Don’t miss Parque El Desafío , the perfect remedy to long-distance travel fatigue. Its octogenarian owner Joaquín Alonso, the ‘Dali of Recycling, ’ spent 30,000 hours fashioning some 80,000 bottles, cans and soda containers into whimsical folk art. Though he created the park to entertain his grandchildren, adults can appreciate it just as well. Plaques (some translated into English) with folk sayings and quotes from Seneca and Plato offer wit and reflection for all amid this symphony of junk. As one proclaims: Si quieres vivir mejor, mezcla a tu sensatez unos gramos de locura (‘If you want to live better, mix up your sensibility with a few grams of craziness’). The park gained Guinness World Record status in 1998 as Earth’s largest ‘recycled’ park. Visitors can’t help but leave El Desafío (translated as ‘the achievement’) without a smile, a whimsical notion or whiff of inspiration, which is its own testament. It’s at the western entrance to town.
