Most tourists do not self drive in Argentina and even locals were flabbergasted to find out we were going to drive to Mendoza from Buenos Aires. Neil says you don't really know a country until you have driven it; stopping off in a few places off the beaten track. We picked up a car at the domestic airport in BA and made it out of the city and onto Route 9 with ease. We have given up carrying the GPS and just use the offline mapping on Neil's phone backed up by Google maps on my phone. Now the 2 phones yell at each other! We found the driving to be slow on the single lane highway but the roads were not very busy.
We headed to Rosario, a university city on the River Pirana and the birthplace of Che Guevara. The river is not pretty and hasn't lent itself towards creating any pleasant sort of waterfront area. There was a big Fiesta Collectividade happening with food stalls, music and shows representing various different world cultures. The rather stark National Flag Monument links the downtown shopping and dining area with the river. We spent the night in the less than Majestic Hotel. I have found hotels.com to be very useful on road trips as you can book anytime; even just before checking in and their prices are always better than the walk in rate. Plus for every 10 nights, you get 1 free. We had dinner at a wonderful local parilla, Mejor de Centro; a co-operative owned by the staff who wanted to keep working after the owner closed down.
The next day we continued West stopping in Alta Gracia to visit the Casa del Che museum. This is the house where he grew up and displays document his life as you move from room to room. Also in Alta Gracia is one of 5 or 6 Jesuit "Estancias" in the province of Cordoba. These missions developed commercial farming in Argentina in the sixteenth century and profits were used to fund the church and mission work. They employed hundreds of black African slaves on these farms.What happened to all these black people and their descendants is not talked about in Argentina.It is said that they were placed in battle front lines in wars with neighbouring countries and still today it is common for people to keep their African heritage hidden.
We stayed over in Cordoba, the second largest city in Argentina. Here the Jesuit Block including the church and the university ( the oldest in South America) are World Heritage Site designated. We watched a massive Gay Pride Parade pass by in the streets and the city was filled with live music stages and streetparties all night. Amidst all this we noticed quite a number of young girls dressed up in ball gowns having photo shoots with their families outside some of the prettier buildings around town. Our waitress told us they are debutantes, or Quinceaneras; 15 year old girls following a tradition of celebrating passing from childhood into womanhood. Nowdays this involves lavish parties if you can afford it whereas historcally it would be to prepare a girl for marriage. The next day we drove on to Mendoza.
We headed to Rosario, a university city on the River Pirana and the birthplace of Che Guevara. The river is not pretty and hasn't lent itself towards creating any pleasant sort of waterfront area. There was a big Fiesta Collectividade happening with food stalls, music and shows representing various different world cultures. The rather stark National Flag Monument links the downtown shopping and dining area with the river. We spent the night in the less than Majestic Hotel. I have found hotels.com to be very useful on road trips as you can book anytime; even just before checking in and their prices are always better than the walk in rate. Plus for every 10 nights, you get 1 free. We had dinner at a wonderful local parilla, Mejor de Centro; a co-operative owned by the staff who wanted to keep working after the owner closed down.
Argentine Highway
Flag MonumentThe next day we continued West stopping in Alta Gracia to visit the Casa del Che museum. This is the house where he grew up and displays document his life as you move from room to room. Also in Alta Gracia is one of 5 or 6 Jesuit "Estancias" in the province of Cordoba. These missions developed commercial farming in Argentina in the sixteenth century and profits were used to fund the church and mission work. They employed hundreds of black African slaves on these farms.What happened to all these black people and their descendants is not talked about in Argentina.It is said that they were placed in battle front lines in wars with neighbouring countries and still today it is common for people to keep their African heritage hidden.
Parilla at the Fiesta
Che's Motorcycle
We stayed over in Cordoba, the second largest city in Argentina. Here the Jesuit Block including the church and the university ( the oldest in South America) are World Heritage Site designated. We watched a massive Gay Pride Parade pass by in the streets and the city was filled with live music stages and streetparties all night. Amidst all this we noticed quite a number of young girls dressed up in ball gowns having photo shoots with their families outside some of the prettier buildings around town. Our waitress told us they are debutantes, or Quinceaneras; 15 year old girls following a tradition of celebrating passing from childhood into womanhood. Nowdays this involves lavish parties if you can afford it whereas historcally it would be to prepare a girl for marriage. The next day we drove on to Mendoza.
Estancia Alta Gracia
Cordoba Cathedral
Gay Pride Parade
Street party
OutWest
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