Colonial Salta, Argentina

After visiting two more tourist sites in Mendoza we flew to Salta in the north. The final day in Mendoza we looked at the large green city from a bird's eye perspective atop the City Building's Terrace.

Because of its height, admittance to the terrace area is only allowed with a tour guide, ours was very helpful and it proved to be a great spanish lesson. He pointed out the paragliding mountain in the distance as well as large mountain tops which provide the city's drinking and irrigation waters. We met some travelers from Philadelphia who were doing a whirlwind tour of Chile and Argentina from south to north in three weeks time. They had traveled from Bariloche on the night bus and looked remarkably awake and ready to sightsee, ah...to be young!

After lunch we took a bus ride out of the city proper to Casa Fadar which serves as the Museum of Fine Arts for the region. Here we formed a tour group of two and our spanish speaking guide was very clear and full of information about the artist Fernanand Fadar for whom the museum was named. The home first belonged to his wife's family in the mid 1800's. The artist himself painted murals throughout the home which have been restored. The permanent collection displays some 85 paintings from more than 1000 the artist created. His style was to use mostly spatula to apply color, his approach was to paint what he saw mostly out in nature. Fadar is considered one of Argentina's most important painted and we learned about his life and the times while enjoying the art on display.


We visited the Casino for one last time before returning to the hotel to pack our bags. Our luck wasn't good but our losses small!
The first evening in Salta was spent looking briefly around the main square and securing provisions for supper at the market.

Back at the Hotel Las Rejas, a British couple, a bit older than we are, was cooking dinner as we were finishing ours and we had a lively conversation about the 'colonies' and travels. These kind people helped me feel a bit better about the disappearance of my wallet earlier in the week. They were convinced by my story that the young man had indeed stolen the wallet as he distracted both my attention and my physical awareness of my pack while he tapped on my water bottle and asked my questions. Somehow I feel better thinking it was the work of a professional pickpocket rather than simply carelessness on my part.
The British gentleman seemed wise, he reminded me that as I told the tale I suggested that 'it was a dark, crowded minimarket' which shows that subconsciously I was uncomfortable when Jason and I entered, which is true. I will be more careful in the future to be more aware of my subconscious awareness.