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Published: February 12th 2013
I blame the wine, the sunshine, the food ..... I have been very lazy about writing another blog entry.
Journeying from Colonia to Cordoba was another adventurous train journey. Pullman class was far more upmarket than my last journey here, seats that recline and even turn around if you wish! My companions were a couple of art students from Buenos Aires, so the journey was lightened by some lovely guitar playing and folk singing. This time the guard was not accompanied by an armed soldier which was reassuring.The station at Cordoba was immense, I do not understand why the Argentinians let such an valuable infrastructure decline so drastically. Many towns still have their stations in situ and there are rails running for miles, but rusty rails.
I spent a very enjoyable few days staying with Aunty JJ's niece, the Marmite was delivered and much appreciated. I like the city of Cordoba, there are some lovely buildings there, including a church built by a shipbuilder which looks like an upside down boat! More worrying was the fact that I was locked in there and needed rescuing by one of the clerics.
From Cordoba to Mendoza by bus, to a
city which has streets lined by plane trees and is consequently cool to walk in. This is where my wine education has been seriously addressed. I have caught local buses to Maipu and walked to wineries, the wine museum in the town has the most lovely houses which I would love to live in. They are surrounded by verandahs and have light airy rooms which I would love to live in - I can hear my mother's favourite phrase ,"You have ideas above your station!" Sometimes it is fun to dream.... Sadly my premium bonds have a habit of failing at these crucial moments in life!
I am staying in a lovely hostel which organises things like wine tasting, empanada cooking lessons and tonight I am going to the session teaching us how to make and drink matte tea. It has been great fun, my Spanish has improved from just using nouns and voice inflection to actually using verbs as well. The grammatical content probably makes the Argentinians wince, but I am trying!
I have spent most of today trying to sort out a route to Santiago as the rain had destroyed the mountain pass. No-one could say
when it would be clear, we were looking at minibus routes on gravel roads etc., however, if it does not rain too heavily it should be passable by the week-end so being marooned will not be the case. Let us hope so, otherwise the alternatives are not so attractive.
The photos are the important part of the blog - enjoy!
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David C Jones
non-member comment
This time last year we were in Santiago and thoroughly enjoyed.