"She'll Meet Us at the Bar Later"

I think that Argentina was the country I was most looking forward to when starting this journey. And it did not disappoint. I get asked all the time what were my favorite countries and Argentina is always one of the top. I loved the culture, the people, the beauty, the food, the wine, and the nightlife. Argentina had it all and it did it all very well.

My first destination in Argentina was Salta. I was only there for a couple days and enjoyed exploring their outdoor market, watched the Champions League futbol championship game (it is like the Super Bowl except the whole world actually cares), and got my first taste of Argentina meat. For my first meal we made the mistake of looking for a restaurant at 8pm at night, forgetting that restaurants don’t open until around 10pm and don’t get crowded until around 11pm. We had to search out a locals place, whenever you ask someone for a recommendation they always point you to a tourist spot. We finally found one and took a seat for dinner at 9:30pm. We were the only ones in the restaurant. We decided that for my first meal I needed to get a taste of everything and ordered this popular mixed plate. By mixed I mean lots of meat from every part of the cow. True to my word I tried cow stomach, liver, heart, brain, intestine, unidentified something, and blood sausage. We also shared a filet steak and a Bife de Chorizo which became my staple choice for the rest of my time in Argentina.

I decided to go down to Cafayate with a group of three girls, Robyn, Sanna, and Madis, that I had met at the hostel in Salta. The group of us girls- Robyn (from London, also traveling alone), Sanna, and Madis (both from Sweden) had a terrific time together over the next four days. Cafayate is a very cute town consisting of a few quiet streets with restaurants and shops surrounding the main plaza. We stayed in a great hostel that had a huge patio and bonfire area and often served big BBQ dinners for the guests. Our first night there they had a BBQ (served at 11pm) with all you can eat delicious meat, salad, pasta, potatos, etc. We also grabbed a simple 5 liter bottle of wine for consumption. Everyone hung out by the bonfire before it was time to head out to the local salsa bar for the night. Everyone from the hostel set out for the bar, including this dog that I fell in love with, Ameria, and yes the dog came into the bar with us and chilled there like a local. It was at that bar that Madis and I fell in love with the locals drink- Fernet and coke. Fernet is a strong tasting alcohol, sort of but not at all like black licorice, that you will hate upon your first several attempts, but it grows on you.

The next day we were off on a hike to some nearby waterfalls. We are thinking this hike will be a basic 2.5 hour climb, it turns out not to be a hike but more of a rock climbing exhibition- pulling ourselves in and out of rock crevasses, jumping over rivers, and creating our own path because there was no real trail to follow. We actually made it successfully to the waterfall which we were very excited about. On our second day we decided to do some wine tasting and cheese eating. We went to Bodega La Banda where we drank their red and torrencea white wine. Then we went to Cabras de Cafayate which is a goat cheese factory where we saw and learned (OK it was all in Spanish so we didn’t really learn anything) about the goat cheese making world. That night was another BBQ and trip to the salsa bar. To got to the bar we got a ride in a van and mi amor, the dog Ameria, tried to follow us by running after the car. Her owner and the owner of the bar, Carlos, looks at me and says “Don’t worry, Ameria will meet us at the bar later.” Shortly after we get to the bar I see the door kick open and in strolls Ameria and she struts her way onto the dance floor. Blood brilliant.

On our final day we got a car and took off to see the famous Quebrada de Cafayate, which is a highway that goes through an insane rock landscape and formations. The true brilliance of the place were all the colors in the rocks. In one rock you could see layers of seven different colors ranging from a rich red to green to white. There was also an amphitheater where a few musicians were playing music for the tourists. I must say the acoustics were great for a rock formation.