On November 25, 1995, Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales arrived by helicopter to Gaiman, especially to see this famous tea house. Almost two decades after this historic visit, the house remembers daily the arrival of the princess, who died on August 31, 1997 in a tragic traffic accident.
Living in London and drinking tea in Chubut could be as illogical as looking for national beers in Germany. However, in Gaiman, where tea is tradition and Welsh history writes its own chapters, drinking the tea is almost religious.
There, only 17 kilometers from Trelew, there are 6 tea houses, but one of them has a particular history that has made it famous, after an important visit. On November 25, 1995, Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, better known as Lady Di, visited the Ty Te Caerdydd tea house after having a whale watching in Puerto Madryn, taking advantage of her visit to Argentina. They spent almost 20 years of that unusual visit, however, in Gaiman every day they remember it as if it were today.
THE HOUSE OF TE DE LADY DI
Miguel Angel Mirantes with his family is the owner of Ty Te Caerdydd, the tea house that is outside the urban area and has an area of three hectares of park. The man spoke with Travel and Tourism and remembered how it was that the visit of the beautiful princess of Wales came about. "It was an invitation we made at the British Embassy to come to the teahouse. The visit was exclusively to the house, but the mayor asked us to make a descent in the square and people came to meet her, "explained Mirantes.
"When he arrived at the house there was the choir of the people who received it and then we went inside, it was about 45 minutes, it did not come with protocol, and it extended for an hour and a half because it was so comfortable that it stayed longer", He remembered at a distance.
That November 25, Lady Di arrived from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn in Tango 04. There she made whale watching and then took a helicopter that took her to Gaiman, landing in the club that bears the name of the town, and then moving to a 4x4 truck to the teahouse.
Once there, the princess took tea, accompanied by a variety of cakes, scones, different types of jams, sandwiches, and classic and exclusive pies from the house.
The visit was very pleasant, relaxed, and with the simplicity that characterized the princess. Once the tea was over, she stayed to chat in the house and then went out to the garden, where Miguel Angel cut her a rose. Is that according to the story, Diana liked the aroma, and was surprised that so south of the world there were so pretty roses.
It was undoubtedly a historic day for the town, and also for the Mirantes family, who day after day relive this visit with the arrival of tourists who come exclusively for tea and learn a little more about the visit.
"Every day that tourists come to our house they make us relive that visit and they are interested in all the things that she used, where she sat, where she was. Every day we are asked these things and it is something very nice for the family, we always remember it, "said Miguel Angel.
"We had something very marked in the family, it was very important for our area, I remember a melancholy-eyed princess, and a very normal person for the title she held at that time," he explained.
Lady Di died on August 31, 1997 after a traffic accident in the Alma tunnel, Paris, when traveling with Arab mogul Doddy Al Fahed. Since then every anniversary, dozens of people come to the house of the 202 farm to honor her. The event is spontaneous, since the house avoids making his death a marketing action.
As Miguel Angel explained, "it's an influx of very important people, it's something that every day surprises you more, because people ask to see the photos we have, they express themselves in different ways, from a boy to a mom who brings the boy so that know her, even an elderly person who is excited to see the photos. "
In this way, every day, Ty Te Caerdydd receives dozens of people who occupy their tables to taste their delights of homemade tradition. Take tea for an affordable price and you can do from 14 to 20 hours. Tasting the rich products that Lady Di tried, approaching "a tradition and culture that deserves to be known", explains Miguel Angel who grew up with this Welsh custom of drink the tea.
