Arizona Dreamin´ and Lots of Wine

It`s official, I am in love with Northern Argentina. Incredibly gorgeous landscapes, quaint and friendly towns, I am so relaxed I feel like I could stay here for months and months. And somehow we fell right into the Argentinian daily routine - wake up late morning, have a BIG lunch, retire to the hostel for a siesta (nap), go out for a light dinner anytime after 8:30, drink too much wine and stay up late. Stores close at 1:00 and open again at 5:00, and restaurants close for the afternoon by 3:00, and don´t reopen any earlier than 8:30pm. The adjustment was almost instantaneous, must be something in the air...

We began our stay in Salta, which I just loved. Nothing particularly noteworthy, but it was a nice small city and I felt like I was at home. We even saw a movie at a Hoyts Cinema! That was weird...like stepping into a "matter transporter" back to the states. We made our way from Salta to Cafayete, a town known for its wineries. The route to Cafayete brings you through magnificent desert and mountain terrain. It reminded me a lot of Arizona, which is interesting because I´ve never been to Arizona, though I`ve heard I am accurate in my assumption. There are mountains covered in various minerals, which turn them all sorts of bright colors - red, blue, green, purple - it was a sight to see. On top of that there were various gorges and rock formations, I loved it as I had never seen anything like it before. Its been amazing to see the change in landscape from Peru to Argentina. There is so much diversity, and yet everywhere I´ve visited has been overwhelmingly beautiful (and I still haven´t even made it to Patagonia!).

Today was the day we dedicated to visiting the wineries. They afforded beautiful surroundings, though it was a little disappointing as we couldn´t just go there and hang out for a few hours and eat cheese, you pretty much just walked in, looked around, had a few sips of wine and either bought some or didn´t. The wine was very good, however. My favorites were from the Nanni winery, a red Melbec was delicious, as well as the regional specialty, a white Torrontés. We did make it to the the cheese factory too! Goat cheese - my favorite. Mmmmmm....

And get this - they have wine ice cream here! (Crystal, contain yourself...) Its not just wine-flavored ice cream, this is like one powerful glassful! I wish I had known that before I ordered the large...oops : )

Tomorrow we hop a bus to San Miguel de Tucuman, another town in the north which is suppose to be beautiful. Talk to you all soon!

Joan