Cafeyate, Argentina

Dear Family and Friends,

We rented a car in Salta so we could drive to Cafeyate.  Although it was a two lane road, it was very nice with wide shoulders.  The best thing is that the drivers were very respectful and drove safe.

Although the drive is a little under 120 miles, the scenery changes drastically.  It was a most beautiful drive.

We followed this truck hauling a trailer with tobacco.

It wasn't too long and we came to some awesome tobacco fields. The tobacco growing with the mountains in the distance was breathtaking.  We were just getting started, the real beauty lay ahead.

I took this picture from the car.  What else should we expect, after all we were in Argentina.

After awhile, the scenery changed.  The landscape was much more arid.  This old adobe building reminded me of something I would see in an old western movie.

This man was carving flutes out of wood.

Here is a lady selling tortillas by the side of the road.

The scenery changed again.  We drove into the most magnificent display of giant red rock formations.  It reminded me somewhat of Sedona, Arizona.  We stopped multiple times to walk around and admire the beautiful scenery.

Here is my honey enjoying the view.

This stovepipe rock reminded me of one I have seen in western U.S.

This rock formation was called the castles.

Walking into yet another rock formation.

When we got inside it almost took our breath away.

Not too much further and we were in Cafeyate.  We stayed just out of town in a vineyard.  Beautiful scenery here too.

Chuck was impressed with how high these grapes were off the ground.

Here are some pictures inside the small town of Cafeyate.

This picture is of the central plaza.  I love this tree.

The sidewalks around the plaza had a lot of outdoor restaurant seating and the usual tourist vendors.

Chuck bought yet another hat.  Actually he looks mighty fine standing by this old wagon outside the wine museum.  We toured the museum and learned quite a bit about wine making in this part of the world.

This is a fun, funky building across the street from the museum.

Chuck thought he had died and gone to wine heaven.  He had a real hard job deciding which wines to bring back to Ecuador.  We were allowed two bottles each.

The people who live in Argentina can just buy it by the jug.

We had a delightful dinner (steak again...what else?) outside.  The weather was fantastic.

I will end this post with a picture of the church across from the plaza.  It was so beautiful all lit up.

We had a wonderful trip.  We saw more than we even imagined we would.

We arrived back in Cuenca to the task of moving from one condo to another.

As we are starting to get settled in, we are off again.  We are going to the U.S. to hug family.

I hope to be able to post to the blog as we go.

Love,
Nancy