Córdoba and Alta Gracia

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Our trip to Córdoba began with a bang. We got cheap tickets for an overnight bus and went to the bus-station way before it was time. We waited for our bus to be called but it never happened, so when it was time for the departure we searched the 70(!) bus platforms for our bus and couldn't find it. We eventually got onto a bus to Córdoba and we were really excited about the comfort. We didn't expect big fluffy seats, a lot of legspace and a blanket and a pillow in a third class bus. After the bus left, the conducter came up to us and wanted to see our tickets again and he realized what we up until that point missed: we booked a bus for the day before. We were lucky enough to stay on the bus and we didn't even have to pay the difference between the class we booked and the class we eventually rode in.

We liked Córdoba at first sight. It's much cleaner, quieter and less crowded than Buenos Aires, even though it is still bigger than Cologne. Another plus: We had great weather and got the first sunburn of the trip despite factor 30 sunscreen. We checked the local sights, which is really not that much: a couple of churches, museums and historical buidings. Córdoba is famous for its art scene and we visited the Museo Emilio Caraffa which shows contemporary South American art. We especially enjoyed Marcela Mouján. Very cool photo-like 3 dimensional paintings.

After we saw everything there is to see here, we headed outside of town to Alta Gracia which was the hometown of Che Guevara. On the way, we got a first glimpse of the Argentinian mountains and Alta Gracia turned out to be a really cute little town with lots of nice villas and orange trees. We took a tour through the Guevara home which is a museum nowadays and shows mostly pictures and artefacts of Che's youth. After a more of less authentical Cuban lunch we went to a Jesuit residence which is a world heritage site but wasn't that exciting really.

Tomorrow we will hit the road again further north to Tucumán. With a nightbus again but this time we double-checked the date.

Grim's delayed fruit-corner: Eat Cherimoyas! Mark Twain called the cherimoya "the most delicious fruit known to men"!(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherimoya)

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