LA CUMBRE: Las Sierras de Cordoba

For my last weekend in Cordoba, after 2 months here, I took a little road trip up to the Sierras with my local friends.

Of course the journey involved mate, we are in Argentina after all. After a quick pitstop to eat empanadas with an incredible view, we continued on to La Falda. In La Falda, the main attraction is an old hotel called Hotel Eden, which deserves its own post where I can go into further detail. For now just now it has German roots, and rumors to boot, about a so called Fuhrer who faked his death and escaped to Argentina.

After the Hotel Eden, we continued our journey further up the Camino del Cuadrado and into La Cumbre. La Cumbre is a town founded by the English in the late 1800’s, as they flocked there to build the railroad. There are still some remnants of the tracks through the town, but there is no longer a train that passes through. La Cumbre, meaning ‘the peak,’ got its name for being the highest point along the train’s journey.

The English continued to flood La Cumbre for the next several decades, building vacation homes, and greatly influencing the architectural style of the area. La Cumbre now is your standard Argentinian town in the mountains, with stylish merienda cafes, veggie stands, and local butcher shops, with the architecture being all that remains of the English.

We stayed in an amazing spot called La Loma Cabañas & Suites, which has an acclimatized swimming pool, outdoor exercise yard, asado grill on the patio, ping pong, pool, breakfast included, and rooms with incredible views. We were in heaven there, and could easily spent a week and not gotten bored. We made friends with the other family staying there, and combined our goods and had a giant asado and wine dinner party.

I also suggest the Gran Hotel La Cumbre with its amazing views and beautiful swimming pool

The next day started slowly as I am not Argentinian, and therefore wake up early. The rest of my friends joined me for breakfast after 10, and we moved slowly the next few hours until we packed up our stuff to head up to the dique San Geronimo.

We made a reservation for lunch at a restaurant, DiqueSI, which sits right along the water’s edge with amazing views. While we waited for our reservation, we took a stroll across the bridge, and up above the dam for breathtaking views.

When it was time, we headed back to DiqueSI for local treats- Osobuco empanadas, Pejerrey (fried river fish), a fancy grilled hotdog, and of course, Argentinian wine.

Before driving the two hours back to Cordoba, we made one last stop, which is just next to the dique (dam), to see the waterfall. It’s not a big waterfall, but it is a beautiful one, and just a few minutes away from the restaurant so easy for anyone to see. It was quite peaceful down there, and a great way to end the weekend.

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