It was a Wednesday morning at la Loma lodge. A beautiful morning in which Erika and Shannon decided to go on a city tour. Since they spent a day hunting when they arrived in Córdoba, this time they asked for something different; see Jesus Maria and Colonia Caroya, two very special and little towns just 25 minutes away from the lodge.

I went to pick them up from the lodge around 9 am. By the time I got there, they were finishing breakfast so we started talking and we connected immediately! It was their first time in Argentina for both of them, but Erika knew a lot about South America and she was really into this part of the world because her father is from Uruguay! In fact, her Spanish is very good and she told me she was really happy to be here since, after the hunting part of the trip, she was visiting her family in this great country.

We started our tour in Jesus Maria town,  at the “Estancia Jesuitica”. Actually ,the town is named after this building.  While we were in the car I told them the story about the Jesuits in Cordoba. They arrived  400 hundred years ago, The King of Spain sent them to start “The misión “ of “ educate” the natives and teach them in to Catholic religión, they built a lot of churches and schools, actually the first University of Latino America was founded by them here in Córdoba province.

Erika and Shannon really enjoyed our visit to the “ Estancia”, which now is a Museum.

After a little bit of history we went straight downtown to do some “shopping”. Jesus Maria is a small town but has great leather stores to buy some souvenirs and why not, a nice pair of shoes or a jacket. They also loved the wooden tables we use here to serve the “Picada” a variety of cheese and our traditional salame with bread, and took some of those for their houses.

Lunch time came, and as they have been having Asado at the field every day, I suggested going to a traditional Italian Restaurant and they loved the idea. This restaurant is located in Colonia Caroya, our next destination.

In Argentina, Italian food is very popular because of the important Italian immigration that happened years ago. When they arrived in Córdoba, the now called Colonia Caroya was the chosen place for them and it still has a reminiscence of those years, the people who lived there at that time, their food, their beliefs, everything keeps the original traditions.

I took them to “Clementina” and we enjoyed some homemade Canelones, Sorrentinos and  Lasagna with a good bottle of Malbec and a nice conversation !

Speaking of Malbec, we still had a last stop! A visit to one of our favourite winerys.  Still in Colonia Caroya, we went to “Terra Camiare” an old but newly refurbished Winery. We learnt a lot about the history of the immigrants and how they started when they first arrived, and that now they have a really modern winery and great wines!!

Erika and Shannon loved trying different grapes and types of wines, they bought some bottles to take home!

After that, we were ready to go back to the lodge.

Thanks Erika and Shannon!  I had a amazing day with you!! Hope I see you again soon!!

Silvia

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