During the harvest in the desert hills outside the northwest Argentine town of Cachi, you can find scattered carpets of red hot chili peppers drying in the sun. Although we haven’t mastered the technology to deliver the sensation of what their aroma and heat feel like as you approach, we can at least share what they look like.
Oh, and if you are wondering if there’s a connection between Argentina and Bangladesh (where we are now) — there is. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Panorama by: Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 4 April 2011
Have you ever wondered what you would find on a visit to Argentina? We thought you might, so we share a slideshow of favorite photos we took while crossing the country four months overland — from Iguazu Falls in the north to Ushuaia on the very southern tip, and back north again to the windswept Calchaquíe Valleys.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Argentina, South America, Travel by: Audrey Scott
16 Comments | 10 February 2011
Red rocks and desert. Doesn’t sound like the right conditions for a wine region, does it?
The name Cafayate, another of Argentina’s winemaking regions, doesn’t quite have the same ring as Mendoza. But there’s something about the sandy soil — good for irrigation control and filtering – that finds expression in the local grapes, including the local white wine varietal of choice, Torrontes. Continue Reading »
- Patagonia: Hitchhiking the Wild West of Argentine Wine
- Red Rocks and Wine Tasting: Cafayate, Argentina
- Wine Tasting in Mendoza, Argentina: Going Beyond Malbec and Loving It
Filed Under: Argentina, South America, Wine by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
18 Comments | 14 January 2011
Q: What’s the proper way to greet family you’ve never met before?
A: In Argentina: with kisses, warmth — and a heck of a lot of steak.
Earlier this year, with a visit to relatives in Argentina only days away, I received my first email in Spanish from my grandmother. This may not sound noteworthy, but the fact that she wrote it in her mother tongue transformed it for me from a simple letter into a welcome to a part of my family I hadn’t known before: the Argentine side.
Author’s note: Our visit to Argentina was months ago, so why am I writing about this now? With the holidays coming, I began to reflect on tradition, family and what it means to be “far away.” Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Argentina, Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
20 Comments | 17 December 2010
When we poked around Buenos Aires earlier this year, our food quests were focused not only on understanding Argentine cuisine but also seeking out various ethnic cuisines that we hadn’t encountered much while traveling the Andes and Paraguay. A couple of times a week, we’d head out with a restaurant recommendation, a gigantic map of the city, and scribbled notes as to our bus route.
We often got lost. We always ate. And we discovered something.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Argentina, Food, South America by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
53 Comments | 30 August 2010
Some places are best suited to road trips. They speak: move at your own pace, get lost, stop off in small towns, have the flexibility to enjoy whatever experiences might come your way.
The area around Salta and Jujuy in northwest Argentina is one such chunk of perfect road trip territory. Listen and watch the audio slideshow below to find out why. Continue Reading »
- Road Trip Northwest Argentina: Where Gauchos Go To Party
- Three Vignettes: Beautiful Everyday People of Northwest Argentina
- Audio Slideshow: Northwest Argentina, Road Trip Style
Filed Under: Argentina, Audio Clips, South America, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
16 Comments | 25 August 2010
So their eyes are growing hazy ‘cos they wanna turn it on, so their minds are soft and lazy. Well, hey, give ‘em what they want.
– Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs) in “Candy Everybody Wants”
Have you ever come across a photo in a magazine or on another website and thought, “Hey, that’s my photo!”?
We were poking around BBC Travel the other day and came across an article about a tango festival in Argentina. I looked at the lead photo and thought, “Hey, that’s our photo!!”
Ha! That’s everyone’s photo. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Perspectives, Photography by: Audrey Scott
23 Comments | 19 August 2010
When I think about my first contact with the concept of Argentine cuisine, I recall a discussion twelve years ago with an unassuming foodie friend in San Francisco.
“I bet the food in Argentina is great!” I offered with blind optimism as visions of gauchos stepping to a tango beat danced in my head. Argentina seemed so damn far away; therefore the food must be exotic and varied.
My food-wise friend brushed off my enthusiasm without skipping a beat, “Yeah, if the only thing you like is steak and wine.”
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Argentina, Food, South America by: Daniel Noll
70 Comments | 18 August 2010
In a future incarnation, we will run world tours that seek to deliver extraordinary travel experiences through encounters with ordinary people. And when we do, a road trip in Northwest Argentina will be one of our first stops in South America.
After stumbling upon a dazzling gaucho festival on the first day of a week-long road trip, we figured our travel karma would have run out. Instead, our journey across the valleys outside of Salta featured interactions with engaging people open to odd encounters.
Here’s a taste. Continue Reading »
- Road Trip Northwest Argentina: Where Gauchos Go To Party
- Three Vignettes: Beautiful Everyday People of Northwest Argentina
- Audio Slideshow: Northwest Argentina, Road Trip Style
Filed Under: Argentina, South America, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
14 Comments | 11 August 2010
As our rental car began to drift atop a layer of windblown sand, I grabbed hold, down-shifted and noticed the hills around me were swirled in a peppermint twist. All those Ruta 40 signs in Argentina finally delivered on an implied promise: you’ll be impressed, and what once captured your imagination will now claim your full attention. But it wasn’t the fabled Route 40 of Patagonia that would provide the exclamation point on our time in Argentina. It was a week-long road trip across the quebradas of Northwest Argentina, where chilies dry in the midday sun, llama comes served with wine pressed just down the road, and gauchos hold harvest festivals in the hills.
Continue Reading »
- Road Trip Northwest Argentina: Where Gauchos Go To Party
- Three Vignettes: Beautiful Everyday People of Northwest Argentina
- Audio Slideshow: Northwest Argentina, Road Trip Style
Filed Under: Argentina, South America, Travel, Videos by: Daniel Noll
18 Comments | 21 July 2010
