Mendoza: We very much enjoyed Mendoza and stayed there three times while in Argentina – each time renting out a room at Federico’s house, who we found through Air BnB.We had a lovely stay at Federico’s house. He was very welcoming and generous. He cooked a traditional Argentine barbecue for us and went out of his way to make us feel comfortable and show us his city. Trying out Fernet – an Argentine favourite – with our host Fede The house is well…
Is that James…? Or Lionel Messi?? James and I are not really football people. However, we couldn’t help but get into the spirit when spending the whole of the Brazilian World Cup in 2014 in neighbouring football mad Argentina. Living in England, I thought I knew what a football mad nation looked like. How wrong could I be? Even the dogs got ready for every Argentina game! When the national team were playing in Argentina, everything stopped! I spoke to a mother…
The best way to see the towns and the countryside around Córdoba is to hire a car and go exploring! But where to go? Here is our quick guide to the towns and villages in the Sierras. The open road The towns are listed in the order we visited them. We hired a car for 4 days (3 nights). We spent most of the first day in Alta Gracia and the night in Belgrano. The following day we were in La Cumbrecita for the…
Chairlift up the Sugar Loaf Mountain near Cosquin While in Córdoba – Argentina’s second city, we hired a car to explore the surrounding countryside, which is dotted with interesting villages as well as beautiful landscapes. We spent most of our first day in Alta Gracia, exploring the Jesuit Estancia and at the Che Guevara museum. To read more about our time in Alta Gracia see this post. Leaving Alta Gracia, we headed to Villa General Belgrano, stopping on the way to take…
James hanging out with Che We’d heard that the countryside surrounding Cordoba was worth a visit, both for the beautiful landscapes as well as the quirky and interesting villages. We hired a car and headed into the hills. After successfully navigating our way out of Córdoba (which is full of one way streets and bus lanes), our first stop was Alta Gracia, where Che Guevara spent his adolescence. Beautiful walkway inside the Jesuit Estancia We started our day in Alta…
Like many (all?) countries in South America, Argentina has a pretty brutal history. Although we’d had some idea of the events of the late 1970s and early 1980s during the time of the military dictatorship, the guide on our walking tour in Buenos Aires really brought home the brutality of the regime, when he highlighted that from 1976 to 1983 up to 30,000 people were ‘disappeared’ by the military. We were particularly struck by the stories of the estimated 500 children who…