Argentina vol 2: Cordoba, Iguazu, Buenos Aires

We had a plan at some point to visit many many smaller Argentinian towns, make a lot of stops on the way, maybe even travel further north to Salta and whatnot. Then we discovered how expensive bus tickets are in Argentina, and also had so much fun and stayed longer than intended in other places like Santiago or Mendoza. So, from Mendoza we took a nightbus straight to Cordoba, and continued having fun there and once again stayed longer than intended. We were couchsurfing with Kit this time and got along so well from the first moment. We arrived at 7 in the morning and got some suspicious looks from the concierge, thankfully Kit welcomed us like he had known us for years. 

Cordoba is a city located geographically in the centre of Argentina. It's quite a mix of old and new. There is something for everybody: art, culture, history, museums, parks, nature, shopping, nightlife, great food and many many spots to discover. Cordoba is a second largest city in Argentina after Buenos Aires, but it's much more laid back and has more of a small town feeling. 

We did a free walking tour with La Docta company (anther tips based tour). I really recommend that one. They offer two tours. One is the historical centre tour and the other goes to the bohemian and modern neighbourhoods. We did the second option. It was only 9 of us and the guide was super chill, so it felt more like a walk around town with a local who has many interesting stories to tell. We even stopped for a beer at a bar on the way. With the tour we visited Palacio Ferreyra, Eiffel's Wheel (A ferris wheel, built by the famous Gustave Eiffel. It stands abandoned but there are talks about it being restored), Sarmiento Park, Buen Pastor (it has been a prison, an orphanage and a chapel, now is a thriving cultural centre), Artisans Fair, Los Capuchinos Church and the Güemes neighborhood full of bars and pubs. 

Parque Sarmiento is Cordobas largest public park and there is a lot to do, it's next to the university campus and amongst other things includes a zoo and a large public swimming pool. There is also this area that has 200 giant rings in it. Each ring represents a year since Argentina gained independence and tells a little bit of the history of the country from that year. Some rings are left empty to symbolise the future. 

It's an unofficial tradition to take a picture with the ring of one's birth year. 

Another version of Locro. It comes nowhere near to the one we tried in Ecuador (the potato/corn soup with cheese and avocado.. oh god), but is nevertheless tasty. Kit warned us that when we order it in summer, the waiters would look us weird, and that they did. He was very suspicious and asked at least three times before settling with our order, then again we ordered that soup, some beer and dulce the leche. I dare you to come up with a weirder combo. 

Cordoba has amazing museums and we needed our dose of art after many miserable attempts of visiting a contemporary art museum in Santiago, Chile. In Cordoba, every Wednesday is a museum day and all the museums are free. All! 

First, we visited Palacio Ferreyra, know also as the Evita Fine Arts Museum named after the influential Eva Peron. It has impressive architecture and a great collection in it, offering heaps of modern and contemporary art. 

Check out the following artist. Gruesome but very real pieces. 

The other museum we visited was Caraffa Fine Arts museum. It has some permanent and some temporary exhibitions and at least at the time of our visit had some beautiful contemporary art in it. 

Finally, we also went to the Natural Sciences Museum. It has great interior (reminds me a bit of Guggenheim inside) but is mainly for kids and younger generation to learn about nature and history. Well, it was a good reminder and a fun walk. 

Another new experience was to see how dentists work in South-America. Keiu really needed one and I tried to help and translate, as the dentist did not really speak english. If there is one place you want to understand each other perfectly, it is at dentists!! So no pressure. 

Kit's house offers quite a great view from the rooftop and it has a pool!! What else does one need for a lazy weekday morning. 

Street food is a huge part of South-American cuisine and there are good finds in every country. Choripan is a lovely very filling, cheap option for lunch. 

And one should not not visit the many bakeries of Cordoba. The funny-looking cakes taste incredible. As a bonus put you into a sugar coma of course. 

