Córdoba

The main Church of Córdoba

We came to the oven called Córdoba. I say oven because we really felt the heat here. 30-35 degrees every day all day. It gets better after 6pm though. Córdoba is the 2nd city in Argentina with 1.3mln people. It is a big bustling city with a lot to do.

At the art gallery

Paolo giving it his best

As usual when we get to a big city we dove into the cultural agenda of the city and started touring. We visited an art gallery and a photo exhibition. It was ok but not exceptional. There was a jazz festival going on in the city and we booked tickets for a Sunday evening concert. We saw a great Argentinian duo: Gaby Beltramino (singer) & Eduardo Elia (pianist) and an Italian quartet: Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet. Gaby had a golden voice and Paolo transmitted so much energy to the public through his trumpet. It was an excellent night out.

Roxana shopping away

We also went to a huge artisanal market in the Boehme neighbourhood of Córdoba. Roxana bought a few items she liked and set us back 150 pesos or so. So I retaliated with Ice cream and freshly baked filled calzoni, watermelon etc. I could not match the spend though!

Then on the last day we took a city tour in an open top double decker. We managed to see a lot of the city´s beautiful architecture and historical buildings. The city of Córdoba boasts the oldest university in Argentina and the 4th one in South America. It´s probably one of the biggest in Latin America with about 100.000 students. It is also totally free even for foreigners.

The Cloister in the Jesuit quaters

The visit of the Jesuit estancias was very interesting. Córdoba was the capital of all Jesuit activities in the 17^th and 18^th century. Many missions were prepared and coordinated from Córdoba. Then of course things got complicated for them when the Spanish crown expelled them from Spain and all Spanish colonies and Franciscans took over their estancias.   

The "Che" himself

The highlight of the trip around Córdoba was of course the visit to the childhood house of Ernesto Guevara (Che). Apparently this young man did not only ride a bike around South America but also fomented a few revolutions here and there … no seriously … the house now converted to a museum is set in a beautiful town called Alta Gracia 1hr away from Córdoba. The Guevara-Lynch family moved here in an attempt to cure young Ernesto from the chronic Asthma attacks he was suffering in Buenos Aires. The hot and dry weather in Alta Gracia did not only make him feel better but apparently pushed him on to greater designs.

All in all we liked the city of Córdoba and we now move to Mendoza, the biggest wine producing region in Argentina.

For more pictures : Cordoba

In the cloister of the Jesuit block