We ended up at a great hotel in Córdoba. Great location downtown making easy walks to the sights about town. We had some fun touring the crafts fair on a Sunday in the Guemès district but really no great dinner finds until our last night and this was across the street from our hotel! We had noticed people lining up for takeout here so we swooped in just as they opened, 8 pm, and got Schwarma and Falafel to go. Great meal. Huge wraps we ended up finishing the next day.
Walking about town, we saw quite a few spectacular churches, particularly set off at night.
We walked to the University of Córdoba, which is the oldest in South America. We either missed the original version or they have remade it all in a Brutalist style of concrete and teeny tiny windows. At one point I said one of the buildings looked like a top secret warehouse, Katie said more like a prison. It was one of the physics buildings.
We did rent a car to get in a few day trips. We visited Alta Gracia which for us was highlighted by a tour of Che Guevera’s childhood home. Learned a bit about him which was different then what you learn or hear in the States. He was quite the explorer early in life, riding a motorized bike all over Argentina and Latin America. When he was older he shared a motorcycle with a friend and rode over a similar area. They also built a raft after the motorcycle broke down and floated for days down the Amazon. Anyway, the museum was kinda the highlight of 2 different days outside of the city. A touristy German town reminded me of a Solvang kind of thing and an outdoor hike led us to the top of a mountain with a cross on it.
Driving was quite the challenge. The cities have very narrow lanes that generally are not marked by lines. Motorcycles weave in an out of traffic, often riding just off the right quarter panel of the car where you can’t see them. Dogs and people appear in the street out of nowhere. Potholes are numerous and for me often unseen or unexpected. Speed bumps and dips are everywhere, often unmarked, unhighlighted and thus jolting. Katie has taken to wearing a sports bra when I drive. I haven’t hit anything so far but it has been very close at times. Drivers tend to drive all over the lanes, straddling the lanes and moving into the lane without notice. Many small crossroads have no signs and it is kind of a game of chicken to see who crosses first. All in all very stressful but mainly this is just in the city except for the dog, pothole, speedbump and dip thing. Those seem to come out of nowhere everywhere.
Not much else to say about Córdoba so I’ll mention a few fun things we’ve noticed. When you fly in Argentina and land successfully, everybody applauds. I kind of remember that when I was a kid but rarely now. Katie has mentioned dinner times which is typically 8 or 8:30 for opening. Fortunately, bars have Happy Hours and they are often 2 for 1 until 8 pm. We noticed quite a few parked cars and trucks outside the city with plastic bottles on the roof. Turns out this is the universal sign that the vehicle is for sale. The size or color of the bottle apparently does not reflect the asking price. And of course everybody still drinks Mate
We are on our way to Salta/Cafayate