Salta la Linda

Salta is the beginning of the north of Argentina. The further north you go, the warmer it gets. The Inca culture comes down from Bolivia and mixes with the mainstream Argentine culture. There are more indigenous people here, shorter and darker. Coca leaves are sold in stores. The coca leaves come from the mountains of Bolivia, and they help with the altitude and with energy.

 

There is different regional food here, mainly hearty country-style stews like locro. Salta is a province as well as a city, and both are famous for their empanadas.

I love to sit in the parks and plazas. The public spaces are always lively. Salta’s Plaza Principal is beautiful, and busy all day. It’s lovely to have a beautiful plaza as the center of your town.

Salta also has Parque San Martín. The park has a little lake (more like a big pond) where peoplerent little paddle boats.

The park especially comes alive late in the day as the sun gets low and loses some of its power. As the evening comes on, the park is full of people, full of families, everybody enjoying the coolness. Now people rent little bicycle carts to cruise around in and have fun.

Salta is known as Salta la Linda. Salta the Beautiful. The colonial architecture has been well preserved. However much of its beauty lies in the surrounding hills and mountains. We stayed in the city for two weeks. We both took some Spanish classes, Mike for one week, and Monica for two. Each of us had our own one-on-one class, two hours a day, and we both appreciated the opportunity to speak with somebody who would correct us. Taking classes is also a great way to learn about the area and its history.

The school arranged for us to stay at the home of a woman named Cristina. We had our own little apartment behind her house, and we used her kitchen and living room when we wanted. We immediately became friends with Cristina, and she took us to meet her parents, then the four of us became friends. We got together with them a few more times before we left. Amelia, Cristina’s mom, is 86, and Toto, her dad, is 90. He is still very strong, and keeps up with the maintenance of the house that he built. They have caretakers who help them, but Toto is ready for anything.

The first time we met him, he had just finished laying a concrete pad at the base of some stairs, and he insisted on having us sign our names along with his on his work. Years from now, when we are long forgotten, it will be a mystery who “Mike and Monica” were, and why they helped Toto.

We went to a park with them the next day, and spent a nice afternoon. The following week, we got together with them and some other relatives for dinner. We really liked talking to them, and they liked talking to us.

The next day, Monica and I returned to the same park, called San Lorenzo, to hike up the river, through the forest. The river comes down from the snow-capped peaks, and if you walked long enough, you could cross into Chile.

The best part of our time in Salta was living with and sharing time with Cristina. She’s a busy modern woman with a lot of things going on in her life. We had lots of opportunities to talk with her about life and its challenges and rewards. We shared cooking, and we felt very at home with her. The good part about traveling is meeting people, and the sad part is saying goodbye.

And here we are on our final morning, sad to leave and ready for what’s next.