Trelew & Gaiman
Traces of Welsh immigrants
After visiting Puerto Madryn, to discover the beauty of its marine fauna, we headed towards Trelew, from where our return flight was leaving the following day, on a journey through the Patagonian steppe of just under an hour.
On the road, before arriving, we had our picture taken with the large sculpture of the world's largest dinosaur. That was to be the only image we would take with us of a dinosaur, since the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum in Trelew was - inexplicably - closed.
In view of this, we headed straight to the Nain Glenys Tea House, on the outskirts of neighboring Gaiman, a town created by the Welsh when they migrated in the 19th century.
A curious fact, "tre" in Welsh means town and "Lew" Lewis, i.e. the town of Louis; while Trevelin, another Welsh settlement in the valley on the Andean side, means town of the mill.
From the research we had done previously, it seemed to us that Nain Glenys offered a slightly more authentic experience than the others available in the small Patagonian village. They do not accept reservations, so we decided to go very early, almost at siesta time, to avoid waiting. We skipped lunch, after the great breakfast we had had at La Posada, the boutique hotel we stopped at in Puerto Madryn, and had an early tea.
The service is not good, the cakes and the service in general would appreciate an improvement in quality, but we could not visit this part of Chubut without experiencing the Welsh tea, which was booming after Lady Di's visit in 1995. We did appreciate the presentation, with English china. The rest seemed prefabricated for the typical tourist who is just passing through for the moment.
Then, we took a short tour of the main square, with its butterfly tree and the characteristic red dragon. Just across the street, Gaiman's old central store now offers nice souvenirs for visitors.
From there we went to the Casa Del Poeta Museum, a private initiative of Welsh descendants, in charge of Patricia, who offers an explanation of the tour of the former home of the poet Evan Thomas, in the early twentieth century. The customs and traditions of the community and its inhabitants are described, such as his famous poetry contest. The rooms of the old house are decorated as they were in those days, with elements, objects and furniture preserved by the Welsh families. We were especially struck by the old gramophone, especially when Patricia wound it up and made us listen to a song in Welsh on the gadget. Also on display there are objects from the newspaper Y Drafod (The Mentor) founded by Lewis Jones.
After that, we returned to Trelew, a city with little identity.
There we visited the historic Touring Club Hotel, where Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Julio Argentino Roca and the bandits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid stayed. This is how we remembered our trip to Trevelin, as there are also memories of the stay of these American fugitives in the Argentine Patagonia.
The hotel is an impressive architectural jewel, typical of art deco, with exquisite furnishings. The cafeteria is not far behind, it looks like a museum and in any other city it would be a remarkable experience. However, neither one nor the other offers a service in keeping with its history. We felt sorry for them to show off with such indolence.
That night we did choose a good hotel option in Trelew, La Casa de Paula Bed & Art, a comfortable lodging, where the owner's art is displayed in every corner.
There was not much else to do, just rest in our shelter and wait for the long return home.