Another couchsurfer living with us at Kit's place for a while was Ana from Spain. Such a lovely girl and an incredible musician. We had karaoke and jam nights almost ever night.

Antares! One of the best craft beer pubs. We did go to it twice in Cordoba and twice later in Buenos Aires. Their special fries with everything great on it were equally amazing with the crafts. 

All you can eat sushi. No words needed!

Thank You Kit for allllll the laughs, songs, dances and amazing times in Cordoba, on the busiest week of the year. 

From Cordoba we took our longest busride this far, 22 hours to Puerto Iguazu on the border of Argentina and Brazil. The bus was alright, gave us food and all, but and it is a huge but, the TV did not work.. on a 22 hour busride!!! I am not sure how we survived. There was a heavy thunderstorm on the way for a couple hours, at least that was beautiful to watch for a while. 

Puerto Iguazu is a lovely tourist town, everybody goes there for one reason: Iguazu Falls. 

Iguazu Falls (Cataratas del Iguazu/do Iguacu) are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. They are the largest waterfalls system in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. 

The semicircular waterfall at the heart of Iguazu is around 80 m high and 2,700 m in diameter. Iguazu is among the world’s visually and acoustically most stunning natural sites for its massive waterfalls. It's part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, inscribed in 1984. It rains often and the climate is very humid. The surrounding subtropical Atlantic rainforest (one of the most threatened global conservation priorities) has over 2,000 species of vascular plants and is home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and caymans. 

Iguazu is for sure one of the great natural wonders of the world.

We started with the Brazilian side which offers a beautiful panoramic view of the falls. It is lovely and quickly doable. A 2 km hike from one end to another. Or no hike at all if you decide to take a bus right to the end to the viewing platform. We decided to hike there and back before taking a bus again to just enjoy the sunshine and the view. 

Crossing the border from Argentina to Brazil is well organized and quick. Do not take the taxi! Take the local bus from the bus terminal. Easy, cheap, understandable and as quick. Just be sure not to take your time on the border. At least our driver was really in a hurry, the last ones had to run back to the bus while the bus was already slowly rolling away and the driver honking the horn. 

And happy llamas of course! 

The Argentinian side on the other hand needs a whole day if you want to see it all. There are several hiking trails with wildlife, a train, a boat to an island, another touristic boat (quite expensive), pathways on the edges of the falls and lot more.

Got a little moisturized by Iguazu. 

Magnificent Garganta del Diablo. Approximately half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devil's Throat.

My only complaint about Iguazu would be the hostel we stayed at. Hostel El Guembe. Considering that Puerto Iguazu is very touristic, the hostel is quite cheap and quite alright located, BUT: it was one freaky horrific experience. I think the pictures describe it well. I am not sure if it has been a zoo or a prison before. Breakfast was poor, rooms were hot and humid. On top of that most of the staff was quite unsocial, unhelpful and very strict about their rules. For example, to stay in the hostel after checkout for another couple of hours before our bus they wanted us to pay 50 reales each for using the facilities (shower and internet?). No way in hell. We still had 15 minutes, never have we ever been quicker.

From Iguazu we were headed to the capital of Argentina: Buenos Aires for 5 days. It was another 20 hours away. At least this time we got a luxurious seat on the second floor on the first row with a 180 degree view and 160 degree reclining seats. Also, the TV worked. Got to watch a really weird movie "The Cobbler" and a really good movie "Focus". Also a little of some war movie, but it was also sunset at the time, so the view outweighed the film. 

Buenos Aires surprised with some beautiful murals as well. 

And great modern and contemporary art. MACBA!

The main exhibition at the modern art museum was Picasso drawings throughout his life. 

My favorite part of Buenos Aires was wandering through the distinct neighborhoods, observing how the locals live their lives and discovering little pockets of the city. Then again, there are some spots one can not not visit. 

