So we did manage to get to Córdoba, and we had a really good time! On the first day, we got into the bus terminal very early, at like 7:30am. There was still no sun out, because it's winter here, remember? So my friend and I ate some foods in a cafe and planned our lives. We decided that this day would be a good one to venture out into the outskirts of Córdoba, so we some how magically poofed into existence in a small, mountain-y town called La Falda. I'm sure if we had driven there, the drive would have been beautiful and we would have seen things like giant stairs made out of rocks that Ellen tells me were actually some kind of drainage system, or we would have seen beautiful plains stretching far out into the mountains, the baby mountains of the Andes, and we probably would have seen cows and horses and birds. But alas, we just simply randomly teleported to La Falda, and didn't see any of those things. But, because of my amazing photoshop skills, here is an example of what it might have looked like if we had seen them:
Wow, what beautiful stairs, that I imagine we could have seen if we drove to La Falda from Córdoba, but we sadly did not do that. What a sad, yet beautiful day.
We did find a certain hotel in La Falda that may or may not be related to Nazis, though, so that was cool. I mean, as cool as a Nazi hotel can be. It's called Eden Hotel, and it's basically a giant museum full of old things, but it used to be a hotel. Also, there is a random statue of Albert Einstein somewhere on a balcony. I like that. It's probably because Nazis were mostly German, and Einstein was German, I think, probably, I don't know for sure, because I never met Einstein because he's dead. Aren't there theories about Einstein being an alien? Okay, I don't know, this got off topic, sorry let's go back.
Okay also, not yet going back, sorry I lied, my apartment has not had water for like a week and a half, because the pipes are broken, and currently there is a giant hole in the wall of our kitchen, and also currently, there is a man smashing things in the kitchen, and it is very loud. So if this blog has more mistakes than usual, just know that it's because I am vaguely distracted by THIS HORRIBLE NOISE.
Anyway, we went home to our hostel after our trip to La Falda, and we decided to use some of our skills to cook. And by cook, I mean we made guacamole. And did you know it's basically impossible to find nacho chips (I mean like those ones you use when you have tacos in the United States, that are like tortilla chips, I can't even remember what they're called I've been in this country too long) in Córdoba? We went to three or four different stores looking, and yet we found nothing, so we had to eat our guacamole with cheese Doritos. But it was still good.
The next day we went exploring around the city. We found some good architecture, and some weird stew (that I will tell you about later) and then, the most exciting part, we accidentally found a zoo!! It was kind of sad, because the animals were kind of sad, but also it was a huge zoo, and we kept finding random more parts. It was like an unending maze of caged animals. But we saw seals doing tricks, and also a hippo, and I stared an ostrich in the face, and we basically scared each other. It was all good.
And after that we found THIS PARK:
Also we cooked more this evening in our hostel, where we made tomato soup and tiny grilled cheeses. We should probably go on a cooking show. But most importantly, we made an entire cake. Remember how there were only two of us on this trip? We did not really think this through. Actually, it was probably mostly my fault. Ellen has no blame, except for not trying to stop me from purchasing an entire box of cake mix. Then, on our way home, we ate our cake out of a plastic bag in a bus terminal as our dinner. It's fine. But we didn't miss our bus home, which is the important part!!
So that was a good trip! And mere days after that, I got on a plane and flew to Iguazú! Which, for those of you who don't know, is the giant waterfall system in Argentina, and also kind of in Brazil and Paraguay, I think, but the best part is in Argentina. I'm not biased. We stayed in an AirBnb, which was a nice-ish change from staying in hostels.
We got up the first day to start our exploration adventure. We walked the trails of the waterfall and saw cool things like birds and animals and coatíes that tried to eat a man's pizza right out of his hand. But mostly, we saw the waterfall. It was so good. I have over 100 pictures on Facebook of the super cool waterfall, and sometimes I still look at them and think about how lucky I am to have gotten to see that.
On the bottom trail, we saw most parts of the waterfall as if the water was being dumped on us from above, which was really cool. The best spot was when we got to go up close to this giant sheet of water falling from the sky. Do I have a picture of that? Hold on:
Ah yes. Terror and fear and awesomeness. I am a fan. We also did some other walking that first day, and we saw real live wild monkeys right up close to our faces, which was very cool. I was a fan of that.
Then, the second day, I think was so cool. It was amazing. We got up early and started off the day at the trail called La Garganta del Diablo. Or, The Devil's Throat. Sounds terrifying, right? It was. But also spectacular. I am so amazed by it. Like, still amazed, and I'm not even there anymore. We took good pictures there too, but it was also hard, because the water would be so forceful against the rocks and other water that there would be giant clouds of mist and water spraying up all the time and getting everyone soaked. So that's why even though it was a beautiful sunny day, almost everyone was wearing their little plastic ponchos. Not that I think those helped very much. But still. They were trying. A- for effort.
After that, we ate lunch and walked the bottom trail again, where we saw SO MANY RAINBOWS. It was so beautiful. The water mist and the sun just create colorful arches across the river and waterfall, and it's amazing. Oh also we saw butterflies. They liked to land on me, and everyone else was jealous. Take that, you fiends. I am the butterfly queen.
And for our last adventure of the day, some of us decided to get on a boat that would take us under a couple waterfalls. That was scary. Because boats are scary. But also it was a great experience. There was a lot of screaming involved, probably mostly by me, sorry to whoever had to sit by me (I think it was Ellen again. Wow, poor Ellen has to deal a lot with my weirdness. I apologize.) But we all survived, and it was a really good time!
Here we are, ready to not die. (Also PS: There's me, and Chelsey is the one with the brown hair, and the other person is Isabelle, and then Ellen is a good selfie taker and has her mouth open. That's how you know the selfie is going to be a good one.)
Our final morning was spent quickly going to visit the border point between the three countries of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. You can't actually go there, because it's in the middle of a river, but we looked at it and took pictures! So that was a good way to end the trip!
Now this week as I've mentioned, I still have some finals to do, but mostly from this week on, I'll just have free time, and I'm planning to go on some other trips too. Some friends are leaving this weekend, going back home to the US, and I will miss them! You fiends, why are you leaving me?? But I know my time here is slowly approaching its end too, so I'm ready to enjoy whatever this next month and a half throws at me! Let's go, fools!
PS: FFFFFFFFood
- Locro - the stew I was vaguely mentioning previously. It's a traditional stew that people eat during the celebration of Independence Day here, which is like May 25
- Dulce de leche churros - amazing
- Amaretto and coke - more of the alcohols
- Real Mexican tacos and quesadillas
- Arepas - Venezuelan food, basically a corn pita pocket with chicken and avocado and cheese and hot sauce if you want it
PSS: Xander likes traveling, but he's not really that big a fan of packing....
