Cordoba, Argentina

Bienvenidos a Cordoba, the 2^nd largest city in Argentina! Famous for…

-       Tons of universities

-       Jesuit Missions/Churches

-       Ferris Wheel designed by same guy as Eiffel Tower

After 2 weeks of traveling non-stop, never in the same city or hostel for more than 2 days, it was time for a nice little break. Brian and I arrived in Cordoba after a quick 12 hour bus from Mendoza. At the huge bus terminal, it felt strange being in such a modern city, spending weeks in Patagonia and Mendoza, I wasn’t used to be in a place with working wi-fi and big buildings.

After checking into Link Hostel, we went for a major food move: 2 chicken sandwiches and 2 orders of fries. Each. 

Although the name of the place was “2x1 Lomitos”, somehow I wasn’t convinced that we would be getting 2 sandwiches each, until they brought them out and put 2 in front of me. AWOO!

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel where the worker told us (super casually) that MARK B. was in the building! TRINAMIC complete. CRAZY TIME.

During the 6 days we spent in Cordoba, the name of the game was PRODUCTION. Here’s a few projects that the 3 of us set out to complete:

-       Buy ping pong balls

-       Grocery trip with hostel workers for asado ingredients

-       See the ferris wheel (WOW! zzzz)

-       Move rooms within the same hostel 3x

-       Laundry service (in hostel)

-       Play ping pong

-       Watch NBA games on the hostel TV

Here's some of the sights from Cordoba (many courtesy of Brian B)

Bicentennial Park - These rings were all the hype (for some). 200 rings in a circular pattern, each celebrating an important event in Argentinian history for that year.

It ain't even fair to look so good.

"Just shoot me now" - Mark B.

So most of our Cordoba stay revolved around lazies the hostel, in that we rarely even left. Good thing that Link Hostel happened to be one of the coolest places ever. Like Brian said, this place is up there with Hostel Portunhol in Floripa as being the most laid-back, cool-staffed, chill places in the world to spend a few days or years. Thiago, Felipe and Timmy Good Times keep the hostel running like a machine, but they never appear to be working. Board meetings took place on the steps while smoking cigarettes and drinking beers, and occasionally breaking to join in the hacky sack. 

The rooftop patio outside our room

"Best ping pong table in Cordoba"

 What happens when you accidentally hit the ball through the cracked window into the parking garage.

One of the big highlights of this trip was our roommate Jacobo (aka JacoboWong - of YouTube Fame) had his 21^st birthday party at the hostel itself. He’s pretty quiet and chill when he’s sober, but give him some fernet y cola and watch him transform! In fact, the night we arrived he was studying for an exam even though he was turning 21 at midnight. Every night after that, he was a wild man. He and his homie, Jose, from Mexico, are studying in Cordoba for the semester and staying at the hostel full-time. Poor guys.

Anyway, this party was supposed to be about 15 people from Jacobo’s classes. Then we woke up from our disco naps around 10pm and noticed the 50-something people chillin in the courtyard (including the hostel staff, who didn't seem to understand the concept of stress) and crewed up for a great night. Here’s what it looked like:

Eyyyyyyy PUTO! Team Mexico triumphs over Team Argentina

 

 

I hate this life.

who are these people?

doble ooh.

Notice my outfit is killin’ it. That laundry service that promised to be done same day actually took 2 days, and so in the freezing Cordoba weather, I was stuck with shorts, long socks and a Northface pullover. It didn’t hurt that I hadn’t had a haircut since Floripa, about 5 weeks ago. Lookin’ Fly, Boots. Especially at the club. Good thing we were with YouTube stars who opened all the doors for us to get in free looking like slobs. 

1 liter beer cups, standard in Cordoba bars

Another highlight of the stay was that during the Holiday Weekend, two different bands had checked in for gigs in town. While I was taking another nap, a major jam session/acoustic set broke out in the courtyard and I was lucky to catch the tail end of it with Mark. One of the bands, named El Zombie, was a Ska band from BsAs. When the bassist, Mauricio, left his bass (due to his self-proclaimed “rotten memory”), they had to come back and retrieve it. We met him and Flor, his girlfriend and lead singer of the band, at dinner and they invited us to come to their rehearsal set and album release party in BsAs in a few weeks. We have the worst luck.

And finally, here’s some random pics from our last night out in Cordoba. We look good. And also, we SMELL good. Believe that.

Around the waist - take that, Recoleta

 

Fake money fake money money money! We had these fake flyers that looked like real pesos and a security camera that showed us the sidewalk from inside. Like all 30 year old men, we ripped and crumpled them to look like real Argentinian bills, then planted them on the sidewalk to see if people would stop and pick them up. One of the best laughs I've ever had in my life. Especially at 5:30am.

Muchos Gracias por todos, chicos! Goodbye to Felipe (FELIPE!) and Tim - Thiago not pictured. The Dream is never over, Timbo.