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I will write about Cordoba later, but after we visited Argentina's second city, we made our way back to Buenos Aires via Santa Fe, the capital city of the province of the same name. We had intended to go to Argentina's third city of Rosario, which was a more direct route between Cordoba and Buenos Aires, but the furs advised against it and insisted instead that we should go to Santa Fe. Whether this was the right decision or not, I am not too sure, suffice to say that we did have a good time in Santa Fe even if there wasn't an awful lot to see.
It took about five hours to get there from Cordoba, driving due east on a road that took us through a large number of provinicial towns. These were very similar really although interesting to see. Most notable was just how many had signs declaring the Falkland Islands to be Argentinian, which made you think just how difficult things may be for the UK should they crash out of the EU and go onto WTO rules. Still, no doubt sustained optimism will win the day. Anywho, by this stage our rental car had developed a cracked windscreen, with a chip which had been present from the start expanding to take up half of my window. We were a little concerned about taking it back to the rental place the next day, but ultimately there was little we could do, so we pressed on.
Santa Fe is a weird place as all the historical stuff is on one side of the city and all of the food stuff is on the other, with a thirty minute walk between them. Our hotel was right in the middle, which meant it was far away from everywhere, but walking around was fair enough and the city wasn't unsafe. Once we arrived at the hotel, the valet parked our rental car and we checked in, marveling at the modern construction considering we had spent much of the week in older shonky accommodation. After a shower and small rest - and some delicious cheese flavoured crackers from the inexpensive minibar - we first headed up to the swimming pool on the top floor of the hotel for the view before heading out and south towards the main historical sites. These were through the shopping streets so we soaked up a little atmsophere and picked up a McDonald's burger on the way as we had had no lunch. There was a nice range of colonial buildings around, not to mention a few signs of the Americana 1950s style. We even saw a statue of a dog and a dog shelter dedicated to a famous homeless dog in the city. This was my kind of place.
The main square, Plaza 25 de Mayo, was quite relaxed, with a number of people enjoying the winter sun, sat on the grass having picnics. The area is dominated by the Casa de Gobierno, built in 1909 and functions as the main city hall, while to the east there is the Jesuit Iglesia de la Compania. Further down, situated on a small scrap of parkland, were the main sights of the city though - the Museo Historico Provincial and the Convento y Museo de San Francisco. Foolishly, we did the former first, largely because it was the first we got to. I say foolishly as it was open longer than the convent, but we still got to see both so it wasn't too bad. Anyway, the historical museum was rather small and charming, but with all of the exhibits labelled up in Spanish only, I could only get so much from it. Still, the interactive demonstration of how the city developed was interesting, not least because it moved here from its original location at Cayasta, 75km north of here, in 1651 when half of it flooded. The historical museum is in one of the original buildings built shortly after the move and has a very charming interior and a white fronted exterior. There are a number of exhibits in here related to the town including a sedan chair that once used to carry the Viceroy of Rio de la Plata around, not to mention other period furnishings and momentos from former governers. Not knowing the history of the place nor being able to speak Spanish, it was just random stuff to me, so we didn't really stay too long here.
The real draw of Sante Fe is the convent, which is another rather neat whitewashed building. Built in 1680, the wooden ceiling of this minimalist space is the real highlight while the atmosphere is one of tranquility and serenity. It is still a functioning convent and there were monks around, with a service taking place in one of the smaller chapels to the side. Walking up to the alter, we noticed the stone marking the tomb of a priest who lost his life here when he was mauled by a jaguar seeking refuge from a flood in 1825 while at the door there was a weird looking polychrome Christ that looked a little out of place. Next to this, there was a door into a wonderful little garden of perfumed flowers and odd bric-a-brac. There were some weird creepy statues out here, which were a little unsettling, so soon we dove into the museum, being stopped by the people at the front desk as apparently we had to pay. This was a little mediocre, with just the usual vestiments and ephemera of a church, but there was a red-hued diarama exhibit at the end of the hallway which looked like something out of Saw.
We only had ten minutes in the museum as it was due to close at 6pm, but that was all we really needed in all honesty. Back outside, we tried to take in the Museo Etnografico y Colonial Provincial but alas this cute pink building was closed. As we walked over there, we noticed a statue of Juan de la Garay as well as the kids playing loud rap music around the back of the Provinicial Museum - music we had heard earlier during our walk around there - while afterwards we went back to Plaza 25 de Mayo to take in the scene again. The only real difference this time was that as it was getting dark, they had taken the Argentinian and state flag down, but aside from that it was largely the same. On the square, there was a plaque highlighting the colonial buildings of the city, which we decided we might as well follow as we headed back to the hotel. We took in the rather underwhelming cathedral along with another church, a museum and the law courts, all of which were buildings of the colonial style. However, when wandering around this area, we felt the atmosphere starting to turn somewhat, so we decided we should probably go back to the relative bustle of the shopping area.
