In the morning, I got up a bit later than planned and had a quick breakfast. I said my goodbyes to Dave, Clive, Jeff and Isabel (again) and Duncan and hopped into a taxi to the Terminal de Omnibus.

The driver didn't have change for a 20 peso note and had to run around his colleagues to get my money changed. The sky was bright blue and it was already getting very warm.

There was a bus to Córdoba at ten, so I had a Pepsi (it's strange how Pepsi and 7Up seem to be a lot more succesful here than in Europe or the US) and hopped on a Chevallier bus, which was nice and comfy and just as well as I had to spend ten hours on it...

I slept right through a shivery black and white version of the Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, the quality of the tape was so bad I thought it was another Hong Kong martial arts film dubbed in American English... At about two in the afternoon we stopped in Rosario for lunch. The guy at the sandwich place did not understand the concept 'just cheese' so ham and cheese it was...

In the afternoon, I spent most of my time looking at the landscape (very flat, very green, blue sky) and listening to my cd's. We passed one horse towns like Caracaña, Leones, Bell Ville... In the last there were loads of people selling footballs by the road for some mysterious reason.

Somewhere between Villa Maria and Oliva, I had my first beautiful sunset: with purple, smeared out clouds around a burning orange sun, in a dark indigo sky. Not long after, the lights of Córdoba appeared and getting out of the bus station, my finely tuned orientation skills (ehem) brought me straight to the first and cheapest hotel in the LP, which for some reason has changed it's name from Residencial Thanoa to Hotel Helvetia. God knows why they want something reminiscent of the Suiss, because the hotel certainly isn't.

My room is all pink, even a pink duvet cover, and with lots of GNADN gismo's (GNADN was used in a Sci Fi series, I forget which one, to signify 'Goes Nowhere and Does Nothing'), bare wires and light switches that don't work. The toilets are a bit scruffy as well. I imagine this place would be James' worst nighmare, I'm quite sure he's never even seen let alone stayed in a 'hotel' like this... But it looks out on a great patio, has a cool ceiling fan and is dirt cheap.

José, the guy at reception, is a darling, expressing surprise at both my age and my 'soltera' status... I dropped my bags and went out in my sandals, as it was a beautiful warm evening.

I walked down San Jeronimo, where the hotel is, and came across lively squares, green bits, old buildings and ended up at Plaza San Martin, where the cathedral was beautifully lit, and there must have been some classical concert going on because there were lots of cordobeses pouring out in evening clothes.

And then I went into Mandarina, an Italian slash Chinese restaurant recommended by LP, which could have been horrible but wasn't, it was lovely. I had a great pasta (stuffed with ricotta cheese, ham and walnuts, with mushroom cream sauce), the waiter was extra nice to the lonely turista and there was a band playing! At some point they played Chan Chan (the Cuban son song made famous by Compay Segundo and Buena Vista Social Club) and I thought they were really good, but the next song was a Spanish version of 'Girl from Ipanema', which was a bit of a dubious choice I thought. And all that for a grand total of 20 pesos (including tip).

I think that was also putting me off a little about the JLA trip. I know most of the people had good jobs and didn't think twice about money, but for me, it was sometimes quite painful to dish out between 10 and 20 pounds for what was often still a mediocre meal, which is why I rarely had any wine.

Anyway. I don't know if this is a sign, that Cuba is calling me, but walking past the Cabildo, where also the tourist office is, I suddenly heard a familiar rhythm (tok-tok-tok tok tok) which could only be salsa! There was a handwritten sign saying there was a Salsa Cubana evening, entrada 5 pesos, with live music, so I just had to have a look.

There were mojitos and Cuba Libres (4 pesos each, which is actually cheaper than in Cuba itself...), a live band called La Selecta dressed way too smart in black suits, and a salsa teacher called Eldes Lopez, in a white shirt with mambo ruffles in the colours of the rainbow (that's no figure of speech by the way, they WERE the colours of the rainbow). The latter was definitely Cuban, I could tell by his accent.

So loads of argentinas, the odd argentino dragged along by his girlfriend and one silly Belgian tourist had a free lesson in basic salsa, mambo, bachata and merengue steps, and what takes Northern Europeans about 15 weeks of lessons, the cordobeses managed with flair in one hour.

Saying that, afterwards it turned out that lots of them actually knew how to dance all those dances, so there were some false beginners on the floor... I enjoyed watching them. It seems here it's more of a couple thing though, people just dance with their partner and no one else. There was one couple who were on the dance floor all evening, having eyes for no one but each other, nearly eating each other up. You see that a lot around here, lots of people kissing. lots of love in the air.

At 1.30, I walked back to the hotel, ridiculously early by Argentinian standards so there were loads of people still around. Apart from crazy car drivers this seems to be a very safe city, in the centre at least.