Jul 8
Before leaving for our trip to the continent, I toyed with the idea of writing a book about what people in each country ate for breakfast. I don't know exactly why what people eat for breakfast is a curiosity to me but it has been for some time. There is the whole 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' thing but I'm not sure that's it. It could go back to almost twenty years ago on my first trip out of the country.
From the northwest of Argentina we traveled south to Argentina's other (and more famous) wine country in Mendoza. Mendoza is a fairly large city in Argentina, located in the north west part of the country. It's also easily reachable from Santiago in Chile. Mendoza is located in the desert Cuyo region making it an arid, hot place and even though it's a desert, a startling number of trees have been planted all over the city, providing some much needed shade especially in the summer months.
Visiting the northwest of Argentina was one of the highlights of our trip in South America so far. However, I found it a bit daunting when planning our time in this region. There is so much to see and do, where do you start? We knew we wanted to rent a car for sure to give us freedom and flexibility but for how long? Where would we rent the car? I scoured the internet and guide books for answers.
Ah, wine. I love wine. Who doesn't love a great wine? If you love wine like me and are interested in learning more about a grape you probably haven't heard of, well listen up!
When most people think of wines from Argentina, immediately they think of the lovely Malbec. But Argentina has more to offer than just this red grape. The north of Argentina is home to one of the most beautiful wine regions in the country, Cafayate and it's shining star, the Torrontés grape. What the malbec grape has done for Mendoza, the torrontés grape does for Cafayate.
So we didn’t just road trip our way through the northwest snapping photos of the amazing scenery. We also ate. A lot. Prior to our journey, I had read about the unique cuisine of the Andan north of Argentina. So I knew to expect specialties like humitas, tamales, llama stews and other hearty dishes like locro and carbonada. While visiting this region, I made it a point to try all of these local dishes, as well as take notes comparing empanadas from Tucuman up to Salta (very different in style). It was a difficult task but a tasty one that I was certainly up for!
If you are traveling through the Northwest of Argentina, you shouldn’t miss a stop in Tafi del Valle. Located about 2 hours from Tucuman, it is the place that most people from Tucuman go to escape the heat and city life. After following a curvy mountain road that winds through jungle like forest, you find yourself deposited in an absolutely stunning valley.
Oh my god, I can’t believe I am going to say it to everyone reading but I have to. The pizza we had here rivals New York pizza, even though it’s made in a different style. If you knew how much I loved pizza, you would know that is a very bold statement. But the pizza here is that good.
We took the ferry from Colonia del Sacremento back to Buenos Aires. Since we didn't get to see too much of the city the first time we were there, we felt we owed it to BA to explore some of it's beautiful parts. We only had two more days but we were not disappointed. We stayed at the same hostel, Terrazas Estoril because on Thursday evenings they host a huge asado complete with live tango music. And since it was Thursday when we arrived, the timing was perfect. The tango band was pretty good and it was especially nice on the hostels rooftop. The sunset and the views from here are stunning.
The taxi came for us around 9 pm to take us to Retiro. Retiro is the main bus terminal in BA, quite the unsavory place to be at night but this time we were smart not to take mass transit and instead the taxi driver dropped us off right in front of the bus terminal. It was pouring. We (gratefully) carried a lighter load and were off to Uruguay. We left many of our heavier and very annoying- to -carry Antarctica clothes with one of the couchsurfers we stayed with. Yes, it is already annoying to carry all these winter clothes!!
Traveling light was a blessing. We boarded an overnight bus that would take us over the border of Uruguay at around 2 am and we would arrive in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, at 8 am. Sleep came pretty easy, surprisingly, even though we had to wake up for the border crossing (a simple process). Bus travel in Argentina is pretty luxurious and cheap. You get a tray of food when you arrive. Just some sandwiches and cookies but it's all pretty tasty. Then there are the seats. We slept through the bus ride on our cama seats. Cama seats mean that the seats recline back pretty far (almost flat) and they are very wide, oversized seats. They feel like they are made out of some thick memory foam, so comfy! With a smooth ride, the gentle rocking lulls you right to sleep. Greyhound needs to take some lessons!!
I am so behind in writing my posts! We had some technical difficulties with connections and honestly, we spent a lot of time just relaxing. As I write this, we are still in Uruguay but will be leaving tomorrow to head back to Buenos Aires for two more days. We spent an amazing time here and I really fell in love with this country. But more on that later, for now I want to tell you all about some of the foods I tried in Buenos Aires before too much more time passes!
Infused exposures 