parque Libres del Sur.

Documents and objects from the period revive that uprising along with a profuse collection of elements that were part of the daily life of gauchos and original Pampas settlers, data on the fauna of the region and displays of carriages, including the imposing people from Dávilaa merchant recognized for his journeys to transport cargo, parcels and messages between Dolores and General Lavalle.

Just as the calm natural atmosphere of the park continues a few blocks away in the Corsódromohe plant labyrinth and the lake of the National Guitar Festival Walk, the most strident brilliance of Dolores’ past is preserved unchanged behind the Greco-Roman façade of the Court Palace (built in 1922), the stately atmosphere of the lyrical hall of the Municipal Theater (a sample of good taste bequeathed by the Sociedad Italiana Unione in 1913) and even the patina of nostalgia suggested by the mantle of dried banana leaves that covers the tracks and platforms of the train station, preserved in its original state since 1879 .

Without prior notice, in any of these reference places, the visitor may come across the always kind and hospitable gesture of the lawyer, scientist, explorer and adventurer Alfredo Barragán. These days mark forty years of the most resonant achievement of the greatest local hero, who in 1984 managed to fulfill the dream of repeat the audacity of Christopher Columbus.

After an eventful 52-day navigation through the Atlantic, the daring five crew members of the Atlantis Expedition, led by Barragán, managed to unite Tenerife with La Guairaon the coast of Venezuela. A monument located on a roundabout on Route 63 offers a strikingly austere tribute to that feat of global impact.

Barragán’s name here reaches dimensions as respectable as those of other personalities strongly rooted in the Dolorense identity, such as composer and musician Abel Fleury (“The poet of the guitar”), Juan Vucetich (inventor of the fingerprint system to identify people), the politician Aristóbulo del Valle and those Uruguayan mulattas who, by pure intuition, became the pioneers of the Argentine cake.

These and many other stories of life and attachment to payment, nuanced with legends and rumors spread in low voices, are reconstructed by the program “Let’s save the heritage”, during the free guided tours who are organized to uncover the secrets of the Municipal Cemetery.

The silent atmosphere of the cemetery explodes on the other side of Route 2 like a modern version of the Grito de Dolores, this time expressed by the wild sounds of cars accelerating down the long straight of the Racetrack and the shouts of the public that come down from the stands of the Hippodrome, until calm is recovered in the Golf, the Nautical Club and the Aeroclub, other bastions of the relaxed air that best suits Dolores.

• From the city of Buenos Aires to Dolores it is 214 kilometers along the La Plata Highway and Route 2.

• Roca Train from Constitución (3 hours 30′), $14,750 one way in Primera and $18,350 in Pullman; from 3 to 12 years, 50%; retirees and pensioners, 60%.

• Micro Platabús or Cóndor Estrella from Retiro (2 hours 30′ to 4 hours), $21,450 common, $23,800 to $26,200 semi-sleeper and $28,900 sleeper car.

• Remís Dolores for 4 passengers from the Dolores bus station or train station to the thermal complex and the Days Inn hotel, $5,000 (02245- 15557979).

• Days Inn Hotel: one day and one night in a Standard double room with breakfast, gym, sauna, indoor heated pool, games for children, ping pong and refrigerator, $200,000; Superior double, $230,000; quadruple, $250,000; Monday or Tuesday night, $175,000 double Standard, $220,000 double Superior and $240,000; Wednesday or Thursday, $185,000 Standard double, $230,000 Superior double and $250,000 quadruple.
• Promo for 3 days and 2 nights during the week (add two massages and two snacks), $355,000
• Reservations and information: 155- 1577171 / 154- 0333688 / recepcion@daysinndolores.com.ar / www.daysinndolores.com.

• Admission to the thermal complex, $9,500; from 3 to 11 years, $6,050; retirees, $7,600; parking, $2,200 (02245- 15405692 / 02245- 441-925 / secretariaturismodol@gmail.com / www.termasdolores.com.ar.

• A dozen Don Abel alfajores, Torta Argentina type, $12,000 (www.alfajor-argentino.com.ar).

• (02245) 446-060, extension 122 / (02245) 15408766
• turismo@dolores.gov.ar
• www.dolores.gob.ar