After an hour driving in silence, because Konrad was busy focused on the landscape and the people we saw along the road, we arrived to the familiar, flanked with trees, private lane to the main house. It was as I remembered; a large colonial structure that was later enlarged with a very strange Gothic structure, almost looking like a tower with windows. All painted in the traditional creole pink, with a lake on the back part (swans included) Does Konrad like this? I have my doubts. (The Substitute, p. 94)
The original house is called Estancia Santa Rita and nowadays is a hotel, located in Carboni, near Lobos, some 120 kilometres from Buenos Aires. It is an historical property as it was Juan Manuel de Rosas' house, supreme leader of the Confederación Argentina from 1830 to 1852 when he was defeated and went into exile to Southamptom. We will not digress on his politics as Rosas was loved and hated on equal proportions. In the early nineties the house was bought by a German family who transformed it into a hotel after an extensive renovation. The critics are far from brilliant focusing on bad quality service or poor cleaning (Trip Advisor)
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| The original house was built in 1790 by the Ezcurra family (belonged to Rosas' wife) with an extension of 16.000 acres. Just be mindful of the swams |
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| The tower added after 1890 by Antonio Carboni, owner of the lands and founder of the small town where it is located when he donated part of his lands to build a train station. It was a dairy production facility and the train was a key factor for his business success. |
This is what Konrad calls the "hostel ambiance" that was later erased by Malu Blaquier. The brickwork is too eighties for our big boy; it's more for Charlie Sheen in Wall Street.
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| Living room. Is the sofa covered with a blanket? |
Here was where Guntram started to forgive Konrad.
“Does it make you happy? To come here?” He asked solicitous.
“Yes, I would like to come here. I'm crushed that you did it.”
“I want that you're happy with me. You are truly important to me and I don't want that we ever repeat the past two weeks. Once you've learnt your place, everything will be perfect. I'll do anything to prevent you escaping again.” He said softly
chilling my bones and heart as he kissed me in the lips.
I felt lost. How could he say that he loves me and then rapes me to ensure his possession? This man was utterly out of his mind. I had to find a way to run away from him... to the Colombian jungle because I'm certain he could find me anywhere.
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| Dining room |
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| Master Bedroom. Konrad sharing the room with two Buddhas? I don't think so. |
Konrad has clear idea of what he likes, therefore he hired Malu Blaquier to copy the "real colonial" style, inspired from the photos Estancia La Paz which belonged to President Julio Argentino Roca. |
| Estancia La Paz. Ascochinga Córdoba |
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| Estancia La Paz. Ascochinga Córdoba |
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| Estancia La Paz. Ascochinga Córdoba |
As I was telling before, the Estancia Santa Rita is used for tourism and film locations. For example, right after I published The Substitute, Playboy filmed "Luli in Love" staring a well known vedette, Luciana Salazar. In 2011 she was the official girlfriend of the former President of the Argentinean Central Bank (recently divorced) for a full month before he left her for being "too nervous for his taste. Needless to say, the banker became Argentinean men's hero for a week or so. Not everyday you dump one of he most desired women. Reality is harsher than fiction.
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| Luciana (Luli) Salazar. Playboy girl. Estancia Santa Rita Foto: Gente Magazine. Luli had a hard time doing the topless scenes but she sacrificed herself for her audience. Notice this photo is from May (Winter)
Although La Candelaria was not much used in The Substitute- Book 1, it will play a key role in The Substitute- Book II when Konrad will meet again the Argentinean idiosyncracy but in a darker and more sinister way than a recalcitrant airport employee.
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Konrad is such a 'thoughtful' boyfriend, giving such munificent gifts. This is, after all, the little 'hut' Stefania ridiculed at some point. How much was it worth, again? Just one or two million dollars?
ReplyDelete...Our duke's guilt must have been huge, indeed, if he tried to compensate his mistreatment of Guntram by buying him 'La Candelaria'.
Anyway, the estancias, both of the them, look gorgeous. Although I'll side with the duke and Malu Blaquier and much prefer 'La Paz' style. Blanket-covered sofas and Buda-shaped lamps are a bit too much for my tastes. Besides, there's something luscious in Latinamerican colonial style and its re-interpretation of European aesthetics.
...Speaking of, ehem, 'aesthetics', the Luli anecdote... ^___^ It's the little details that made me love this blog. ♥
I've missed 'La Candelaria' and Guntram's Argentinean background, so you've made me a very happy reader by telling us that we'll see more them. \^.^/ ...Wonder if good old George and some of St. Peter's alumni will make a guest appearance...
