Salta Argentina.....

So since winter here is pretty boring as most everyone else is still in school and the city sort of 'hibernates' we decided to check out a place that was definately on our list of places in Argentina we needed to check out.. Salta, Argentina.. We had seen the salt flats in Peru and we were eager to compare the two..  We were also eager to try the food!!!  empanada, tamales and humitas.. 

so let's just see the pictures shall we:)

 we cares that we arrive at 11 pm.. :)  by far the best tamales I have ever eaten in my 41 years on this planet.. best..

 

 

 

 

 

 

to see the splendor of the city.. you have to ride the cable car UP the mountain!!

once there your mom and dad take goofy pictures of you..

and then you enjoy the view..

so to see Salta and the salt flats you have to take a bus tour.. usually about 12 hours or so on a bus.. many stops.. Scott makes sure we don't just take any old bus.. this was a monster..

our first stop was for breakfast on what could have been the windiest part of the world!!!

So after 1/2 day we finally make it to the salt flats.. thank god Scott got photos as I was so very sick during the bus trip.. fever/earache/throat pain and the altitude got the best of me for sure..

The salt flats go on for 80 square miles!!!!  Cora and Nola had fun with that!!  the photography is great!!  and it is BRIGHT WHITE..

so very different that the salt flats in Peru.. which were used for salt you consume.. the salt in salta we weren't able to buy to use for consumption.. mostly in sculptures..

examples of sculptures above!!  LOL.. kids made not of salt..

so while I slept the ride down the mountain, Scott and the kids had a blast sticking their heads out the top of the monster truck!!!!  nothing like freezing your face!!

I think Scott had the most fun!!

I did get to try it once.. let me tell you.. its COLD..

The Hill of Seven Colors!  this was the last stop and I am glad i felt better by this time.. the small town at the base was a wonderful place to shop for local crafts and feel the culture of the people living among the mountains

the winding road down the hill.. not for the faint of heart..

because I torture my family I make them tour churches all of the time.. it is hard not to when they are stunningly beautiful.. we did two churches and a great museum in the square where we stayed.. all of them were amazing..

The inside of the church.. the ceilings are just painted.. it looks 3d but it is all just paint.. amazing close up!!

the Patio de la Empanadas.. 7 small empanada shops that when you approach the owners basically attack you and try to get you to sit in their sections!!  LOL.. thank god we read the reviews and were prepared.. tried 4 out of 7.. we would like to give this public service announcement that you always get them fried.. always go with fried empanadas.. :)

meat, chicken, beef jerky.. it doesn't get better

because Salta can be a bit boring for kids (think 14 hours on a BUS).. Scott arranged a few fun things.. including making empanadas at Finca Valentin, a private home settled just outside of Salta at the foot of the mountains..

rolling the dough was super fun!!!

all of our spanish paid off as Maria spoke no english!!  we made it though

the results were awesome!!!

just let's say the basket wasn't full for long!!

to finish our trip, this was about our 87 millionth empanada shop.. and the last.. and the best!!!  but, buttttt

I couldn't eat another empanada.. so I went for the traditional Argentine dish of Locro.. http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Locro-Hominy-Stew.. just in case you want to try and make this at home.. it was simply amazing..

52 weeks to the day...

today I mark 52 weeks here in Argentina.. hard to imagine that just 52 weeks ago the girls and I said good bye to our friends and family and drove away to the Austin airport to begin this journey to getting our family back under one roof after too long living apart.
had hoped to have some glorious, profound blog post to mark this occasion, but I don't.

I guess with that said I am going to do a top 10.. some with photos.. some with no photos.. :)

Top Ten things that I wish we had and miss here in Argentina...  (this is pretty easy to do with pictures as our visit to the states was just last week and was lovely.. but too short!!)

also.. disclaimer.. these are in random order!!!

1.  random date nights with the boy.. drinking.. which I almost never do... 

2.  the breakfast of many of my high school mornings.. bagel with fried egg, pork roll and cheese.. notice I replaced the usual YooHoo for a healthier coconut water.. :)

 3.  the Jersey Shore.. yes.. complain about parking, really the lack of.. complain about paying to go to the beach.. complain about crowds and the 'new yorkers'.. but really there is no smell like the Jersey Shore on a hot summer day and no feeling of 'home' quite like it.. 

4.  Friends who are more like family and family that I just take for granted as family....  I hope they all know how much love we all felt during our visit!!!  

4.  vanilla ice cream with chocolate crunchies.. many a summer night my dad would take us to carvel to pick up a pack of 'flying saucers' which are chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream in them.. the ultimate ice cream sandwich.. I would have had one.. I almost bought one.. but I worried I would cry.. man I miss my dad..  this was a nice treat.. :)

5.  nothing quite like standing back and watching a relationship continue.. while we may live far apart, Nola always loves her grandmas..  Nola and my mom hold hands effortlessly and goof around.. I watch her and my mother in law settle into the couch to talk like they are just catching up from the day  .. I watched Cora sit next to my father in law and put her head on his shoulder as if she does that every day.  It is the small things I know that they will remember forever well into their adulthood, much like I remember my grandmother..  

6.  friends that despite an age difference and being boys vs girls manage to mesh and hang out.. manage to just relax and goof around.. manage to share the crab in a crab boil and not be the 'crab hog' 

7.  goofy girlfriends who totally get the love of a Dollar Store!!!  as we were leaving Texas and heading to New Jersey both girls commented that they were sad that before we moved we had not spent as much time as we could have with our one friend Shemper.. and I felt the same.. was just so wonderful to have Linds & Shemp with us during the week to hang and go random places:)  we needed that!!  ( and I needed time with their moms!!)  :)

8.  My mother.. who I had to teach how to take a 'selfie'.. but who I am so thankful for!!  

9.  a stuffed avacado.. don't ask.. you just go with it.. it is a Texas thing.. and truly amazing.. 

10.  diner food!!!  New Jersey has the most diner's in the US.. and I am thankful for that!!  :)  grilled cheese and fries with brown gravy at 11 pm solves every problem you have.. promise.. 

yeah.. there are 11.. I couldn't contain myself..  there would have been more, but I noticed alot of food photos.. perhaps too many.... LOL