Today we will be tourists. Marcela and Miguel took the day off from work in order to take me to some towns in the hills outside Cordoba. We first went to Villa General Belgrano and the small village next to it, La Cumbrecita. These towns have a very Germanic atmosphere because of a group of immigrants that arrived during World War II. What I was told is that a German war ship was sunk off the coast of Argentina. The young sailors on the boat were imprisoned in a camp near Villa General Belgrano. After the war, the boys were sent back to Germany but because many of them had Argentinian girlfriends or wives, they returned to live in Argentina. Ashamed of the past, the Germans lived very private lives. In fact, few knew of their existence. They made their living selling German sausage and cheese. About 20 years ago, after getting so many requests for their German foods the towns decided to capitalize on this ethnicity. The two towns now look like Bavarian villages and are lined with German restaurants and gift shops. Their main festival is Oktoberfest.
I found both villages to be quite charming, La Cumbrecita moreso than General Belgrano because it is less touristy. The countryside is spectacular - forests covering dramatic hills. We went to see a waterfall, but there was barely a trickle of water because of the season.
Driving back to Cordoba we stopped in Alta Gracia. There we saw another estancia of the Jesuits as well as the boyhood home of Che Guevara.
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