When we landed I spotted this guy while we were waiting for our luggage. He was fast - and furry legs!
Our driver was on time and whisked us off to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was too early to check in when we arrived at our hotel, the Antiguo Convento, so we stored our bags and went for a walk.
With suggestions and a map from the hotel, we walked around the square and went into one of the churches. The Basilica de San Franciso was so beautiful and located one block from the main square.
The current church has been rebuilt several times over the years. The first settlement of the Franciscans took place at the end of the 16th century and their first adobe buildings were destroyed by earthquakes and fires. The present church is the third on this site whose construction began in 1759. It also suffered successive fires and renovations! The current San Francisco Convent and minor basilica were finished between 1789 and 1796. The tower was built later in 1870 and designed by Italian architects and builders. The tower is 187 feet tall, one of the tallest in the South American continent.
We stopped into another church, the Church of San Juan Bautista de la Merced, but the mass was in progress, so we didn't stay.
We had lunch at Dona Salta, a restaurant suggested by both the driver and hotel. The resaurant is the yellow building.
We shared a beef empanada (much better than the other ones we have had so far), a humitas which is like a tamale, and Locro, which is a pork and navy bean stew with hominy, corn, potatoes and maybe a squash.
Our driver recommended we try the dulce de cayote for dessert. Well, when in Salta .... Anyway, it was SOOOO sweet we could barely eat it! It's made from cayote squash and was more like a marmelade. We both thought it would have been better with toast or a bagel and cream cheese!
After lunch we went to the Ma'am Museum which is located on the main square. It is an archaeological museum devoted to the Inca heritage, mainly associated with religious sacrifice ceremonies carried out in the high peaks of the Andes. There are three mummified bodies of Llullaillaco children were buried 500 years ago. They were found buried together with 146 grave "goods" at an altitude of 22,000 feet.
The children were given a drink tof alcohol and coa over a long period of time, and they fell asleep. The bodies were not mummified by priests, but were basically permanently frozen in a natural way! The temperatures kept the bodies and clothing in tact until they were discovered in 1999.
At the museum, the bodies are kept in specially designed chambers which allowed a panoramic view. Inside the chamber, the oxygen content is reduced to 2% in a stable environment of -20 Celcius, with UV and IR filtered lighting. We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum, but could take pictures of their pictures. This was one with the scientists examining one of the bodies. We could see their skin, braided hair, and the clothing. It was a small museum, but interesting.
We went back to our hotel and rested, caught up on some emails.
We made an ATM stop and spotted this mural along the way. I'm not sure if it is just a support group but the large writing translates, "In a just world, the girls (little)are not mothers." The writing on the right is "Feminist Lifeguards Network - We Care".
Next stop was dinner at El Carrua. The food was amazing!!! They served a huge bread basket, and we shared a salad and 600gram t-bone steak. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly and the service was excellent. Dinner and tip was $6600 pesos - about $20USD. Not bad! At the end of the meal we were treated to limoncello - well, Tobey didn't think it was much of a treat, but he had some of it!
We are off to bed since tomorrow will be a busy tour day! Sleep well.
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