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After 4 days in Salta, the time came to hit the road again in order to continue our trip down south, heading for Bariloche in Patagonia. But, taking into consideration the distances (at least 36 hours by bus) we decided to add an intermediate stop somewhere. We considered three options : Buenos Aires, that we had liked a lot (specially our deluxe hosts Jean Jacques and Lucy) but we had already visited and was not the most direct option, Mendoza and its surrounding area, mainly known for its wineries, that we did not really feel like going to, and Cordoba, the second metropolis of Argentina, with its 7 universities and the title of Cultural Capital of the Americas, which is rather a Mecca of the local tourism than of the international one. At the end, we chose the third option.

Cordoba left us with mixed feelings. From an architectural point of view we were slightly disappointed : it has got some beautiful colonial buildings, but, the city is, overall, a conglomerate of new buildings without much interest. Sometimes we had the feeling of walking in Madrid streets, in one of red brick neighbourhoods built after the 60's boom : not bad to leave in, but not outstanding. On the other side, the downtown is filled with bookstores, cinemas and other cultural places, and there are also plenty of spots to visit in the nearby valleys and mountains.

Lately we have not been friends of getting up super-mega-early, the only thing we visited in the surrounding area was the town of Alta Gracia, 35 km away from Cordoba. The place is full of old mansions and what must be the biggest concentration of old Fiat 500 in the world. It was a fancy place already at the beginning of the 20th century when, thanks to its warm and dry climate, it became popular among the Argentinian bourgeoisie suffering lung illnesses. For this reason, since 1932, the Guevara family, whose 4 years-old first born Ernestito had asthma, settled there. The house they inhabited is now a museum dedicated to the life and works of the son who would become later 'El Che'. The museum contains, among others, plenty of objects and souvenirs of his childhood, adolescence and youth: photos, the books he read as a child, school records, and letters written to his family.

At the end of the 3 days we spent in Cordoba, we felt we could have stayed a bit longer. But, still plenty to see in Argentina and we are back on board of yet another bus that, in 22 hours, will drop us in Bariloche.

Bea