CBA

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just got back from the most amazing place i've ever been to on earth.

wed night molly and I got on our 10 30 pm semi cama bus to córdoba sooo excited for what was to come. we got there at 7 20 am on thursday morning, arrived at pewman che hostel and were the only huespedes. the guy told us that we would have the hostel to ourselves this week because for some reason no one was coming to córdoba. we took a 2 hour descanso and then set out to explore the city, starting with delish facturas and cafe dobles at la panderina down the street. after that we headed to nueva córdba to see the jesuit crypts, a bunch of churches, cathedrals, and basilicas. we also stumbled upon a limited time picasso exhibit at bellas artes museo, the whole exhibit was dedicated to his friend who he met while exiled in france, so it was really interesting. we ate lunch at the most ridiculous place called il gatto, because lonely planet recommended it. not only is it a chain, a very expensive chain, but the food isn't that great. after more walking around and exploring we headed back to our hostel and went to dinner at la mamma. la mamma was an amazing italian restaurant really close to our hostel that had delicious home made pasta and sauces. we see this amazing menu that is like 30 pesos for an insane amount of comida and postre and some waiter comes over, who isn't ours, and proceeds to talk to us in "english" informing us that this menu has no sense right now and wondered if we needed him to make a recommendation to eat something like this. we shared a bottle of vino blanco and headed to johnny b good, what was supposed to be a loud, crowded bar that plays american rock music. in actuality, it was equivalent to an applebee's and was really lame, so we just tomared a traigo and went back to our hostel since we were waking up really early the next day.

the next day we woke up really excited for the desayuno that was included in our hostel. the lovely sound of chirping parrots, sawing wood, hammers, and loud spanish begrudgingly got us out of our beds and we headed for the dining room. well, desayuno was a luke warm pot of burnt coffee, a bowl of retoasted toast that looked and tasted about 72 years old. a hunk of really cold manteca and powdered milk for our coffee. since it was so disgusting, we got suckered into buying these huge manzanas from "rio negro" "muy ricisimo" so we got them, along with some manis and agua and headed toward the minibus terminal. we got on a bus to villa general belgrano, a tiny mountain town about 2 hours north of cordoba proper. it was really cute, we walked around a lot sacaring photos of the beautiful central sierras. with about 30 minutes to kill we notice a tempting sign that leads us to alfajor and chocolate house, i mean how could we not? we walk up this hill and it is legit someone's house that we walk into. a few seconds after we enter a woman who i can only describe as jabba the hut with knee high socks, flip flops, denim skirt, and wheezing breaths waddles out behind a curtain and sells us delish homemade dulce de leche alfajors and homemade white chocolate. we got on a bus to la cumbrecita, about 2 hours more north of villa general belgrano. it was a very very small town, a mixture of people who lived there as well as a ton of resorts and hotels. no cars were allowed so the bus dropped us off at the foot of a bridge that we walked across into the town. we hiked a good while to a cascada, which was breathtaking (so toolish). we had a romantic date eating manis, and chocolate on a rock in the middle of this crystal clear water with a casada in front of us, surrounded by the incredible sierra mountains, like are we for real? also, why do i only/always go on romantic dates with girls? we went back up the mountain and climbed a high incan trail which randomly led us to a cementario in the middle of the mountains - really REALLY creepy. we shared a tiny cafecito while searching for guaps amidst a sea of fes - we found one but it was in an orange jumpsuit, que? that night we got dinner at faustino, after walking SO fucking far looking for a place that no longer exists, thanks lonely planet. faustino was really nice, tried pickled rabbit for the first time! we decided that as tired as we were after downing a bottle of vino tinto we couldn't not go out in cordoba. we went to the main street with all these bars and lounges where all the youngsters were headed. we went to the mistake, which turned out to be a mistake. it was the fest of the fe bars in cordoba. the cashier woman was wearing no bra, she was nipping out and just swinging in the breeze, no shame at all.

the next morning, since my camera had died at la cumbrecita, we set out to buy a disposable camera at the kodak store and then got on a bus to la quebrada del condor, la pampilla which was 3 hours outside of cordoba. on the bus, the fe woman sitting next to us procedes to barf into her coat, like just retching all over the place. instead of folding up the coat she holds it up so all of it drips down and puts in the overhead compartment. we give her a plastic bag, she seems really grateful. they move away from the puked out seats and sit behind us. she continues to retch into the plastic bag and then LEAVES the bag on the floor of the bus. not only fe, but classless as well!? soo much later we get dropped off in the middle of nowhere on the highway, just surrounded by desert and mountains. we find the entrance to la pampilla and begin our 3 hour hike to the gorge! it was so amazing, we hiked, fed our apple cores to wild horses (guys i just ate the most rica thing ever) and kept a watchful eye out for pumas. we arrived at the gorge and as if the day wasn't already the best day of my life, it was the most incredible place i've ever been to. i'm such a city kid, but it was so beautiful, just intense nature i don't know how to explain without sounding like the president of tools. we watched endangered andean condors fly and nesting and riding the thermals of the gorge and it was absolutely incredible.

that night we got back and met lissy and emily for dinner at la mandarina. the drinks didn't know us out, the food was like a little bit of veggies with a lot of MSG and soy sauce and the waiter was retarded. we didn't have it in us to go out that night, so we just did the usual, go back charlar for about an hour about how ridiculous pewman che is and then fall asleep. sunday we slept in, got lunch and continued to walk around the city, after awhile we realized that everything in cordoba closes on sunday, so we got some delish helado and returned to our hostel to watch changing lanes (really intense movie!) and found ourselves in the middle of a viejisima fiesta - like abuelas with white hair. ridic. we went to la feria in guemes and only got a piece of cake and an alfajor instead of some antiques.

it's nice to be back in buenos aires. have a good amount of reading to do, really still exhausted. the chilean guy and cuban girl moved in upstairs, still haven't met/heard them. had the best weekend of the trip so far sooo freakin lucky for all of this!

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