gorgeous What a gorgeous spot. The (your?) pictures are wonderful. A friend and I did a oral history of an elderly woman who talked about estancias - we couldn't quite figure out if she lived in or near one. Reading your description, which, as always, was wonderful, I remembered her comments.
Churches, palaces, castles Thanks, David--the churches in South America and this confection were magnificent. I imagine the wealthy build impressive structures to impress. I guess our beautiful banks and office complexes (Rockefeller Square) are their modern equivalents. Still, I do love them!
Jacaranda reminding me of Australia Great shots as usual.... In Sydney for one, we have Jacaranda's lining inner city suburbs and dropping their purple carpets just when the red Flame Tree flowers are in bloom... Well those Jesuits had it all... slaves, self-loathing flagellation.... what a life? :)
Jacarandas and Jesuits It's so great when something like the jacarandas remind you of home. Tricky thing with the Jesuits down here--although they exploited the indigenous people, they actually protected them from worse predations from the Spanish capitalists. See the film, The Mission, for a typical and horrendous example.
History and refinement ;~} Jeremy, I thought of you here because of my bike-riding roommates, and yes, it was a very beautiful town. Lovely spring jacarandas are native to and all over South America as well as in my California town, so they always make me a little nostalgic.
Magnificent Cacti Hi Tara... another lovely post and the location sounds idyllic. Hostels (almost) to yourself and plenty of interesting things to see and do... sounds like a great place to travel in. Look forward to reading more!
Idyllic Thanks, Laurie, idyllic is the perfect word for small, sweet Mina, and the cacti were magnificent! This northern Argentina is great--and another blog coming right up.
Excellent hiking! No hiking in the city of Cordoba, and unfortunately, that's about all people visit when they travel here. However, there was lots of hiking in Mina and all the little towns I visited. When I saw your photos with the sequoias, I thought you two looked like real hikers. I guess if you live in big city Stockholm, there may not be too many hiking opportunities. Small towns are the places for that.
Beautiful colors; majestic birds, laid-back towns and adventure in the canyons! Sounds wonderful! Great pics! My usual question is... how are the roads in this part of the world?
Great roads! All you mentioned is true--colors, condors, adventures! And Argentina's roads are great in general. These are mountain towns, so there would definitely be hill climbing, but Argentina has excellent roads and places to explore. Maybe my preference would be the very, bike-friendly Lake District. Oh, do come!
Rock hounds unite! Thank you for your introduction to this part of the world! I am smitten by the canyons and lovely landscapes. Your hostel and the little villages sound quaint and I love how you are taking your time to fully immerse yourself in each new place and report back your findings.
Rock hound heaven If you like rocks, you'd love these little ex-mining towns with their bizarre rock formations. Glad you enjoy the little villages, too. It is so rewarding to spend enough time to know the secret spots overlooked by those of tighter schedules. I am lucky.
I´m a one-way ticket, slow traveler, relishing the freedom of the open road and trusting serendipity to guide my journey. When I was younger, I used to travel for a year at a time. Then a few years ago, I roamed Europe and North Africa for three and a half years and liked that even better.
On August 1st, 2010, I left my peaceful Mission Canyon paradise in Santa Barbara's mellow summer and emerged from a couple of planes a day and a world later in the teeming, sub-zero streets of Buenos Aires´winter. Now, with the Andes, Amazon and Galapagos between here and home, will three years be enou... full info
Helga
non-member comment
gorgeous
What a gorgeous spot. The (your?) pictures are wonderful. A friend and I did a oral history of an elderly woman who talked about estancias - we couldn't quite figure out if she lived in or near one. Reading your description, which, as always, was wonderful, I remembered her comments.