Today will be a day of tourism. Marce and I will accompany Laura (the music teacher) and her father, Carlo on a tour of some of the Jesuit estancias. Estancias were ranches established by the Jesuits in the 1600's to support their work. They were cut off by the Spanish government because they took the side of the aboriginal people in Argentina. In order to continue their work, the Jesuits had to grow their own food and other products. Carlo was an exceptional guide as he is a professional photographer. He published a book of photographs of the estancias and other sites surrounding Cordoba.
The first estancia we visited was in Jesus Maria. There we took a tour of the buildings and were then invited to have coffee with the curator. He was a personal friend of Carlo. Of course, it helped that Carlo brought photographs he had taken of the estancia to present as a gift to the curator. After coffee, the curator share with us some old Jesuit documents that were being cleaned, preserved and archived.
We next went to the estancia of Caroya. This estancia was not as ornate but I thought it was prettier in a primitive sort of way. We were given another tour of the buildings at this estancia.
We had lunch in a sort of bodega or general store in the town of Caroya. We ate a plate of picadas - home made salame, ham, and cheese on homemade bread. We drank Frambua wine, which from the bodegas of this region.
After eating we went to the Posta de Sinsacate. A posta is a rest stop for messengers and other travelers that rode between Buenos Aires and Cuzco, Peru. At the Posta we got stuck with an over-zelous guide who tried to give us a complete history of Argentina in 30 minutes. I mentally fell asleep within the first 10 minutes. We finally hurried him to the present so that we could tour the buildings and be on our way.
We drove back to Cordoba and had dinner with Miguel - leftover picadas and wine.
No comments:
Post a Comment