Cordoba

Monday 22nd February

OK but unexciting breakfast and then went out to explore the town and drop off some washing at a laundry. What I find amazing is that just 80 years after Columbus set foot in America Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera was founding a city 500 km from the ocean. Read later that he came from the direction of Peru and and after founding Cordoba went back to face being beheaded in Cuzco for insubordination. Soon after that, the church was building sumptuous cathedrals. 

The main square is picturesque and around it are several lovely and historic buildings but, given its UNESCO heritage status, I was expecting a more extensive area of historic buildings. Wikitravel says "The  colonial  architecture  of  the  city  centre  now  coexists  with  many  modern  buildings" which I think is a little euphemistic. The streets remind me of Wembley High Road in the 1970's, occupied by mainly down at heel shops selling all manner of useful things, and lots of banks. There seems to be a preponderance of shops selling women’s’ underwear and swimwear, second only to the inevitable pharmacies.  They are aiming at a wide range of customers, with strictly sensible Bridget Jones stuff on one side and naughty nurse outfits on the other. On the plus side, many of the streets in the centre have been pedestrianised and are quite pleasant to walk along. After exploring much of the central area, I stopped off for a late lunch of hamburger and beer at a cafe close to the main square before heading to the river. 

Plaza San Martin, the Main Square

Municipal Buildings including the Tourist Office

Jerónimo The Man who Started it 

Pleasant Pedestrian Street

Typical of the old Building Style

Inside one of the many Baroque  Churches

As in Santiago, the river is a fast torrent rather than a navigable waterway and the city has turned its back on it. The map shows green along its banks and I had visions of a riverside park but the reality didn't match. Clearly there was an attempt a few years ago, to create a park but nature and litter have taken over. The road along the city bank is where you come to replace your disk pads, buy an alternator or a pre-owned lawnmower. On the opposite side are some derelict industrial buildings and a few blocks of flats. No sign of gentrification here.

In the evening I went to Avenida Hipolito Yrigoyen, where, the helpful young guy in the tourist information office had told me, there were plenty of restaurants. It's a broad elegant avenue, lined by mostly 19th century buildings, a complete contrast to the older part of the city. No shabby shops here. Settled on a very pleasant "resto-bar" where I ordered a "healthy" salad. Like the one in Buenos Aires it was enormous but at least it did have plenty of green stuff. Walking back, some of the streets in the old part of town look far better at night than they did during the day. Almost empty of people, the shops dark and bathed in the soft golden glow of well-designed high pressure sodium lighting. Not sure how safe these quiet, almost empty, streets are at night so make a point of trailing, at a discrete distance, a young couple on the assumptions that they are harmless, know where they are going and wouldn't deliberately go anywhere dangerous. Are they asking each other "Why are we being followed by that strange, grey haired man?"

Tuesday 23^rd February

After breakfast set off to the museums marked on my map by the guy in the tourist office but was distracted by a musical demonstration with lots of singing and chanting by the bank workers union who seem to be striking for more pay. I can see a figure of 5500 pesos on the placards which seems a very low amount if it is a monthly salary. When I reached my destination, by a roundabout route, I realised the museums are part of the university I went to yesterday. Being laid out on a grid, navigating Cordoba should be incredibly easy but I keep getting it wrong. It doesn’t help that all the streets change names as they pass the centre. So one minute I am walking along 25 Mayo Street and then suddenly it's 9 de Julio! Stopped for a Coke outside the university, which gave me a chance to watch the world, or at least Cordoba, go by. 

The University

The University

Then headed south into the “new” part of Cordoba, think it was new in the 19^th century, and an area called Guenes which Wikitravel rates highly. Apart from the wide and elegant Avenida Hipolito Yrigoyen, the rest of the new town area is fairly nondescript; the shops and apartments just look a bit more upmarket than in the old part of town. Guenes is by the canal which Wikitravel refers to and the buildings are older and low rise but it doesn't have any charm whatsoever. Wikitravel says "The  Barrio  Güemes,  which  is  protected  by  municipal  laws,  is  particularly  pleasant,  with  an  19th century  atmosphere  rather  similar  to  Buenos  Aires'  "San  Telmo"  district,  but  with  more  movement." Give me Stratford (east London) any day. I was reluctant to explore much further since the streets were almost deserted and, while not exactly mean, they didn’t look particularly friendly either. The sky filled with ominous dark grey clouds and I could hear distant thunder so hoofing it back to the hotel seemed a good idea. Didn’t quite beat the rain but got only slightly damp and was inside before the light stuff turned into a deluge. After re-checking on the Internet I found that I had been in the wrong part of Barrio Güemes, having walked a few blocks too far. But like Pallermo Viejo it seems   Barrio Güemes is an area to be savoured by night so I probably didn't miss much.

Singing and Chanting for the Bank Workers

How to Brighten Up a Car Park

How to Brighten Up your Shop

In the evening went out to a nearby restaurant Sibaris, which gets number one rating on Trip Advisor. It's definitely in the "fine dining" category, the set menu was very enjoyable and made a change from the usual fare. Starter was a lightly poached egg with two sorts of green beans and ham in a light broth. Main course was grilled fish with sweet corn, lentils and guacamole, accompanied by a glass of Malbec. Not an everyday meal but one to savour. Didn't think the wide screen TV showing a perpetual travelogue did anything for the ambience; reminded me of KTV bars. It was a quiet night, only half a dozen tables occupied, almost all by men, just one couple. The bill came to 400 pesos, about double what I have generally been paying, often for mediocre food.

Wednesday 24th February

Breakfast, answered a few emails, checked out and taxi to airport. Quick check in for flight and a coffee as I finished the last few pages of Frank Skinner. His weekly columns for the Times fill most of the book; witty, sharp, observant and sometimes mean, many of them put into words exactly what I feel but either never thought of or could only express in dull boring prose. But on drink and religion he and I are almost diametrically opposed. I imagine to be successful as a stand-up comic you need a particular type of fast, non-linear, intelligence which I would love to have but don’t. He has an ability to connect things together in totally unexpected ways. Which he displays brilliantly in his crazy two chapters of an "unfinished novel".