El Ateno Grand Splendid. It's a bookshop. It's said to be one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. Originally, it was opened as a theatre called Teatro Gran Splendid in May 1919. On the theatre stage there is now a cafeteria. 

Evita Peron. 

Widest avenue in the world. Avenida 9 de Julio. 

The Cavanagh building has the coolest legend about it. The story begins in the 1930s, when Corina Kavanagh was a rich, beautiful and determined woman. Her family was extremely wealthy but with no patrician blood in their lineage. The aristocracy of Argentina looked down on them. Corina fell in love with the young high-born son of Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, who strongly opposed the relationship and managed to end it. Corina Kavanagh, hurt and humiliated, decided to take revenge.

Behind the building, there is a beautiful church: The Basilica of the Holy Sacrament, that was really really really important to Mercedes Castellanos. She intended to buy a vacant lot right in front of the Basilica to build a new family mansion. Ready to hit where it hurts most, Corina Kavanagh waited for Mercedes to go on vacation and snatched up the parcel of land by doubling the offer. She wasted no time with starting the construction. 14 months later in early 1936, the Kavanagh Building was complete. The Kavanagh was the tallest reinforced concrete structure in the world and for many years remained the tallest building in Latin America. It has 33 floors and 105 unique luxury apartments. Even today, the only place to get a good view of the Basilica of the Holy Sacrament is the alley that runs between the Plaza Hotel and the Kavanagh Building Tower, which is called Corina Kavanagh Street.

Recoleta cemetery is a very unique place. It definitely left a lasting impression. The tombs are huge, all different and built in very different artistic styles. The freakiest part is if you look in, don't even have to look hard, the coffins are all in there and very visible. 

The cemetery is laid out like a miniature city. There are city blocks, stone streets, alleys and even little plazas. The ‘houses’ are mausoleums, whose residents slumber in eternal sleep. In Buenos Aires, it's a prestige place to be buried. Families can buy the spots there (for quite a lot of money) but they also have to buy yearly to pay for maintenance. Some of the tombs were deserted, covered in spiderwebs and dust. 

The tomb of Eva Peron. 

As it was almost December, christmas was everywhere. 

Plaza de Mayo. 

La Boca stadium 'La Bombonera' and neighbourhood. 

A dinner joint with drawing on the tablecloth. Every restaurant should have the opportunity, not just for kids, adults as well! Much easier to wait for food when you can play drawing games at the mean time. 

Stefano came to visit for a weekend! :)

Caminito - the colorful artists’ street by the water. Caminito is the work of the local La Boca artist Benito Quinquela Martín. In 1960 he painted the walls of what was then an abandoned street and erected a makeshift stage for performances, and it quickly became a haven for artists. There’s also lots of open-air tango, as tango began in the working-class port neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.

To add to our book of stories: we though for once within these 4 amazing months of backpacking we wanna be princesses. It was right before our cruise and all. The experience could have not gone any more wrong. We were searching for a nail spa. There weren't too many options. Finally, walked into a salon, asked if they have availabilities. The lady said she can do both of us. She was probably the worst manicurist I have ever seen. Actually, I'm not sure she had done manicure to somebody else ever before. Even before beginning, she flipped a nail polish on the floor, large areas, including Keiu's shoes, were covered with purple. She dropped almost all her tools twice. She flipped a water cup on Keiu. She forgot to paint our nails twice. All our fingers and toes were covered with paint. I could go on and on and on. The funniest part was, that she thought, she is doing a marvellous job. At some point she stopped introduced us to her daughter and grandfather, took pictures of us and selfies with us and her family, wanted to add us on whatsapp and facebook , advertised her 'fanpage', asked for a good review and uploaded a picture of us on that page. It all happened so quick we were left speechless. All the professionalism out of the door, not that there was much in the first place.  

Ended the stay in Buenos Aires with a street market in San Telmo. An amazing Sunday with really nice long long rows of stalls with all the goodies, street performers, street food, you name it.