Bodega slackers, failed attempts at hitch hiking, label-less bottles, OH my!

Finally! After months of drinking the stuff I visit one of the places that makes it all. Cafa(sh)ate! Although Mendoza is the most famous there are several wine routes in northwestern Argentina and we drove through a couple cities, and decided to stop in this very special one. 

Rolling into town it was already dark. 5 hours on the road had complete exausted us and there were talks of an all day bike tour of the bodegas the next morning. We stopped at the most decent looking Hostel and pulled our dust covered car into the parking lot. You might think we went straight to bed, but food and wine were both on the agenda so it was important we made time for them. Pizza, a red, locro (stew), empanadas, and a couple litros of beer on the sidewalks of the main square and we had accomplished our goal. Then....bed (a queen size one with soft red sheets!!!).

Next day: bike tour. We made it to 2 count em 2 bodegas. The first we were late for the last tour. The weather was perfect, but it was a saturday and a lot of the vineyards were closed for tours or closing early. We scrambled to blend in with the back of the tour and made it just in time to skip all the borning wine making details and history of the label to go straight to the cold cellar and the tastings! perfect! New discovery: Torrontes.

The 2nd bodega...well lets say we did a bad job at converting km to miles and we were on bikes in slightly hilly terrain at mid-day without water. When we finally stashed our bikes in a bush out side a fancy hotel on the vineyard property and walked the rest of the way we discovered that we were in no mood to do the wine tour. The 4 of us girls were passed by numerous vehicles. We had our thumbs out, sweaty, red, puppy dog faces to the road, and not one of them stopped. Wow were we cursing the Argentines at that point... Remedy: A platter of cheeses meats and fruit and a pretty bottle of pink wine. Which then turned into several bottles and a sunset and a 

succesful hitch back to our bikes which turned into a breezy downhill coast to return our bikes 1 hour late, and schmooz the owner with wine and pizza, and then showers, another night in the hostal.....Salta tomorrow. 

                                   

Road Triiiip!

I swear as soon as I got in that car tears started welling up. I rolled down the window, found a typical southamerican station jamming the 80s tunes and seriously got the chills. It had been about 5 mos since I had laid my hands on a steering wheel and it felt gooood. It was a little unnerving confronting that crazy argentine driving style, i might not have survived in Buenos Aires, but I did on the Salta streets and exploring the andes of northwest argentina. My road trip partners Alex, Amy , and Flea had no idea what they were in for seeing as I was the only one confident enough with a standard to drive the little VW golf....

A side note: renting this car made me realize I am turning 25 in a few months. Well lets say the wonderful rent-a-car man was o-so-lovely to point that out. Calling me a liar when I told him I was 24. I guess I confused "Cuantos años cumples" with "Cuantos años tienes" but whos keeping track anyway....me now.

One of our first stop along the parque nacional los cardones, named for the type of cactus that populate the valle . The man taking the picture was partially toothless and selling rocks, herbs, dried animal parts, furniture, shells, sand, you name it. Unfortuntely for Felecia he didn't have the herb she was looking for...

SAlta la linda

First thing I did in Salta ate a Tamale at a the city market. Sat myself down at a random counter and loaded that thing up with some delicious spicy goodness and the rest was history..in the bathroom that is. It was well worth the pain.

Salta was a welcome change from BA. Slow, warm, with a souther spanish town feel. Orange and palm trees, little plazas surrounded by spanish colonial buildings. I was happy to be there.

A little Hello

I was walking in a palermo neighborhood on my way to get Pizza (with Ice cream soon to follow) and speaking English with some Floridians who were visiting. We passed a family of 3 children with a mother without realizing it until one of the little boys so delightfuly said "HELLO!" He must have been so happy to hear other people speaking Enlglish and wanted to feel conected and to let us know he understood.

The Olympic games have started and of course I have only watched Fútbol. The time difference is too great and cant be bothered to wake up at 7 to watch some swimmers.

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