Salta

We realized we needed a vacation from our vacation and some city time in Salta hit the spot.  This is one of the nicest Latin American cities I have been in, right up there with Cuenca, Ecuador and Valladolid, Mexico.  Compared to those two favorites, Salta is actually feels cleaner, safer, and more polished but it is way way more expensive.  It still has that sketchy electrical infrastructure with a tangle of wires going every which way from buildings to poles.  It has that nice slightly crumbling but partially restored colonial look, but no packs of stray dogs or street food carts.  Lots of Argentinian tourists but no Americans.  It has a bit of a European feel with street side  cafes on the main plaza.  

The empanadas here are stellar and we continue to eat them daily, but just in restaurants because of the lack of street food. We had a dish new to us called Provoleta which is provolone cheese and herbs baked in a little iron skillet at La Saltena, now we are obsessed.

The observations in the beginning of this post were from walking around town on a Sunday.  Now it’s Monday and the vibe is very different.  It’s quite chaotic, loud, the street vendors and dogs are everywhere, and Luis was followed this morning on his way to a grocery store by a guy he tried to shake by crossing the street twice, and still couldn’t shake him until finally Luis gave him the get the hell away from me look and he backed off.  So much for a nirvanaesque Latin American city.

We did the religious circuit visiting the main cathedrals in the city, and stopped into a few markets along the way.  The “artesian” market in Parque San Martin was filled with imported crap, and the Mercado Central was a real drag as well.  We looked forward to eating in the market as we always do.  Usually I love that grimy overload but this one just had some kind of weird vibe I can’t put my finger on.  Maybe I am too old to like it anymore I don’t know. But that can’t be true  because I loved the Mercado I ate at when I went to Ecuador last April.  Here’s some pics of all the churches from today.

Our third and final day found us back at La Saltena.  Next to the ones I bought from a vendor on the bus to Iryua, the empanadas at La Saltena were the best. 

Next stop is Mendoza, Argentina.  We were scheduled to fly to Santiago, Chile tonight, but our connecting flight was bumped up by a day so we have a full unplanned day in Mendoza tomorrow where we’re going to have a splurge on a special treat so stay tuned :)