argentina: cordoba

we took a night bus from mendoza to cordoba...bo and i both woke up while on the bus at the perfect time, we got to see a beautiful RED sunrise...if the bus had stopped i would've tried to take photos, instead i just enjoyed how amazing nature can be at times...breakfast on the bus was a single roll in a box...argh...
we expected to stay in cordoba for a couple nights, but didn't want to walk around to the cheapest places while carrying our packs...i guess we were both feeling rather lazy that morning...we found a place close to the bus station that was within our price range...

we walked around the city, looking at whateva struck our fancy...as we walked through the big platz in the middle of the city, there was a demonstration of some sort taking place, complete with fireworks and police...we didn't know what was happening, so it was a concern...we'd both been warned about accidentally getting caught up in this sort of thing...
there was a big church on this platz, the inside was full of colour, i loved it...
CORDOBA SELLS SALTED POPCORN!!! i was sooooooo excited when bo figured this out...needless to say, i bought a bag...so did bo...later, i bought another...the day after, i bought more...i knew it wasn't likely that i'd get another chance to have a food i love so much...
the pedestrian zone marked on the map wasn't at all impressive...heaps of people selling things, nothing remarkable...

we descended under one of the streets to the jesuit crypts, but those werent very impressive...there was so much lighting, it didn't feel at all like a crypt...it wasn't possible to see what was once there...plus, you could hear the cars drive over the street that goes just above the crypts...we saw some artwork, which seemed out of place, of course...there was a small diorama of how everything had been when it was first discovered...
after continuing to walk for a while, we stopped for a break, i had te con leche...yum...it's as close to chai as i can get outside of india...i love having afternoon tea breaks while traveling:)

the most morbid/meaningful sight in cordoba is a memorial museum...it's full of information, and is almost overwhelming...all the people who went missing during the awful years, as well as maps of where all the detention centers were located, as well as photos, letters, etc...when we walked out we both felt rather stunned...subdued...
our last sight for the day was the jesuit manzana, which is still an active educational institution...it's a unesco sight, but it wasn't aesthetically impressive...at least, not that i could see...i enjoyed the church next door a lot more...

dinner that night was at a local place a couple blocks from our hotel...not only were the portions huge, and cheap, but they brought us free mineral water!! woo hoo!!
the next morning we took advantage of the breakfast included in our hotel, then checked out and moved to a hostel...
(check out the jesus maria post for my daily activities)
dinner that night was at a steak place...when we asked for a menu, they said they didn't have one...it was a grill restaurant, and every argentinean knows what is available at such a restaurant...my steak was awesome, but too big...both of us forced ourselves to eat salad, as a small attempt at being healthy :)

(check out the alta gracia post for my daily activities the next day)
after returning to cordoba for dinner, we realized it was sunday evening, and almost nothing was open...we ended up having dinner at a random place across the street from our hostel...i ordered milanesa, which is known as pork tenderloin in indiana :)