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Published: November 3rd 2009
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Oktoberfest
We just missed it by a few weeks. Wurst and Oopma
After the excessive noise in Cordoba, we needed a break. We needed quiet. We needed tranquil. So, way earlier than we felt like waking up after our fiesta at the hostel the night before, we headed to the minibus station and boarded a two hour bus to Villa General Belgrano. VGB was settled by survivors of the German battleship Graf Spee. VGB is a small town of about 6000 residents and has a decidedly German feel, although most young residents no longer speak German. We knew we had just missed their Oktoberfest celebration by almost two weeks, but we were expecting bratwurst and big beers. But, most important, we wanted a few days of quiet. We found it all.
If Walt Disney himself designed a German village for tourists, with all the signs in Spanish, and dropped it in the valley of a mountain range in Argentina, this is what it would look like. All of the street signs were carved from wood with decorative flourishes. All of the shops were adorable, with great German touches. The shops sold micro brewed beers, German and Argentinean pastries, and trolls. I thought that was a little
Funky Man
Selling candies strange, but I found a great little troll to sit on the ledge of a book case drinking a little frothy beer. We sat at an outdoor café where I had a café con leche with Black Forest Cake. Eric enjoyed a big German beer and a plate of sliced sausages with mustard. Most important we sat outside and soaked in the sun in relative peace and quiet. The entire time we were there I had to keep reminding myself that we were in Argentina and not Germany. It was surreal.
For dinner we ate at Viejo Munich, and institution in Villa General Belgrano. When we arrived oompa music was playing in the background. We ordered one of their home made beers. Eric had an enormous bratwurst with some of the best sauerkraut we have ever had with bits of bacon mixed in. I had pork goulash with spaetzle (small dumplings). It was very tasty and very German - tender pork with a tangy paprika sauce and the spaetzle was melt in my mouth delicious. When we arrived the restaurant was pretty empty because it was so early, well before 9pm. An older couple came in who spoke German
to one another. It was obvious to me that they have lived there for some time, but were falling all over themselves trying to speak Spanish with the server. Considering their age, I admit that I right away thought of the Nazi hunters. I have heard that there are many communities in Argentina and Chile with former Nazi sympathizers, for all I know this could be one of them.
The Town That Internet Forgot
We spent our two brief days in Villa General Belgrano doing not much of anything - we woke up to a great breakfast each morning, we wandered the tiny village, ate German food, drank Argentinean café con leche, and even watched some movies at the hotel. The one thing we could not do, it seems was find internet. We had no wifi at our little hotel. We were told at the there were three restaurants in the town that had wifi. We wanted to try to find a place to stay at our next spot, and were trying to confirm some bus schedules, so we needed some wifi. So, we stopped at a ridiculously expensive café, ordered two coffees, and after we
received them, realized the wifi was not working. We went to the next place, a bar that was really quiet - all eyes were on a big football match. We learned our lesson, and knew to check if the internet worked before we ordered anything. It did not work. The third place with internet was closed. Finally, the owner of our hotel let us use an ancient and slow computer in the travel office that was below the hotel. It was closed and he opened up the office and booted up the computer for us. We quickly did what we needed to do, skipping the bus research and instead walking to the bus station to arrange transportation. I knew that the small town seemed historical from its façade, but it has been some time since we have had such a hard time finding internet on this trip. But, that’s what comes from desiring a tiny and quiet town.
An Unexpected Long Journey
We checked out after breakfast on our last morning in Villa General Belgrano. VGB was only about 2 hours south of Cordoba, and on the way to our next destination, Mendoza, closer to the
Chile border. The problem was that, although we were about 8 hours from Mendoza, we could not find a bus to take us there directly. We needed to take a bus back to Cordoba and then a bus from Cordoba to Mendoza. So, we checked out of the hotel around 10am, sat outside in the warm sun with some coffee until after noon. Then, we board a two hour bus back to Cordoba . We were starved when we arrived and went right back to our little restaurant for some hamburgers. After, we waited for our next bus. And waited. And waited. We returned to our noisy hostel to drop our bags and hangout for our night bus to Mendoza. We used the wifi, watched some TV, ate some empanadas and made our way to the large bus terminal for our 10:30pm departure. At this point, I felt like we had been in transit for twelve hours already. We upgraded to a suite seat on the bus, with dinner, wine, breakfast and a fully reclining seat. Thank goodness. It was more like business class in an airplane than an overnight bus. We arrived in Mendoza before 8am and made our
way to our hostel on the other side of the city from the terminal. All in all it took us almost 24 hours to travel a distance that should take 8 hours in a car. It finally gave me enough time to finally finish my 1000 page book. It certainly was a journey, but we were thrilled to be in the heart of Argentinean wine country.
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