Nov. 10, 2009
San Rafael, Argentina
PLUS:
- "Thank You For Giving Me The Confidence To Go For It!"...
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Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
Tom Phelan, an American friend, traveled to Mendoza province,
Argentina, three years ago to attend a conference. He intended to stay for three weeks but extended that to three months once he got a good look at the place.
Then he and his wife decided they'd like to stay on for good.
Tom and Yvonne aren't alone. This part of Argentina has that effect on people. It's estimated that 400 American families live in the area.
San Rafael, with its unique situation at the point where the
ríos Diamante and Atuel emerge from the Andean foothills, is a big part of the appeal. After the neighboring desert, San Rafael is lush, with sprawling vineyards. It has been observed that this town of about 170,000 residents is to Mendoza as Sonoma is to Napa, California--smaller and quieter and producing great wine.
Tom equates San Rafael to the Norman Rockwell California of 50 years ago (though it's probably the most modern of Mendoza's towns).
More than West Coast U.S., though, San Rafael feels like forgotten Europe.
Acequias, or streetside canals, line the clean, broad sidewalks. All along them, cafés buzz with the conversation of people
tomar un cafe (having a coffee). The central square is alive always with couples walking hand-in-hand and kids on bikes, their girlfriends riding on the handlebars, and the benches are full of people chatting in the shade of the sycamore trees. San Martin's heroic Andes crossing is memorialized by a huge bronze statue here, and the classical San Rafael cathedral looms from the square's northeastern corner.
San Rafael is a place to come to slow down and savor life. Not a fast-food restaurant anywhere in sight. The afternoon siesta, which lasts from lunch until about 4 p.m., quiets traffic and creates a calmness. The town comes alive again at dusk.
San Rafael is flat and laid out on a grid, so it's very walkable, an easy place to find your way around. Living here, you'd never have to drive a car again. Bring your bicycle with you or rent one in town when you want to two-wheel it. The most popular ride leaves from the Bicipartes rental shop and continues parallel to Avenida Hipolito Yirigoyen. The wide bike lane here goes straight through the heart of San Rafael's wine country, taking you past a multitude of wineries.
The oldest part of San Rafael is the ruins of the Fort San Rafael del Diamante on the banks of the Diamante River. Built in 1805 to defend the farms and villages of San Rafael from the wild raids of Indians from Mendoza and Chile, the fort was eventually destroyed by a river flood. The ruins were declared a National Monument in 1942. Once the area was safe, Italy, Switzerland, and France imported and planted their grape varieties here to take advantage of the perfect climate and soil.
As you walk along the riverbanks, you'll understand how instrumental the Diamante and Atuel have been to the progress of the town. They irrigate and provide fertile earth. If not for this, the region would have developed very differently, without the prosperous vineyards and orchards.
Argentina produces about one-half of all the wine made annually in South America, and about three-quarters of Argentine wine comes from the Mendoza region around San Rafael.
If you're seeking a solitary existence, you won't find it here. Indeed, if you are alone, odds are someone will join you soon enough. Argentines value nothing so much as socializing and telling stories. In towns across the country, you find cafés and plazas filled with people chatting, debating. San Rafael is no different. Conversation is a way of life here.
Make sure your overall budget, therefore, allows for active socializing. People in this part of the world adore going out, and, should you decide to live here among them, this will become part of your lifestyle, too. The good news is that entertainment is affordable and accessible. More tomorrow.
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. In addition to pedestrian-friendly town life, a laid-back atmosphere, and one of the best wine routes in all Argentina, San Rafael offers a very low cost of living. We estimate that as little as US$1,200 a month would buy you a comfortable living here, provided you own your home and part ways with your car. Again, more tomorrow...
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Asia Now
This is the best time in our lifetimes to consider Asia. This beautiful and exotic region is more open today than ever, and it's possible for Westerners to travel almost anywhere they'd want to go. At the same time, Asia is fast-changing, and you have now a window to experience it before the face of this ancient land of emperors and adventurers is too dramatically altered.
But perhaps the best reason to take a good look at this part of the world right now is that it hides the world's most affordable retirement havens...the cheapest places on earth to live well.
This land of ancient kingdoms, emperors, explorers, adventurers, traders, and pioneers is also beautiful, safe, welcoming, and, in some parts, completely at peace.
Go Here For More Details
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"Well, Kathleen, I'm going to do it! I have been reading your informative newsletter for almost a year. After telling my husband about your reports, he finally said, 'Well, let's just go there and see what's it's like.' So two weeks ago I found a place to stay for a week and booked flights. We'll be on our way the week of Thanksgiving.
"We have rented a house in
Bocas del Toro. We are flying into Panama's Tocumen airport on Nov. 21, then take a flight to Bocas del Toro the next morning. We also have plans to check out Belize in the spring when I have a week off. Then this summer we would like to spend about a month in one of the two places.
"I can't begin to tell you how excited I am. The newsletter has given me the confidence to try something new.
"I know I've made mistakes already, about airports and other things, but it will all be a new experience, however it turns out. It will be just getting our feet wet, so to speak, but it's a step. Thank you for giving me the confidence to go for it!"
-- Debbie B., United States
Thank you for writing. It sounds like you're in for a grand adventure. Certainly, you've got the right attitude. Please get in touch again after your trip to let us know what you think.
Bon voyage.
.
