Made my Day

We were lucky enough to have a great group of people (almost 100) last week in for almost the entire week celebrating the grand opening of the Golf Course - Estancia de Cafayate. Our restaurant was hopping with reservation only room - after almost a year of being open, it showed us why we were here and doing what we are doing. From most comments I was told and overheard, it was a very successfully weekend for all around and people really had a great time visiting our little paradise. One of the biggest questions we were asked from everyone to the property owners to the prospective property owners.. is why? Why Cafayate?

Well, after working for 16 hours a day, braving employee issues that comes with any business, food shortages, the ever increasing need for expansion, the million ideas of other businesses swirling in my head, oh and being tired and 3 months pregnant - I had almost forgotten myself. Although, telling our story really reminds me of why we are doing what we do and then today... as Charlie is laid up with an thrown out back (his only way to take an afternoon off) and I'm on the shopping rounds buying supplies for the restaurant - usually Charlie's job, I stop in the, what I call, "everything store" for some garbanzo beans (I finally found taihini in Salta and can't wait to make hummus!!) I call it the everything store because you never know what you are going to find! It looks like it's the oldest store in town, right off the plaza across from Banco Macro. It has items that are recognizable like beans - white, black, colorful - seeds, beer, artistic items made out of wool or cactus - and then there are the unrecognizable items like the very top shelf mystery wine bottles that seem to have recently exploded. There's a layer of dust that could have reached back for 10 years, although given the amount of collectible dust in this town, maybe just 1 year, the ceiling is high with products stretching to the top and a bar that looks like it belongs in a western movie- spices that you aren't sure of where they come from or what they are... Anyway, I hope you get the idea. This place is also a great local hang out - today, I walked in and there were 6 men - that could have been a bit, under the weather, mind you it is 11:00 a.m. on a Monday and they all have old Salta beer cans in their hands and were all enjoying each others company. And as I asked for my kilo of Garbanzo beans, one of the older gentleman had an accordion and started to play a wonderful tune that I've heard so often in Cafayate and then one of the gentleman started dancing as they all gathered and clapped, apparently for my entertainment as they were trying to get me to join. Now, I've seen the dance before, a local folk dance that even the 3 year old boys know and the 17 year old boys proudly dance and I wish I knew the counterpart because it put the biggest smile on my face to see how these men enjoyed their culture so much and had such a peace of mind to truly sing and dance on a Monday. Especially when everyone back in the States is in the middle of their Monday morning meetings, catch up emails, and project plannings, and me with a never ending running mind and tendency to forget why I truthfully live here and revert back to my U.S. self... this is why I'm here - the good life and daily occurrences like this remind me of this. Life is good here and that is why I choose to live here. Now, off to siesta!

Salta Errand Day

Charlie usually goes to Salta twice a month for supplies for the restaurant. I had business to do in Salta so I decided to join him. We even closed the restaurant so we could stay the night in Salta. The road between Cafayate and Salta is absolutely beautiful as you go through the Quebrada de las Conchas filled with gorgeous red rock formations, a gentle running river, and various other colors of greens, yellows, and purples thrown about. Even though it is beautiful, going to Salta is not my favorite way to spend a day. If we want to go and come back in the same day (when we don’t close for dinner), we leave very early in the morning in order to make it to Salta when the stores open. Almost all of the stores then close for lunch at 1:00 p.m. until 5:00p.m, we have to get everything done before lunch., so it takes 5 hours to get to Salta and back and then we only spend a total of 3 hours doing errands... needless to say, it’s not the most relaxing trip.

This time is different, we get to take two days to finish our errands and maybe have a little fun in-between. At first, we tried to go to a see Harry Potter at the shopping mall movie theater, but it was only showing in Spanish dubbed (usually the new movies are done in subtitles). Since we were there to relax, we didn’t feel like struggling to understand what was going on. Then we continued to downtown to do a little shopping. Downtown Salta is insanely busy during the evening with lots of crowds and people standing in lines. Everything takes about 2 hours longer than you think it should, but we powered through it, almost unscathed with a new clothes washer and, yes a TV - our first! After, returning from shopping, we decided to try a new restaurant that some of our customers recommended. We found the house converted to a restaurant on Balcarce. We were led upstairs to the dining areas and were directed to a very small room (like a kids bedroom), with another table of 2 gentleman and 3 more empty tables. We were happy that every time someone walked in to sit down, they asked to go some where else because it felt like we were all dining together! Other than the cramped atmosphere, everything else was great. The food was excellent with different menu usually not offered in Salta. We had wild rice, baby sprouts, and a few other shocking (usually not seen in NW Argentina) items. The evening finished with dessert of baileys on the rocks and the volcan (chocolate cake that oozes chocolate syrup when you cut in to it- yummy!).

The next day we went to one of my favorite stops on the Restaurante Colorado “errand day”, the fruit and veggie market (CoFrutos). This is the mother of all farmers markets! A huge warehouse filled with vendors of everything from oranges, lettuce, peppers, to spices and beans. We always by our bulk veggies here, straight from the farmers where we get to pick the quality and haggle down the price. We head out of town with our usual stop for some empanadas and a gas re-fill at the YPF (they have the best empanadas..) and start our return trip home to unload and get ready for dinner at the Restaurant. All in all, a great trip, but as always, we are very happy to be home and certainly exhausted.