Backpacking South America

While in Cordoba for a short layover, we decided to take a day trip to the nearby (1.5 hour bus ride) Villa Belgrano – a town founded in the 1920’s by some entrepreneurial Germans.  My main interest in visiting the town was to find some good microbrews in Argentina.

As soon as we pulled into town, it was clear that we had arrived at our destination.  The homes and businesses were all built in the alpine tudor style.  Of all the towns built to resemble a foreign place, Villa Belgrano seemed to do it with at least some tact.  While not feeling totally natural, it also didn’t feel overly contrived.   Sure, Main Street survives on tourists, but it didn’t feel hokey.  The only knock was that it was hard to find what I felt was a traditional German sausage…

After casually browsing the city, we grabbed a bite to eat and decided to climb a nearby hill/mountain while the town slipped into the afternoon siesta.  It was an enjoyable hike, but we were a bit amazed by the decision to have the trail go straight up the face of the first hill.  Once on the hill, we walked along the crest to the top of Cerro de la Virgen.

Having worked up a serious thirst and slight appetite, we descended back into town, grabbed some ice cream, walked a few blocks and sat down for our first sampling of local brews.  We both had the Waffe American pale ale, and, were quite surprised. It actually had a nice hop aroma and flavor.

Earlier in the day, we found a bakery that advertised authentic German pretzels.  When we inquired, they told us to come back at 6.  So, promptly after finishing our beers, we made our way back to the bakery.  We ordered one pretzel to share and we were in love.  We went back to by some for the bus ride home and possibly the following day (3 in total), but were informed that they only had 2 more, which was strange, because nobody came in since we arrived…

As we made our way back to the bus depot, we stopped off at two local microbrews to sample a few other varieties.  Nothing really stood out as exceptional and I felt homesick for the flavors of the delicious microbrews in the States.  My quest for the exceptional Argentine beer continues, I am holding out hope for El Bolson.