Cordoba, Cultural Capital

Cordoba has appropriately been labeled as the cultural capital of Argentina. With its numerous museums, oldest university, grandiose churches and non-stop nightlife, it is great place to settle into or just visit for a few days. My friend, Matt, who I met almost a year ago in Guatemala on my 2nd day of travels is settling down here after 2 years of traveling. Unbelievable that he has been on the road that long. I may just be like him though.

For my 4 days in Cordoba, I toured literally every museum, church, park and historical site around. Sadly, I did not check out the night life in the end. I've been pretty mellow these days and have not felt like really rocking it out on the town. Instead, I chose to listen to a church choir for Good Friday, attend a symphony another night, and cook all my own dinners.

Good red meat is cheap and juicy. Twice a day, I ended up cooking a good piece of steak that only cost $1. My budget is running thin and so I've resorted to grocery stores for most of my meals. Hostels are starting to add up at about $12/night when I was use to paying $4/night in Bolivia. Every $1 counts after a year of travel. Nevertheless, I never cut out good excursions and activities of interest.

Matt and I visited the original Che Guevara House in a nearby town. I didn't have high expectations and was pleasantly surprised at the numerous photos depicting his life from a very young age to his revolution years. Moreover, they had his original motorcycle made famous by the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" as well as personal letters he wrote to his daughter encouraging her to be a good revolutionary and to Fidel Castro and to his family saying his goodbyes should he die.

Near Che's house, we stopped into a nearby Jesuit estancia and church. The Jesuits, coming from Spain, provided Argentina with an abundance of intellectual and religious opportunities as seen in the plentiful churches and universities.