Our highlights of Cordoba
Think laid back university city with a fascinating history, showcased in its architecture, and coupled with a love of arts – that is Córdoba summed up.
We both found this city to have a relaxed vibrancy to it, it felt safe and had a small town vibe. This certainly wasn’t what we were expecting from the second largest city in Argentina, but it made sense once we learned that this university city is home to over 120,000 students and it’s free to attend the university here.
If you like big cities like Buenos Aires this may not be for you – especially on a Sunday when literally nothing is open! This is the day we arrived and found we had the streets to ourselves to sightsee the host of colonial buildings and churches the city has to offer.
Here are some of our highlights from our time in this city:
Córdoba’s Milla Cultural
We headed for a walk up Córdoba’s Cultural Mile along Hipolito Yrigoyen. This passes Paseo del Buen Pastor (which showcases work by Córdoba’s young and emerging artists), and other art galleries including Museo Superior de Bellas Artes Evita and Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio Caraffa.
Although, we must admit we didn’t go into these! We sat amongst the art sculptures outside Paseo del Buen Pastor and enjoyed watching students collaborate on music and socialise over a mate (a bitter green herbal tea-like drink that all Argentinians seem to carry with them along with a flask of hot water to top it up). We then continued on to the university so we could explore the campus.
Museo Histórico de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
We paid 20 pesos each (not even £1) for a tour of the country’s oldest university dating back to the 16th century. It was an English guided tour but the guide spoke so quickly with his thick accent that it may as well have been in Spanish! This tour certainly quenched our thirst for culture, as we learned about the Jesuits, explored the church and discovered the Grand Library which houses a collection of books from the 15th century.
We stayed a little longer after the tour to watch the students study in the grand buildings and had a sneak peak of their working library which felt like a scene from Harry Potter! Old books stacked up to the ceiling, accessed by the lone librarian via little ladders that slid from wall to wall.
Museo de la Memoria
Linking back to our very first day in Argentina when we saw the Mothers March for Justice in Buenos Aires, this building is the former detention centre for those held captive during the military dictatorship. We desperately wanted to further learn about this tragedy by visiting the memorial but unfortunately could only view it from the outside as it was closed during our stay. The outside of the building has a sombre reminder of those lives lost with fingerprints made up of the year and names of the lives lost.
Güemes
This is known as the hipster area of Córdoba and we loved it. There is an arts and craft market there on the weekend and an array of bars and restaurants to choose from. If it wasn’t for the scorching sunshine you could mistake it for a mini Shoreditch, London.
Plaza San Martín
This pretty square filled with purple blossom trees is home to the Iglesia Catedral and a central social area for the locals. It’s particular attraction is the chess area shaded by the beautiful trees, open every day from 12-7pm, where we met chefs to engineers to lecturers – all with a shared love of the game. We whiled away an afternoon playing chess with the locals, who were waiting to play with Nav so they could practice their English.
We didn’t venture outside of the city in the three days we were in Córdoba, but were recommended two places if we had been staying longer:
Villa General Belgrano – this pretty little town showcases its German heritage and is best to visit during Oktoberfest.
Villa Carlos Paz – this is about an hour outside of the city and was described as a mix between Vegas and Disneyland. We passed it on the way into the city on our bus and that description is certainly excessive for a small town with a heap load of worn out Disney statutes in its main square and a circus tent!
Food recommendations:
Bruncheria – found in Güemes, this brunch cafe could actually be in London! It serves a range of good coffees, sandwiches, mouthwatering cakes and best of all, Laura had her fix of eggs on toast (her favourite weekend pastime in London).
Mercado Norte – the locals indoor market where you can find a whole host of inexpensive food; from herbs, to cheese, to whole pigs and turkeys! We opted for just the cheese! And coupled it with some red wine from the supermarket for a cheap night in our hostel!