This was still quite busy as Argentinian shops are open late, so we felt a lot safer. Fancying food and realising that all of the options were inexplicably on the other side of town, we walked back in that direction via the hotel, where we called off to charge our phones. A ten-minute stay became over an hour and once I had woken up from my snooze, I decided to use Trip Advisor to find a good place to eat. Not knowing what the situation was going to be with our last night in Argentina the day after - where we had been trying to arrange a huge furry meet-up - we decided we wanted to sample an Argentinian steak one final time. There wasn't too much to choose from, but a place called Don Garcia some twenty minutes' walk away was highly recommended. We set off up there at around 8:45pm and on arrival pondered whether we would be allowed in. It was situated behind a huge gate which looked very much like a members only club, but the gate was open so we strolled up there confidently. As we walked through the entrance to the restaurant, we were clocked by a gentleman who spoke no English, but he did pass us on to a rather ebullient waiter who did. He was fantastic, sitting us down and effectively choosing our meal and wine for us. I am very glad he did as again it was exquisite, with the steak so tender and succulent and the salty fries complimenting it perfectly. We were drawing a bit of attention, with a lady coming over to chat to us about all things England once we had finished our meal. She had been drinking but I got the impression she was related to the owner of the restaurant, or at least knew them well. She was fascinating to chat to, and we were glad she came over. The whole place was exceptionally friendly and I made the point of thanking everybody as we left for such a fantastic dinner.
We were going to head to a craft beer brewery bar called Patio de la Cerveza after this, seeing what we could see en route. That was about a twenty minute walk away too, but on the side of a triangle relative to our hotel. We knew there were a number of craft beer bars in the area though so we thought we would call in a few as we went along. In the end, we only got to one, the fantastic Jackson Craft Beer Bar. Like with many bars in Argentina, this was just on the corner of an average residential street, but it was incredibly popular as only one table was free. This was right by the door, which was a little annoying, but others soon became freed up and we were given the opportunity to move. Here they only sell beers from three local breweries but they did have something like twenty-four on tap so there was quite a selection. There were very few on Untappd though, which gave a sense of the exclusivity of the place. In the end, we had about six, enjoying the weird travel documentaries they were showing on the far wall as well as the fantastic barlady who kept recommending cool brews to try. In the end, what with the steak and tiredness, we didn't get anywhere else and headed back to the hotel shortly before 1am, but it had been a great short trip to Santa Fe and we left there the next morning content we had seen everything we needed to and had had a fantastic time too.
It took about five hours to get there from Cordoba, driving due east on a road that took us through a large number of provinicial towns. These were very similar really although interesting to see. Most notable was just how many had signs declaring the Falkland Islands to be Argentinian, which made you think just how difficult things may be for the UK should they crash out of the EU and go onto WTO rules. Still, no doubt sustained optimism will win the day. Anywho, by this stage our rental car had developed a cracked windscreen, with a chip which had been present from the start expanding to take up half of my window. We were a little concerned about taking it back to the rental place the next day, but ultimately there was little we could do, so we pressed on.
Santa Fe is a weird place as all the historical stuff is on one side of the city and all of the food stuff is on the other, with a thirty minute walk between them. Our hotel was right in the middle, which meant it was far away from everywhere, but walking around was fair enough and the city wasn't unsafe. Once we arrived at the hotel, the valet parked our rental car and we checked in, marveling at the modern construction considering we had spent much of the week in older shonky accommodation. After a shower and small rest - and some delicious cheese flavoured crackers from the inexpensive minibar - we first headed up to the swimming pool on the top floor of the hotel for the view before heading out and south towards the main historical sites. These were through the shopping streets so we soaked up a little atmsophere and picked up a McDonald's burger on the way as we had had no lunch. There was a nice range of colonial buildings around, not to mention a few signs of the Americana 1950s style. We even saw a statue of a dog and a dog shelter dedicated to a famous homeless dog in the city. This was my kind of place.
The main square, Plaza 25 de Mayo, was quite relaxed, with a number of people enjoying the winter sun, sat on the grass having picnics. The area is dominated by the Casa de Gobierno, built in 1909 and functions as the main city hall, while to the east there is the Jesuit Iglesia de la Compania. Further down, situated on a small scrap of parkland, were the main sights of the city though - the Museo Historico Provincial and the Convento y Museo de San Francisco. Foolishly, we did the former first, largely because it was the first we got to. I say foolishly as it was open longer than the convent, but we still got to see both so it wasn't too bad. Anyway, the historical museum was rather small and charming, but with all of the exhibits labelled up in Spanish only, I could only get so much from it. Still, the interactive demonstration of how the city developed was interesting, not least because it moved here from its original location at Cayasta, 75km north of here, in 1651 when half of it flooded. The historical museum is in one of the original buildings built shortly after the move and has a very charming interior and a white fronted exterior. There are a number of exhibits in here related to the town including a sedan chair that once used to carry the Viceroy of Rio de la Plata around, not to mention other period furnishings and momentos from former governers. Not knowing the history of the place nor being able to speak Spanish, it was just random stuff to me, so we didn't really stay too long here.
