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| Heading South of Cordoba City one reaches Salami and Cheese country. Road side stalls offer a selection of various kinds of sausages, preserves and wines - all without the benefit of refrigeration. They seem to be well cured and Argentineans and tourists alike love it and visit the annual salami festival and competition by the thousand |
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| First major photo op on this tour was a panoramic vista of Lago Los Molinos, a picturesque lake formed by a dam. |
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| Driving along back roads one is reminded of British Columbia logging roads, truckloads of lumber wind their way down mountain roads, where one s-curve follows the next. Roads are narrow and have little or no safety barriers |
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| Welcome to The Molinos Dam |
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| Apart from Salami and Cheese, indumentario para caballos, horse tack, is offered in one of the road side stalls: stirrups, halters, girths and 'tres marias', the Argentinean lasso equivalent, consisting of three leather covered round stones attached to braided leather ropes. Deadly in the hands of a gaucho hunting for game, and efficient when 'lassoing' a young calf around its hind legs |
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| The Sierras Chicos, the Small Sierras, are always on the horizon...beyond and hidden are the Sierras Grandes and then the Andes far away |
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| Not much grassland or pampa around here, goats roam the brush counry alongside the mountain road |
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| About 70 km southwest of Cordoba, and already in the Sierras Grandes one reaches the village of La Cumbrecita, the little top, an incongruous mosaic of forested mountains, high kitsch architecture and swimming holes. Argentinean tourists love it - foreigners shake their head in astonishment - or go hiking in the surrounding Sierras |
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| Garmish Patenkirchen here we come... Cumbrecita used to be a huge endowment of several hundred hectares, given to a Prussian, who worked in top management at Siemens Argentina in the early twentieth century. Never mind that he came from northern Germany, he built himself a Bavarian style mountain lodge in this remote part of the sierras, invited some friends, added more lodging for visitors - and the rest is history. Restricted to pedestrian traffic only - all cars are banned during the day and park outside the village in a dirt parking lot - one wanders through fake Alpine streets, where instead of the Bavarian checkerboard flag flies the sky blue and white Argentinean Flag. |
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| Gartenzwerge galore, Fliegenpilze (gnomes and poisonous mushroom figures) watch over store fronts. |
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| Broken tree trunks, which remained after a severe wind storm, were carved in situ with lederhosen clad yodlers, each wrapped in their own carved flag of Argentina and Germany |
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| The original dwelling of the owners, long dead now... |
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| Instead of Blauer Enzian (blue gentian?) the meadows are dotted with yellow ones |
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| A little stream descends from the heights of the Sierras and provides water to the village as well as numerous swimming holes |
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| Brothers Grimm....tear your hair out |
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| Midday at the river, although it is still Spring, the heat is so intense that Argentinean tourist flock into the shade under the trees lining the river and enjoy a picnic |
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| Welcom to La Cumbrecita... |
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| A few horses pick at scant grass at the riverside |
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| Must be a slow day...the restaurants were empty |
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| Sharing a riverside grassy patch |
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| Villa General Belgrano, the next stop on this excursion, is an over the top Disney type version of Little Munich. History has it that this town was founded by survivors of Panzerschiff Graf Spee, which was scuttled in the Rio Plata off Montevideo, Uruguay. Crew which refused to be repatriated to the Fatherland during the Second World War made their way to the High Sierras of Argentina and built their own little version of home... |
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| Definitely Kitsch overload here...the town holds an annual highly popular Oktoberfest as well as an even more popular annual beer festival. Celebrants can buy their draft at the city square, where it is dispensed from giant barrels |
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| Polka, Schuhplattler dances and jodler songs - all imported directly from Bavaria and sold here at every tourist shop |
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| Well, the good old Don Otto could be sitting in Munich ... |
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| Gabled roofs, street side pubs with obligatory potted geraniums abound |
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| Let's leave little Deutschland behind and head for another historic Argentinean memorial... |
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| Barranca Yaco, a small hollow surrounded by low hills, covered with Algarobo trees. Here died Coronel Quiroga at the hand of assassins, who chose this location to rid themselves of Quiroga, because it was the only location where gun shot sounds would not travel for a hundred kilometer around. |
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| A few crosses mark the scene of the crime |
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| ..and a few cows peacefully munch on grass |
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| Whilst Coronel Quiroga gazes onto the scene of his demise... |
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| No trace of murder and mayhem anymore in this out of the way memorial to yet another National Hero |