The 'recalcitrant airport employee' incident still has me in stitches. (^O^) Es taaaaan cierto.
PS. Carta en camino.
>:D YESSSS!!!!!!! I cannot wait to see the sons of Guevara bite Konrad in the ass. After all, this is Konrad in The Substitute, we're talking about, and you /know/ how I feel about him. haha
ReplyDeleteBeautiful place though, and I would have loved to sit by the lake as Guntram did :) Obviously minding the swans! They are certainly moody at times ^^;
And speaking of reality being harsher than fiction!!! I am just glued to the news of Murdoch's UK newspapers being closed down!! It almost makes me want to see what other stories /didn't/ make it, to see if any billionaires were about to be exposed for their gay relationships.
I definitely owe you an apology, too! I owe you my chapter reviews!! :) Promise they are coming! I just ended up doing some light travel in my favorite lone star state and I haven't had the best access to my laptop! But it is coming soon!!
LS, I didn't have the opportunity that our Guntram will finally visit Austin in TS Book 2 (just for a few weeks though) That was written long ago, so I'm not trying to "bribe you". I was there years ago and I liked the city (and people) very much. I would really like to read your comments too.
ReplyDeleteHigashi. Poor Luli,she was so happy announcing that she was the banker's girlfriend on Twitter and only lasted a month (and obtained nothing out of him, cheap bastard. At least Konrad was giving you a nice farewell present) She could only rant on the tabloids.
House price? 1.6 million dollars with land (Guntram only owns gardens (100 acres) and renovation. The "hut" was worth around 2 million, much to Stefania's fury. "Cheap" compared with the 60 million house in Manhattan (plus artworks) she wanted to get in the divorce settlement.
Tionne74
I'm so happy you enjoyed your trip to Austin! :D We are such a flawed state in many ways, but I still love my home! It's going to be a hard deciding whether or not I want to leave after grad school or not! I've actually spent most of my time, here in Texas, living in the DFW area, far West Texas (think Big Bend, mystery lights, and minimalist art that Konrad would never buy! ahhaha), or east Texas, but never in Austin!! But, that will change when I move there in a few weeks :) I'm so happy to finally spend time there; I just hope Konrad was on his best behavior and did not ruin Guntram's trip to my beloved home! haha of course, those two adorable boys might have come too! <3
ReplyDelete(Not sure, why I've gone so Texas-crazy all of a sudden haha) But, if you haven't seen the film "Giant" already (an old Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor movie), I think you'd enjoy it :) It's quite a marathon of film though! But it deals with silly wealthy men, and a fabulous love interest who handles both of them with grace. I recently watched the film at an outdoor theater, where I could see the West Texas night sky, and the experience was unforgettable!
Come back to Texas, if you ever get a chance :D There is lots to see, and plenty of space to roam!
-LS
p.s. I never told you, but having traveled to Hungary recently, I could think of no better place for Repin's wife to meet her end!! Nothing against Hungarians (I now know more of their history, their current fascist problem, paprika, and tokaj wine, than I'd ever wanted to know lol), but their infrastructure upkeep has been suffering since the Horthy Era : / A vacant, dreary, slightly dilapidated apartment suite in Budapest, is where I see Olga meeting her end... orrr you could perhaps feature it here on the blog?? ;) With my luck, she had a lovely villa near the thermal lake spa ^^;
Pobre, Luli. Como dicen por mis rumbos, la dejaron como novia de pueblo: vestida y alborotada. Cierto que Konrad no habría permitido ni anuncios en Twitter ni quejas en tabloides, pero para eso son los regalos, queridos, que un poco de elegancia nunca mató a nadie (pero sí pedir el apartamento de 60 millones como compensación de divorcio ^o^). Ah, ya no hay caballeros en este mundo...
ReplyDeleteAhora estoy intrigadísima: el lado oscuro de la ¿burocracia? argentina, una visita a los EE.UU. (y seguro los amigos de inteligencia han de saber de Konrad y Co.)... ¡Cada día esto se pone más y más interesante!
I never said that Konrad was invited to Austin. Only Guntram. No intelligence people around. I have enough of a mess as it is.
ReplyDeletePor suerte Stefania nunca se enteró del saldo de la cuenta de Guntram "por si algo me pasa". La chica hubiera optado por la viudez :)
Tionne 74
Oh my!!! Guntram goes stateside alone?! :D yeehaw!!!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read about the mess you've created in TS2 >:3 It already sounds incredible.
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