Cordoba Nov. 18 Miercoles

We arose at 930 un otra vez and had the same yummy breakfast as the day before.  Since we still had no moto (supposedly, the transmission was being fixed and Uli left the permit paper with Alejandro to go to the bank for him) we had to take the bus.  It's okay...5p each but takes about 40 min. because it stops everywhere.  it randoly stops ont he highway at weird little spots that you cant really tell are busstops except for a random person waiting...we arrived in Capilla del Monte and went straight to the tourist office after discovering many stores were closed on this bright, sunny early afternoon.  we both think that's pretty strange because prime business hours are between 12-5.  everyone shuts down and has a nap!  weird! so we went in there and they gave us a brochure with all these adventure companies on it.  the girl told us we'd have to call someone on it since everyone was closed.  so, we wen to the phone locutorio and Uli proceded to call like a dozen places.  he finally got a hold of someone who said he'd meet us in 15 min.  que bueno!  we got some empanadas and went and met him.  his name was ariel...nice guy.  he drove us to a place in the mountains "Los Terrones"...we got out and it was a place that held trekking tours around a rocky part of the mountain.  it had a restaurant, gift shop an a cute little kitty wanting some attention outside :) :)  we ate our empanadas and i fed some to the cat.  that cat totally made my day.  we had to wait for a group of about 50 girls to go ahead of us because, Ariel said, we would be around a ton of noise and we wouldn't be able to enjoy the tranquility.  on we went...we walked down a path around the rocks and climbed a few for some great views...we took picture.  many of the giant rocks are named because they look like animals...a camel, gorilla, hand of God, things like that.  there were some great views.  we ran into the group of girls at one point and stopped to let them pass us because they went around the other way.  that must of been hard for the guide because he'd have to keep waiting for the rest of them to catch up.  we descended a bit towards an area that would normally have water in it and walked a long them.  he was explaining about the area, but i couldnnt' udnerstand a lot.  we walked down and around and even through a cave-like place that would normally have a mini-waterfall running through it, if there was water.  it was funny how there was cow shit eerywhere in the rocks and whatnot, but you never saw a cow.  it was almost like they were ghosts.  we were out there for about 3 hours or so.  Ariel drove us back and on the wy we stopped to look at some toros (bulls) and some cabras (goats).  the toros were kind of gross - big animals who did all their bathroom business while we were looking at them.  and a black show bull kept staring at us angrily.  Ariel dropped us off in the middle of town.  we wandered around and went into a few stores - quite a few had scarves, clothing and various other things from India.  Beautiful items...reminded me of the Black Market at home.  we were starving so we went for an early dinner at a place in town.  it was quite nice but i can't remember the name. Uli had a steak with tons of vegetables and i had this weird chicken curry...i ended up having to pick all this skin and gross veins and things off the chicken...i cant' just eat it like that.  we bought a gift for Susana, the woman who owns the hospidaje Anita - it's one of those paper lamps with vines around it like the 2 in my apartment.  we took too long and didn't catch the bus until like 10.  we got back t Villa Giardino at 11.  aswe were walking we saw lightning...but it was part of a cloud that was very far away and the rest of tghe sky was still starry.  so we could see the lightning going off in the different parts of the cloud- heat lightning.  we got some ice cream and stood there for awhile eating and watching the different areas of the cloud light up.  it was pretty.

cordoba nov 17 martes (tues)

We got up at 930 so we could have breakfast.  we had medialunas, bread with butter and jam and coffee...a perfect start to the day.  the first thing we did was go for a walk.  I had to buy earplugs and we both realized we didn't bring shampoo, so we bought that too.  We went for a walk through the town.   I took some photos of flowers, roses specifically and a few buildings.  then we walked down a road towards the mountains.  we walked for a bit when we figured we weren't getting much closer and turned around and went back.  it was cute how most of the houses had the last names written on the front of the house..seems a bit strange too.  we walked back and met Uli's friend Alejandro who was going to help Uli secure a moto for the week.  one big problem:  Uli left his international driver's permit in Bs.As. so we went to the itty bitty little police station to get a form for him.  it was very quiet and basic - only one guy there who wasn't in uniform.  he said to come back tomorrow. Weird, eh?  so we went to a store to think about how else we could do it.  we drank some orange juice and Uli figured he might have a copy of it in his email.  so, we went to an internet place and he looked.  at this point a stray dog decided to follow me around.  while Uli was looking for his permiso, i went and bought an empanada and fed it to my furry follower.  meanwhile, Uli found his permit and then decided to photoshop it because the part for motorcycles wasn't coloured in.  it actually looked pretty damn good.  we went back to the cute little police station.  they gave Uli a form and said to go to the bank tomorrow, pay 4 pesos, and then return with the bank's stamp.  after that, a friend of Alejandro's, Juan, came by and brought his bike for Uli to use...itwas a royal blue crossbike and he was happy as a pig in shit.  we (he and i) went on a joyride in the area...through the town and back roads and even tried to get as close to the mountain as we could.  the bike kept stalling though.  something with the transmission.  but it was so much fun.  there were a couple of times when i'd have to walk up the hill and meet him at the top, but i didn't mind.  i took a few photos...me, the photo girl.  we got back and cleaned up and decided we would go for dinner.  the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed...strangely...so we found one open in the town and had 18peso vacio with salad and a super cheap bottle of Santa Ana wine.  it strangely started raining a bit...and it was actually chilly...but dinner wasn't too bad and tehre was another dog (belonged to one of the owners i was told) who was watching us eat.  since vacio is a cut of meat that has fat on it, we gave our fat to the dog...haha...he inhaled it in 2 seconds.  tonight i get to test out those lovely earplugs.