The big news of the day...we have credit & debit cards! Thank you Jordan Credit Union & FedEx!!
We still need the code for credit so we're not home free yet...but I remain hopeful & am a much happier traveler!
Our next hurdle is obtaining visas for Brazil, oops! I found a link to instructions on how to get them in Buenos Aires, "We will be successful, we will get our visas in one week, I feel them in my hands already." This is my new affirmation.
Getting the cards was a fun excursion in itself. We got the address for FedEx here but it only sends, doesn't receive and deliver. We found that office and explained our circumstances, thank goodness for our Spanish. The senorita told us that the delivery comes by once a day and that she would watch for our packages and not have them delivered to the Casa Hernandez where we are sleeping no longer. We were told to return around 4 pm, it was 10:30 am. We sat on the steps for five minutes setting our new goals for the day. After heading a block up the street to the market I turned around to see her literally running towards us! Hooray, the packages were in the office! We'll go back tomorrow to see if there might be a 4th envelope for us with the crucial code we need to pull money out of the cajero automatico!
Salta is truly amazing in terms of colonial architecture which we love! There are day trips to awesome natural places but we are going to spend our last days here taking it all in. Just walking to the plaza or to the supermarket that we frequent here is a trip back to the 1800s as far as the buildings are concerned. They are well-maintained for the most part and I'm sure are even more beautiful inside.
After the cards were safely in our room and emails sent to the CU in thanks for their efforts, we went to two museums in the center. The first houses the discoveries from 1999 of three frozen Inca children who were 'offered to the gods' in an annual celebration of harvest. The most beautiful girl and boy of each quadrant of Inca-ville (from Columbia to Argentina along the Andes) was chosen to travel to the center of the Inca capital, Cusco, Peru, to be paraded around the leader himself. Afterwards they had to walk in a STRAIGHT LINE back to their homes. I can't imagine how hard this might have been. On the early roads, we're talking over 500 years ago, it would have been a horrific trip, but straight like a bird flies, over these mountains and through jungles &/or deserts? Really?!
When they returned they were loaded up with beer made with maize and buried alive with many trinkets, including little gold & silver Inca representations beautifully clothing in miniature outfits along with llama carvings of all kinds of stones. Their final burial spots were at the tip-tops of the highest mountains where they froze. The mummy remains are amazing, though a bit gruesome. The other items found with the children are in the museum as well, a complete history of the events and times. Interesting viewing!
The other museum was filled with Salta's heritage of independence, a common theme. There was some great antique furniture, more religious artifacts than we want to see, and cool carriages dated from 1700s-1800s. Sorry we couldn't take any pictures in either museum, I'll look on-line to see what I can steal!
The elegant interior below was taken inside a open building also along the plaza front. Tomorrow we will venture outside the plaza center! Many more museums and the top of the hill nearby, easily reached by tram, await us.
Our only complaint about staying right in the center of Salta is similar to Mendoza's downfall~ NOISE! Last night it was out-of-control, especially because it was a holiday!
Can you see the big zit between my eyes above my frames, NO, because I used the edit tool! Oh, how I wish I could remove the ice cream pounds, reduce the size of my nose, and get rid of the chicken neck. I'll keep learning!!
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