Tucumán ended up to be our first long stop since the beginning of our trip. It was just 15 days since we had arrived to Buenos Aires, but it felt right to stop here. Even before starting our trip this city was marked as a must-visit destination -mainly in order to visit our friends that we have previously met in Germany a couple of years ago!
San Miguel de Tucumán is the capital of the Tucumán province which is the smallest in area in Argentina. Nevertheless Tucumán holds an economic and historical importance. The region is known for his sugarcane production that dates from the colonial period to nowadays. Historically it was in this city where Argentina first declared independence.
We already knew that Tucumán would be quite hot at this time of the year but only then did we realize how hot it was! The city’s life happens either early before 11 am or after 5 pm until as late as midnight. During siesta most of commerce is closed and few single souls are seen on the streets. This setup makes the life boom that happens late in the evening more impressive! When the sun is already setting down and temperature finally starts to be bearable all shops open again and suddenly everyone seems to be on the streets. In fact, making your life rather at night makes perfect sense. The only thing we couldn't yet imagine is: if temperatures are boiling hot by October, how it will be in December and January at the peak of Summer!!!
San Miguel de Tucumán is the capital of the Tucumán province which is the smallest in area in Argentina. Nevertheless Tucumán holds an economic and historical importance. The region is known for his sugarcane production that dates from the colonial period to nowadays. Historically it was in this city where Argentina first declared independence.
We already knew that Tucumán would be quite hot at this time of the year but only then did we realize how hot it was! The city’s life happens either early before 11 am or after 5 pm until as late as midnight. During siesta most of commerce is closed and few single souls are seen on the streets. This setup makes the life boom that happens late in the evening more impressive! When the sun is already setting down and temperature finally starts to be bearable all shops open again and suddenly everyone seems to be on the streets. In fact, making your life rather at night makes perfect sense. The only thing we couldn't yet imagine is: if temperatures are boiling hot by October, how it will be in December and January at the peak of Summer!!!
With its big avenues and grid streets, Tucumán is pretty easy to navigate in, making its most famous attractions accessible, such as Plaza de Independencia, Casa del Gobierno and the Cathedral. For us, one the most enjoyable part was just hanging around with our friends Tucumanos sharing both old and new memories with a 1L bottle of Quilmes (one of the most known Argentinean beer brand). Although we had been in Argentina for two weeks, it was only in Tucumán that we ate our first parrillada, a typical barbecue in Argentina where you cook all sort of meats! Also worth of mention are the empanadas tucumanas, different from other parts in the country. Don’t worry, we will be making a post all about our culinary adventures in Argentina.
Our friends also took us to a typical Friday night out. A boliche (club in Argentinean ) full of dancing halls where Latin music, lasers and smoke burst all night long. We would be lying if we said we didn’t have much fun!
Our friends also took us to a typical Friday night out. A boliche (club in Argentinean ) full of dancing halls where Latin music, lasers and smoke burst all night long. We would be lying if we said we didn’t have much fun!
We also visited the Cerro San Javier, just in the outskirts of the city. These mountains are part of the yungas, a subtropical jungle that is located on the slopes of the Andes and covers parts of north Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and it is a kind of a transition part from the high lands of the Andes to the rain forests in the east. They are quite warm humid and we have proven that in our visit to the Cerro. Although it was very sunny in Tucumán, arriving to the mounts we immediately could see some clouds that apparently never leave floating on the highest parts. More impressive was hearing and feeling some drops of rain/humidity falling in the most forested part of our trail, although it was not raining!...
From the Cerro San Javier, Inês embraced her thrill-seeking side and embraced a radical adventure. But she will be telling you about this on one of our next posts.
Stay tuned!
Stay tuned!