Cafayate, Argentina - Day 2
Friday, April 7, 2023
I’m beginning to wonder how our transition back to Wisconsin’s Central Time Zone is going to go in the coming weeks. Slowly, our family has fallen into Argentina’s custom of eating late-night dinners followed by even later bedtimes. Tory was awake until 11:30pm last night and still asleep this morning at 10:00am. I guess that’s not too far off from home (11:30pm in Argentina is 9:30pm in Wisconsin), but I have a feeling that early morning wake-ups are going to be a challenge for us in the future.
The sunrise at our new airbnb in Cafayate is so pretty. This morning, a hot air balloon floated across the horizon as the sun rose around 7:50am. Admiring this view while I blogged from the sofa was a peaceful way to start the day.
The Calchaqui Valley is the second largest wine producing region in Argentina, with the city of Cafayate in the heart of it all. Andi and I tried making a lunch reservation at one of the local wineries for today (wineries are called bodegas in Argentina), but every place we tried was booked. This week is Semana Santa (Holy Week; the week leading up to Easter) making Cafayate busier than usual. We decided to go downtown to see if we could find a place to eat there.
There are a few bodegas located in the heart of downtown Cafayate, so on a whim Andi and I decided to try walking into one of their restaurants. We’d read online that bodegas often say they are full, but if you go there anyway you can sometimes get a table. Surprisingly, this worked for us and we were seated in the restaurant called Retoño at Bodega Nanni. This winery has a small indoor eating area as well as a grassy courtyard overlooking their wine production facilities. I love how laid back the bodegas are in Argentina. People are dressed casually, they all welcome children, and a lot of them serve food.
The menu at Retoño Restaurant looked really delicious. Andi, Aden, and I ordered the steak entree (called bife de lomo), a pork loin dish, and a salad to share. Tory got a cheeseburger for herself. We also purchased a bottle of Bodega Nanni’s Tannat wine. Andi and I both liked it a lot. With only 10 or so tables in the entire Retoño Restaurant, the four of us enjoyed a quiet, enjoyable lunch together.
After lunch, we walked around downtown Cafayate. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect — 75 degrees and sunny. Several vendors were set up around the plaza square, so we wandered around the sidewalk admiring items for sale. Andi and I wanted so badly to buy the gorgeous handcrafted clay bowls and serving dishes for sale. They’re so cheap — $400 Argentine pesos ($1.87 USD) for one bowl — but there’s no way we could carry them home with us. We settled for ice cream instead, this time opting for one scoop each in dishes made of cake cones.
At 6:00pm, the four of us watched our home church in Wisconsin’s Good Friday service online. I’m so glad our internet was fast enough in this airbnb to stream it. Afterwards, we drove back into downtown Cafayate to watch the Vía Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession though the streets of the city. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary after 8:00pm Mass to walk together through the streets of Cafayate as a symbol of mourning for Jesus. We couldn’t understand any of the Spanish words the crowd was singing or chanting, but it was interesting to witness nonetheless. It’s neat to think about people all over the world remembering, praying, and worshipping Jesus on this Good Friday.
Downtown Cafayate was buzzing with people, and every restaurant patio was full of customers. The four of us were hungry, but it was already 10:00pm and gauging how fast food service is in Argentina, it’d likely be Midnight before we ate and paid our bill.
On our way back to the airbnb, we saw a taco truck parked beside one of the city parks and decided to stop there for a bite to eat. The couple working the food stand were really friendly — even giving us their phone number to call in case we had questions or problems during our time in Cafayate. The taco truck’s menu was simple — beef or chicken tacos, and hamburgers. Andi, Tory, and I each got a taco and Aden opted for a plain hamburger. We carried our food home to our airbnb and ate it there, noting the lack of diversity in food choices outside the capital city of Buenos Aires. Typical Argentinian food is usually pasta, pizza, empanadas, hamburgers, milanesa, and fries — you won’t find much else except in the north where there is also tamales, humita, and locro stew. Even the food truck tacos were more of a Northern Argentina / “Andean” spin made with meat, lentils, peppers, and onion. Honestly, they weren’t very good. I guess it’s better to stick with the basics.
We’re curious to see how busy Cafayate will be tomorrow with the Easter weekend. We weren't able to get bodega reservations for tomorrow either, so we’ll have to find something to fill our time.
