Since my last post, we have been to Argentina twice. The weekend before last we spent in Buenos Aries getting our fill of the city. Ostensibly, the purpose of that trip was to pick up a few things to get ready for our next trip to Argentina, a road trip to the province of Cordoba, but really we just wanted to hang out in the big city again. A week after returning home from Buenos Aires, we were off to Cordoba, this time by car.
I had meant to do a blog post at the beginning of our trip, but was overcome with packing and getting ready. So, here we are, three days into our trip and I am finally getting around to it. Beyond planning to spend up to two weeks on the road, and knowing where we were going to stop for the first night, we have no itinerary. Road trips are best when you wing it.
Well, winging it didn't really pay off for the first two nights. Trusting our guide book, we decided that our stop-over point on the road to Cordoba should be the slightly out of the way city of Rosario, in the provice of Santa Fe. Our Rough Guide to Argentina described Rosario, birthplace of Che Guevara and Argentina's third largest city, as "one of the most attractive cities in Argentina".
I had meant to do a blog post at the beginning of our trip, but was overcome with packing and getting ready. So, here we are, three days into our trip and I am finally getting around to it. Beyond planning to spend up to two weeks on the road, and knowing where we were going to stop for the first night, we have no itinerary. Road trips are best when you wing it.
Well, winging it didn't really pay off for the first two nights. Trusting our guide book, we decided that our stop-over point on the road to Cordoba should be the slightly out of the way city of Rosario, in the provice of Santa Fe. Our Rough Guide to Argentina described Rosario, birthplace of Che Guevara and Argentina's third largest city, as "one of the most attractive cities in Argentina".
Pedestrian street in Rosario
Its charms did not exactly jump out at us and grab our attention, and with only one night there we did not try very hard to seek them out. I am sure that if one was stuck in Rosario long enough, one cound find some interesting things to do, but we were there long enough to have dinner, sleep and go for a walk the next morning before driving off in search of greener pastures. Greener pastures we did see (literal ones, not the figurative ones ot which I was referring) on Ruta 9 to Cordoba. We were crossing the litoral - the bread basket of Argentina - and along the way the sides of the road were nothing but enormous, Kansas-sized farms, nothing but fertile flatness for as far as the eye could see. Then as we approached the city of Cordoba, capital of the provice of Cordoba, the landscape changed all at once. Beyond the city, the sierras lurked like a low hanging cloud. All we could discern was a large shape in the distance, about the same size as the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, but it was nice to finally see hills. I was expecting Cordoba city to be lovely, but the approach to it was anything but. There was smoke and haze everywhere. We drove by a large area of rubble that looked like a dump for construction materials, with little smoldering piles everywhere. It was the worst introduction to any city that I have ever seen. Cordoba has a rich colonial history, owing to the Jesuits who developed much of it and founded what would become the second largest university in South America. Alas, the Jesuits eventually lost favor with the Spanish crown and were expelled in 1767 by King Charles III. The city continued to thrive and is Argentina's second largest city.
Almost immediately, we knew Cordoba city was not what we want. What we want is beautiful alpine scenery and fresh air. Obviously one does not go to the country's second city for those things. After navigating our way to the city's filthy, smoggy and very convenient beltway, the circunvalacion, we headed north on Ruta 38 for the Punilla Valley. Our destination was a boutique hotel just outside the city of La Falda. First we stopped for lunch in Carlos Paz, a bustling resort town built around a large reservoir with sandy beaches. After sinking our teeth into a pile of fresh, hot, delicious empanadas, we were back in the car and bound for La Falda. We passed through many small towns which clung to the hillsides. After about an hour and an half we arrived in La Falda and asked for directions twice before finding this very private and out of the way hotel that looks like a private residence. We were greeted warmly by its proprietors and shown to our room. What a pleasant surprise after two days on the road and basic hotel accomodations. The hotel itself is an extremely solid and well made home from 1944. The woodwork in it, all local indigenous hardwood, is exquisite and shows remarkable craftsmanship of a quality that simply does not exist in modern buildings. To my delight, our bathroom has an enormous round Jacuzzi surrounded by windows and a glass ceiling and includes a small rooftop patio. We spent the afternoon playing with the two hotel Rotweillers, napping and exploring the town. Then we spent the first hour of darkness trying to find the hotel again after exploring the town. We finally admitted we were utterly lost, found a taxi and together with the driver managed to find the hotel. That was followed by a luxurious soak in the giant tub and a sumptuous dinner prepared by the onsite chef who is the daughter of the hotel owners.
Almost immediately, we knew Cordoba city was not what we want. What we want is beautiful alpine scenery and fresh air. Obviously one does not go to the country's second city for those things. After navigating our way to the city's filthy, smoggy and very convenient beltway, the circunvalacion, we headed north on Ruta 38 for the Punilla Valley. Our destination was a boutique hotel just outside the city of La Falda. First we stopped for lunch in Carlos Paz, a bustling resort town built around a large reservoir with sandy beaches. After sinking our teeth into a pile of fresh, hot, delicious empanadas, we were back in the car and bound for La Falda. We passed through many small towns which clung to the hillsides. After about an hour and an half we arrived in La Falda and asked for directions twice before finding this very private and out of the way hotel that looks like a private residence. We were greeted warmly by its proprietors and shown to our room. What a pleasant surprise after two days on the road and basic hotel accomodations. The hotel itself is an extremely solid and well made home from 1944. The woodwork in it, all local indigenous hardwood, is exquisite and shows remarkable craftsmanship of a quality that simply does not exist in modern buildings. To my delight, our bathroom has an enormous round Jacuzzi surrounded by windows and a glass ceiling and includes a small rooftop patio. We spent the afternoon playing with the two hotel Rotweillers, napping and exploring the town. Then we spent the first hour of darkness trying to find the hotel again after exploring the town. We finally admitted we were utterly lost, found a taxi and together with the driver managed to find the hotel. That was followed by a luxurious soak in the giant tub and a sumptuous dinner prepared by the onsite chef who is the daughter of the hotel owners.
For tomorrow, we are looking forward to a morning hike, hopefully followed by a lunch of the local specialty, grilled suckling goat, and planning the rest of our trip - a little bit. I will try to keep up with the blog postings. Hasta luego.
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