Alta Gracia is a small mountain town south west of Cordoba. It's illustrious residents have ranged from Jesuit pioneers to revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. It's an hour journey from Cordoba and somewhere we thought was a good place to wile away a few hours. After breakfast at the local cafe we went in search of a camera shop. Our, specially purchased for our trip, compact camera has developed a fault and the lens will not shut. We had thought about trying to get it mended but decided the best option was to replace it to (hopefully) ensure we have a camera to use. Unfortunately Argentina isn't the best place to buy electrical goods, they are scarce and highly priced due to the crazy inflation. We found a few electrical retailers who sold a handful of cameras and opted for a Samsung. The functionality isn't as good as the one we have, especially the zoom, but hopefully this combined with Diane's SLR and Simon's iphone will ensure we can continue to record our trip. By chance we passed a bookshop that sold English language books and surprisingly had the Central America Lonely Planet book we were looking to buy. We dropped off our purchases at the hotel then we headed to the bus terminal to get the bus to Alta Gracia. At the tourist office we picked up a map of the town and checked on the opening times of the various places we'd like to visit. We walked the short distance to visit the Museo Casa Ernesto 'Che' Guevara passing a small fruit and veg shop on route and purchasing some lovely bananas and mandarins. Though Guevara's lived in several houses in the 1930's, their primary residence was Villa Beatriz, now converted into the museum. They moved here in the hope that the weather in Alta Gracia would help to cure Che's asthma. The museum focuses on his early life and includes a number of exhibits on the trips he made through Latin America before he became acquainted with Fidel Castro and played a lead role in the Cuban Revolution. It was a very interesting museum and well worth the visit. From here we wandered to Plaza Manuel Solares, the main square, and stopped off for lunch. We walked around the 17th century Jesuit reservoir before heading to the Jesuit estancia, now a Unesco World Heritage site. The estancia was built from 1762 and the Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Senora de la Merced is the most impressive building. Alongside the church the former residency of the last viceroy is now the Museo Historico Nacional del Virrey Liniers which included a number of small exhibits and gave access to a good view of the watch tower and reservoir. The bus back to Cordoba was uneventful, other than we stopped at the onmibus terminal and not where we'd got on, but luckily we knew the way back as this is where we'd come yesterday to buy our tickets to Salta. In the evening we went to a steakhouse for dinner, nice if a little lacking in atmosphere before heading back. Luckily our bus doesn't leave until 1010 tomorrow so we'll have time to pack in the morning.
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| Villa Beatriz with Simon next to a young "Che" |
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| Che Guevara's Norton motorbike |
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| Simon with new friend |
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| Plaza Manuel Solares |
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| Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Senora de la Merced |
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| The reservoir and clock tower with the estancia in the background |
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| The church from inside the Jesuit estancia |
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| The estancia from the main square |
Hope you liked your new friend ha ha Looked an interesting place
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