The Last Days of Cordoba

Hi all.

Fausto just ate two Big Macs in a row.

Sorry we haven´t written in a while, but unlike el Fonzo, when Esteban says he´s on a strike, he means it. Until he feels like updating the blog. But all your comments were well recieved (especially from virgin commentor Adam) and thus we have decided to resume our writing. You shall be showered with multiple blogs this week, since this post is about our last days in Cordoba together, while Fausto is currently writing a blog next to me about his last days in Cordoba while we were in BA, and soon there will be another blog about Steve and Nadia´s first few days in Buenos Aires. How lucky you are.

Now where did we get to?

Monday (the day after we went to the countryside):
We did not do much on this day. In fact it was a rather boring day I think because, sitting here now, nothing in particular stands out. We chilled around the house, had something to eat, went somewhere for dinner, and then I think we went to sleep. Wow. Oh ya, the dinner we had made Nadia sick, and she ended up vommiting on Fausto´s face. Not really, but she did get ill.

Tuesday:
Cotti, Fonz´s mother´s cousin, picked us up and took us back to Villa Carlos Paz, to her father´s mansion on the lake. He has slowly been building this incredible house, more as a hobby than as a place to live, since the house has three huge bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, everything, and Bruno (the housebuilder) prefers to live in a smallish room downstairs. Amazing house though - he built the roof and the outside structure first, and the walls are just large sheets of glass so that you can appreciate the amazing views of the lake. Bruno took us to a town called La Cumbre where his son owns a small Raspberry farm where they make jams and all kinds of deliciousness. La Cumbre is a tiny little town up in the mountains. Famous for being very English, the people who live there are decendents from English settlers and build their houses in typically English-Countryside styles. Very charming town in an amazing setting.
We spent the afternoon exploring the farm before heading back to Bruno´s house in Carlos Paz. After some very very long Spanish conversations with Bruno in which he seeked to show us the wonder of nature and its relevance to the existence of God (interesting but rather difficult given the language barrier). Inspired by this, we decided to drink some Fernet and have our own debate (in English) while admiring the view of the moon rising over the lake. It was very romantic. I looked deeply into Fausto´s eyes and told him he was completely wrong about his views on God and destiny. Eventually we all got tired of arguing and went to bed in rooms that no one has ever slept in, and most probably, that no one will ever sleep in.

Wednesday:
Left Carlos Paz to go and watch the football match (man u vs. Barca) back at the Manzur household. It was a boring awful match played by two soulless teams. Fausto then went to the airport to fetch PapaFonzie. Aurelio had some stuff to do in Cordoba and so Fonzie was reunited with his father after a long 5 weeks apart. It was emotional. To celebrate this joyous occasion, Emilce made Arrabes (lebanese empanadas) and we ate and drank the night away.

Thursday:
Today we went to a nearby suburb, Alta Gracia, to visit the house of Che Guevara. The Guevara´s lived in a small house in Alta Gracia for quite some time and now there is a small museum in his house, full of his old possesions, some really rare and interesting photos of him, and other bits and pieces from his life. Each room was a different stage of his life - what was interesting was the focus on his young years and his cycling trips around Argentina. Feeling inspired by the Revolution, we decided to go and start a revolution of our own, by quietly drinking a beer at a local cafe.
Gustavo picked us up from Alta and we went for dinner in Cordoba in delayed celbration of the arrival of Aurelio. We went to a local Parilla (a Rodizio style restaurant where the focus is meat meat and more meat). You each get a big wooden board, and every five minutes a waiter comes and brings a different cut of meat, and doesnt stop until you swear at him while throwing up. It was fantastic. We went to Contender, the pool bar, and had a couple games of pool before getting an early night (at 4am).

Friday:
Today Fausto´s dad decided he wanted to get some Ink done (being the pimp Gangsta that he is) so we went to the local Tattoo Parlour where he got a sweet ass tattoo of the Led Zeppelin symbols on his arm. We then all got tattoo´s of each other´s faces on our asses. Not really. We just chilled at home the rest of the day. That night we went to a house party with Azu and Flor, where we met some of their friends, drank too much Fernet, and were told by a large Mexican about a Tequila so delicious that you had to be the President of Mexico, or at least his very good friend, to even taste it. Nadia and Steve had a bus booked for 8am on saturday morning, and since morning was rapidly approaching, we made the decision to not even attempt any sleep. After a quick cup of coffee and packing of bags, the Manzur´s took us to the bus station and helped us onto the bus. We slept most of the way to Buenos Aires and arrived that night in a beautiful city.

We will write a post about our first few days in Buenos Aires soon, so keep checking, and keep commenting at this rapid rate. Cat and Moose, thanks for your banter in the comments. I would like to officially state that I have no idea what Justin Timberlake´s music was doing on that harddrive. Like the miniblog Neil, its very thoughtful. Sorry if the blog seemed rushed, but we only had an hour and we´ve got some stuff to do. Stuff to do like go and see Groove Armada play in Buenos Aires. God this life is tough.

Check out the pics at
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/steveo.zogg/CordobaPart2
and
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/steveo.zogg/CordobaPart3

Ciao for nao.

BYeeeeee