Córdoba & Buenos Aires May 2012 (last stop on RTW.2)

---

Cordoba is the second most populous city in Argentina and was founded on 6th July 1573 by Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera who named it after Cordoba, Spain. It was one of the first colonial Capitals of the region and has many historical monuments from the Spanish rule including the Roman Catholic Church, the Jesuit block which is a World Heritage sight and the Colegio National de Montserrat. There are also plenty of museums and one that sticks out in the memory was the Museo de la Memoria that details the excesses of the Argentinian military dictatorship 1976 - 1983. It was on the site of one of the old clandestine centres for detention and was chilling.

I really enjoyed my time wandering around the city visiting the buildings and museums and stopping for lunch at random traditional restaurants. It’s also a major university town so had a great young vide about the place. I was glad I stopped there for a few days.

The journey from Mendoza was around 10 hours and I treated myself to a luxury lazy boy seat and my own room in the hostel (Link Córdoba Hostel). The hostel was pretty quite and it’s not on the main traveller trail so didn’t sample the nightlife or meet many other travelers however I was happy to do lots of sightseeing and there were two day trips that I wanted to do.

The first was to Villa General Belgrano a little German mountain town a couple of hours north of the City. I managed to locate the bus terminal that serviced that area with some logistical help from the hostel so I set off early on my third day. I loved the history behind the town - in 1940 after the Battle of the river plate German seaman scuttled and sunk their battleship off the coast of Montevideo and 130 of it’s surviving sailors settled in the village. It had a few great German beer restaurants, pastry shops ( just love a bit of apple strudel) and lots of Gnomes !! There was also a lovely little Church where you could climb up to the top floor for a great view of the town.

The second was to the childhood home of Che Guevara in Alta Gracia. The home had been turned into a lovely little museum detailing his time as a child there and also his travels around South America as depicted in the great movie the Motorcycle Diaries. I spent a few hours there and really enjoyed it. After 4 days in Córdoba it was time to get the bus to Buenos Aires and I decided to go for the night bus this time as it was another 9/10 hour trip.

I remember arriving in Buenos A on 26th April 2012 early in the morning at around 6.30am - and it was freezing !! After getting a quick taxi to my hostel I was luckily able to check in to my room and crash for a few hours. In the afternoon it had warmed up and I went for a nice wander around Plaza Dorrego. It was great to be back where I started after such an epic three month trip. I still loved the Plaza with all its grand buildings, quirky little shops in the market, the bars around the plaza all watching the Tango shows in the central area and the surrounding Artisan market stalls. In the evening I went back to my favourite - the Gibraltar pub - for a few pints of ale and a Steak and Ale Pie. Unfortunately I had a really bad stomach the next day (perils of travel and par of the course) and I was out of action for 3/4 days in my hotel room with only quick trips to the chemist and supermarket! It eventually cleared up and I was able to do some more sightseeing and visit the Palermo area and the grand bookshop El Ateneo Grand Splendid on Avenue Santa Fe. After a few days I got a message from an old school friend Christian who flew British airways 777 aircraft for a living and he was flying to Buenos A in a few days. We met up for a great few days hanging out in Plaza Dorrego, some Steak houses and pubs and clubs with the other pilots and crew. He was staying in the Sheraton so it was nice to experience some luxury after living in hostels for months ! We also managed to change my flight home to 8th May with Christian and the other pilots flying me back !! I remember walking up to the aircraft entrance during boarding and the chief cabin steward saying saying ‘Hi Rob! Ah step this way we’ll get you some champagne and then when everyone’s on board we’ll sort you out with a business class seat as its not full today’. I popped into the cockpit and saw Christian doing his day job and had my picture taken. I was soon escorted to my business class seat and was very well looked after during the 13 hour flight back to London with lots of extra food and drink! It really was (and still is) the best long haul flight I’ve experienced and I was very grateful to Christian and all the crew for making the final journey on RTW.v2 such a special and memorable one.......

So my second Round the World Trip came to a close on 9th May 2012 when we landed at Heathrow. It had been such an epic trip full of new adventures and cultures but also revisiting some old ones I’d been to previously. It had included 7 countries; China (inc HK), Australia (just a quick 6 days this time), New Zealand, Fiji, Chile, Ecuador and Argentina. It felt great to be back home however I knew it wouldn’t be long before the wanderlust and travel bug would take hold again......there was so much more to see.

Here are some of the highlights of RTW.v2

- hiking the Great Wall of China and wandering Beijing’s hotong district
- the overnight train journey to Xian and seeing the Terracota Army.
- seeing the Giant Pandas up close and the Shamrock pub Chengdu
- the Zhuang villages Ping An, Dazhai and hiking through their rice terraces
- The chilled out town of Yangshu and it’s cycling and river activities
- crossing the border into Hong Kong and visiting this crazy city again after 10 years. Tequila Jacks bar in Kowloon.
- catching up with the Quigleys and pots of VB at the Romsey Hotel, Victoria
- arriving in Auckland in the middle of the Rugby World Cup, Walking the fan trail and visiting the Dogs Bolix pub before and after every game
- Curleys Bar Waitomo with the new tour group
- jet boating and cruising Auckland Harbour on an American Cup boat
- Milford Sound and the cruise on Doubtful sound
- watching the Rugby World Cup final in a bar in Queenstown and the street party afterwards
- visiting Napier and Sue and Mick again
- the beaches and sunsets of Fiji
- Quito’s Cubijies Santa Rita, Alman Street and wandering Quicentro with the Vallejo’s
- Tena, Papallacta and Madys laugh
- learning Spanish at the Simon Bolivar Spanish school in Quito
- partying until 4am on NYE 2011 and 75 cents litre bottles of Pilsner
- cocktails in Canoa with the crazy Swissies and chilling on the balcony of the La Vista hotel
- Batidos de Coco drink at Atacames
- Tango, Steak and Red wine in Buenos Aires
- Patagonia.....oh you beauty. Glacier Perito Moreno, Hiking Fitzroy and Torres Del Paine, the navimag, the nightlife of Bariloche, horse riding in Pucon and the so many great other travellers I’d met during my 3 months there
- Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar with Denmark....you were a great travel companion.
- Mendoza....more red wine, cracking nightlife and great travellers from all over the world
- Dinner in Buenos Aires with CT and the BA crew that would fly me home the next day...with an upgrade
- the amazing hostels, guesthouses and hotels that I’d stayed in over the previous 9 months.

I’m sure there were plenty more but as before that’s got to be the best of them. Well looking back ( 6 years later !!) it was an amazing trip and I can still remember so many places, faces and events so vividly.......just goes to show that these memories you make from traveling really do last forever.......

Well as I sit here on 6th July 2018 in a hotel in Bangkok on yet another trip I feel very privileged that I can travel so extensively on a regular basis and take none of it for granted. Just as an aside as I’m watching the news on TV...... I usually stay clear of politics as everyone’s opinion is right to them.....however if one of my fellow travellers had said to me back then during one of our alcohol fuelled 2am conversations that Donald Trump would be president of the USA and that the UK will be leaving the EU the folllowing year I’d have said that they were crazy.....!

From a practical perspective I would recommend anyone reading this blog not to keep putting off traveling and doing it while they’re young and in good health. You certainly notice that the actual journey (i.e planes, buses or trains) take their toll and don’t get any easier and you never know what’s round the corner!! Happy travels and as
Mark Twain put it

‘ travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness’ and Freya Stark ‘ to awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world’

---