Córdoba is a chill little university town sckwa' in the middle of the north part of Argentina. The vibe is incredibly relaxing with a great bohemian energy from all the young, attractive, learned folks doing all those nifty cultural things like art, music, design and whatnot.
It doesn't hurt that the town itself is rather beautiful with a plethora of inviting plazas and interesting and diverse architecture.
I mean check out the Parroquia Sagrado Corazón de Jesus de los Capuchinos. Not only is it all epically gothic, the designers intentionally didn't build one of the steeples to remind everybody about the imperfection of man. You think you're better'n me?! How do you not love that?
Another classy and cool detail implemented by the city designers are white marble outlines laid into the ground to mirror the shadows of a lot of the important buildings. As you walk around you'll see stylized reflections echoing the various nooks, arches and doorways. It's like real-land but for the dimensionally challenged.
I mean seriously- fruit carts in front of a pink church? Does it get any cuter?
One of the strangest buildings we found was the Palacio Ferreyra. It's a stately Louis XVI style structure with opulent details like silk wall coverings and minutely mosaiced floors- only at some point they turned it into an art museum and tricked it out with neon green lighting and a truly bizarre 3 story black-fur covered stair case.
Fuzzy disco heaven.
It's like a bunch of raver kids won a Beautify Our City contest and they actually went through with it. If you're in town you definitely shouldn't miss checking it out.
Córdoba was also our first real exposure to the Argentinian obsession with yerba mate. You can't get it in restaurants or cafes, but all day long everywhere you go, you'll see practically everyone clutching a thermos of hot water and the requisite gourd full of the slightly bitter herbal infusion. If you don't drink yerba mate, I'm pretty sure you can't be Argentinian.
Like in a lot of college towns, the food scene offers some cheap but delicious munching options. At a little street stall just outside of the market we found my favorite choripan of the trip so far. The sausage sandwiches are pretty much ubiquitous from Mexico on down, but Córdoba seemed to pride itself on going the extra mile.
This version featured both red and green cabbage, fresh tomato, mayo, lettuce and a healthy amount of a spicy and herbaceous chimichurri sauce.
We've also heard people arguing about whether Salta or Buenos Aires has the best empanadas, but for my money, Córdoba takes the flaky pastry crown any day of the week. We ate our own weight in empanadas around town, and with very few exceptions they were some of the finest hand-pies I've had the pleasure of devouring. Although saying that makes me think I'm creepy.
As a final note on why Córdoba kicks ass, the town is ground zero for fernet consumption. If you're not familiar with the sweet, bitter, minty, herbal, magic juice, I highly recommend tracking some down and getting it into your mouth. The Córdobans prefer it with coke, but it's not half bad just straight out the bottle. How I managed not to have a picture I may never know. Appearently I was just too busy drinking it.
These images bring me back to Argentina. Gorgeous--Thank you for posting!
Posted by: Checita | Saturday, 27 August 2011 at 12:35