The real draw of Sante Fe is the convent, which is another rather neat whitewashed building. Built in 1680, the wooden ceiling of this minimalist space is the real highlight while the atmosphere is one of tranquility and serenity. It is still a functioning convent and there were monks around, with a service taking place in one of the smaller chapels to the side. Walking up to the alter, we noticed the stone marking the tomb of a priest who lost his life here when he was mauled by a jaguar seeking refuge from a flood in 1825 while at the door there was a weird looking polychrome Christ that looked a little out of place. Next to this, there was a door into a wonderful little garden of perfumed flowers and odd bric-a-brac. There were some weird creepy statues out here, which were a little unsettling, so soon we dove into the museum, being stopped by the people at the front desk as apparently we had to pay. This was a little mediocre, with just the usual vestiments and ephemera of a church, but there was a red-hued diarama exhibit at the end of the hallway which looked like something out of Saw.
We only had ten minutes in the museum as it was due to close at 6pm, but that was all we really needed in all honesty. Back outside, we tried to take in the Museo Etnografico y Colonial Provincial but alas this cute pink building was closed. As we walked over there, we noticed a statue of Juan de la Garay as well as the kids playing loud rap music around the back of the Provinicial Museum - music we had heard earlier during our walk around there - while afterwards we went back to Plaza 25 de Mayo to take in the scene again. The only real difference this time was that as it was getting dark, they had taken the Argentinian and state flag down, but aside from that it was largely the same. On the square, there was a plaque highlighting the colonial buildings of the city, which we decided we might as well follow as we headed back to the hotel. We took in the rather underwhelming cathedral along with another church, a museum and the law courts, all of which were buildings of the colonial style. However, when wandering around this area, we felt the atmosphere starting to turn somewhat, so we decided we should probably go back to the relative bustle of the shopping area.
This was still quite busy as Argentinian shops are open late, so we felt a lot safer. Fancying food and realising that all of the options were inexplicably on the other side of town, we walked back in that direction via the hotel, where we called off to charge our phones. A ten-minute stay became over an hour and once I had woken up from my snooze, I decided to use Trip Advisor to find a good place to eat. Not knowing what the situation was going to be with our last night in Argentina the day after - where we had been trying to arrange a huge furry meet-up - we decided we wanted to sample an Argentinian steak one final time. There wasn't too much to choose from, but a place called Don Garcia some twenty minutes' walk away was highly recommended. We set off up there at around 8:45pm and on arrival pondered whether we would be allowed in. It was situated behind a huge gate which looked very much like a members only club, but the gate was open so we strolled up there confidently. As we walked through the entrance to the restaurant, we were clocked by a gentleman who spoke no English, but he did pass us on to a rather ebullient waiter who did. He was fantastic, sitting us down and effectively choosing our meal and wine for us. I am very glad he did as again it was exquisite, with the steak so tender and succulent and the salty fries complimenting it perfectly. We were drawing a bit of attention, with a lady coming over to chat to us about all things England once we had finished our meal. She had been drinking but I got the impression she was related to the owner of the restaurant, or at least knew them well. She was fascinating to chat to, and we were glad she came over. The whole place was exceptionally friendly and I made the point of thanking everybody as we left for such a fantastic dinner.
We were going to head to a craft beer brewery bar called Patio de la Cerveza after this, seeing what we could see en route. That was about a twenty minute walk away too, but on the side of a triangle relative to our hotel. We knew there were a number of craft beer bars in the area though so we thought we would call in a few as we went along. In the end, we only got to one, the fantastic Jackson Craft Beer Bar. Like with many bars in Argentina, this was just on the corner of an average residential street, but it was incredibly popular as only one table was free. This was right by the door, which was a little annoying, but others soon became freed up and we were given the opportunity to move. Here they only sell beers from three local breweries but they did have something like twenty-four on tap so there was quite a selection. There were very few on Untappd though, which gave a sense of the exclusivity of the place. In the end, we had about six, enjoying the weird travel documentaries they were showing on the far wall as well as the fantastic barlady who kept recommending cool brews to try. In the end, what with the steak and tiredness, we didn't get anywhere else and headed back to the hotel shortly before 1am, but it had been a great short trip to Santa Fe and we left there the next morning content we had seen everything we needed to and had had a fantastic time too.
