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Published: August 25th 2007
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Cordoba cathedral
Behind an outdoor exhibition of photos commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Falklands Islands war ("The Falklands Islands are Argentinian") (N) We will miss the exuberant chaos of Bolivia and Peru, having now traded them for Chile and Argentina, a couple of nations where - as symbols of sophistiation - a seat comes as standard on a toilet, along with toilet paper, taps give forth water and even a towel is often provided.
Thurs 7th June - In Salta. The highlight of the day was the view of San Francisco church against the bright blue sky ("an extravagance of Italianate Neocolonial exuberance", whimpered the Rough Guide). Shortly after,
The Locro Incident occurred.
The Locro Incident: at the small eaterie we had selected for lunch, I chose the one of the national dishes,
Locro, described on the menu as "a stew of pumpkin, beans, chickpeas & veal meat", for A$8 (about GBP1.30). All very innocent. However, the veal meat was actually tripe, and the pus-yellow lumpy appearance of the meal, combined with eyelash-du-chef on the top did not get this culinary experience off to a good start. In fact, the vegetable side of things was ok, but the meat (stringy in parts, fatty & wobbly in others) was something of a let-down. And to cap it all, after we had
Cordoba cafe
Boca Juniors FC are through to the final of the Copa de Libertadores paid, the grumpy waiter mistook my "gracias" (for bringing the change) as a "gracias" for the good service and pocketed it! Even now I feel queasy when I think about that food...
The afternoon did get better, as we went up a great cable car for a view over the city, and that night we travelled on a really comfy coach with fully reclining seats for the 12-hour journey south to the next stop, Cordoba.
Fri 8th and Sat 9th June - Named "Cultural Capital of the Americas" in 2006 (we´re not sure by whom), Cordoba was a city that we found less interesting than anticipated.
I would like to liven it up with a brief quotation from the local paper
La Manzana de Cordoba from 08.06.07: "In the city, there are about 300 people who practise nudism, although the majority prefer to do it in remote places where they are not recognised".
My questions after reading the article are as follows:
1. Where did they get that figure from?
2. How many make up the majority?
3. Why were there no decent accompanying photos?
Etc.
I think we should be told. Anyway, back to
Cordoba - the Jesuits had a very large influence, and what
was worth exploring was their 1645 church
Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus, with a wooden ceiling in the shape of an upside down ship´s hull. However, we weren´t too sorry to be leaving the city on a night bus, over the border to Santiago de Chile.
Sun 10th June - Possibly the coldest border crossing we have ever experienced, at
Paso de los Libertadores, not long after sunrise and several kilometres straight up the Andes. The whole coach had to self-disgorge and stand in a draughty room, shivering while the entire contents of the coach´s luggage compartments were brought out and x-rayed in front of us. Apart from some potentially offensive cosmetics, nothing serious was found and we were allowed to continue our journey.
Now awake, and whilst whiling away the final couple of hours before arrival into Santiago, we were delighted to read that the first leader of Chile after it became independent was a certain Bernardo O´Higgins! Of Irish decent, he now has streets and hotels named after him (Avenida O´Higgins, Hotel O´Higgins etc) and always made us smile when we saw them.
Santiago has a reputation for being fairly dull, and this is never more true than on a Sunday afternoon in winter. We wandered around and virtually everything was shut. We clambered up one of the hills overlooking the city,
Cerro Santa Lucia, but the view was obscured by the clouds and general greyness. Passed by the
Palacio de Bellas Artes which, along with some creditable sculptures from yore, had some new-fangled modern art which was a pile of pap. The city´s Plaza de Armas and Cathedral were impressive enough, but it was weird to think of the UK in the sun and us in a South American city resembling a languid northern European town at the wrong time of the year, complete with dead leaves and an icy grey river. We were desperate to find a pub with the fire roaring and embark on lashings of real ale. Of course, it wasn´t to be, and we ended up with a bland lager, but tasty meat, in a non-descript diner (couldn´t find anywhere better). At least we didn´t have to get up for work the next morning 😉
Our hotel,
Residencial Londres, was unlike any of the other 28 places
we had stayed so far this trip (see photos below). Built around the turn of last century, it was a solid stone building with ornamentation, antique furniture, highly-polished parquet flooring and very tall (5m) ceilings. Built for a more moneyed period, it had retained its grand atmosphere even though the better-off visitor now seemed to prefer Marriott
et al, and its clientele had been reduced to the likes of us (and our backpacks). It was still the most expensive room we had stayed in so far, at US$27 per night. It was not-a-little spooky at times; Paula wrote in the diary that she kept expecting Poirot or Miss Marple to come out of the wardrobe! (Although, presumably, not at the same time).
Mon 11th June - Squeezed in a few more of Santiago´s sites, of note:
*
Iglesia San Francisco, where there was a Virgin Mary statue at 28cm tall which the Spaniards had taken on their conquering raids in the 16th Century!
*
Palacio de la Moneda, the presidential palace against which Pinochet launched his 1973 airstrikes against incumbent President Salvador Allende, who committed suicide with a gun allegedly given to him by Fidel Castro...
*
Bar Nacional, a bar.
Tues 12th and Weds 13th June - we took a 2-hr bus ride to the Pacific coastal town of Valparaiso (the birthplace of Pinochet). Described simply as a seaside getaway, it turns out to be Chile´s 6th biggest city and a key naval base. As well as the coastline, the town covers a number of hills, called
Cerros, that rise up very close to the coast and which can either be walked up, or - much more fun - ridden up on the 100-year-old funicular railways, costing between 100 and 200 pesos each way (10p to 20p, although they only go about 40 metres!). Many of the buildings are brightly painted, which contributes to the bohemian reputation of the town. Having come from altitude, we didn´t have any problem whizzing up and down the Cerros under our own steam...
It was fun to wander round such an unusual place, but on Tuesday night we felt that first spots of rain on our faces since arriving in South America 6 weeks ago...and it did not stop ALL NIGHT till midday on Weds! So everywhere was soaked, and it was still spitting on and off, but we still
trooped out then to have a look around, and also visited the next town along the coast, Viña del Mar, a summer resort that looked very sorry for itself outside the season. The highlight of our time in Viña del Mar was a great coffee in a cafe under a heater by the blustery ocean.
Thurs 14th June So that brings us to today. We got up at 06h00 for our early morning bus back into Argentina but, when we got to the terminal, we found out that that border crossing on the Andes was snowed in! And it has been since Monday. Reports suggest that 400 lorries are already queued up on the Argy side waiting to come into Chile.
So for the second time this holiday we are stuck where we don´t want to be (previously marooned by a bus strike 3 weeks ago in Bolivia). We are now in a comfortable internet cafe, but wearing 3 layers including fleece - and a scarf when we go out! We may be able to leave tomorrow, but no guarantees. Worst of all, our next stop is the wine destination of Mendoza, so everyday here is potentially one less
there, noooo!
Fri 15th June Still stuck here! Although a 95%!c(MISSING)hance we will be on our way tomorrow...update to follow...
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