I arrived in San Luis last night. I am here visiting a friend of my mother's. I had not realized she is a relatively well known public figure until her chauffeur picked me up from the bus station to drive me to her estancia. I told him I was not accustomed to traveling in such class. That said, I can certainly adjust.
This is the perfect place to finish out my travels. Pauola, the help, makes what might be the best cup of coffee I've ever had. There is a dried and cured pig leg in some pig-leg-holding-device on the counter, hoof and all. You slice some meat off and you have wonderfully salty raw ham. It is almost as good as the coffee.
The grounds are about 4,000 acres. They remind me of the woods behind my first home where I used to explore and get lost everyday after school. They seemed as huge and magical as this place really is. I went for a hike today up a small mountain to see what sort of view it offered. On the way up I managed to scare a sort of giant jack-rabbit that was about as big as my dog. Later, I also spooked a very average sized fox. I think the rabbit would take him in a fight.
On top of the mountain the wind was so strong it was hard to stand. I think if I had held out my arms and leaned over the edge the gusts would have held me up. I found a large U-shaped channel in the rock that had been cut by millions of years of running water. It was inclined enough that I was still able to see the fields below me when I lay down in it to escape the wind. The gusts sounded like breaths blown over a bottle but lying in the channel they couldn't touch me at all. If I raised my hand even a foot above my face they blew so hard it was hard to hold my arm steady. I was warm and comfortable and I watched a mare and her colt gallop over to the deep bend in a river for a drink. From where I was the water seemed impossibly blue.
I got lost returning to the house but I was in no hurry. When I found it, it was nice to get in from the cold.
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