Salta by night
Travelling from Mendoza, Lewis the Lion took another long bus journey to the pretty colonial town of Salta in North-West Argentina. This town had a very different feel to any other place he had been in Argentina before: it was a place steeped in folklore and tradition.
Traditional pipes and flutes from Salta
On the first evening, Lewis the Lion went out he was enthralled to be in a restaurant where families were gathered around singing along with traditional instruments: small guitars, with various pipes and flutes. Lewis thought it was just charming and people were certainly having a lot of fun.
Lewis sees the traditional musical instruments in Salta
The food too was different and had a more hearty feel to it, e.g. Locro – a kind of meat casserole and empanadas were a speciality.
Locro
(Lewis will talk more about his experience of food in Argentina in his next blog). The clothes were also distinctive.
Traditional clothes and fabrics in Salta
For starters there seemed to be hundreds of shoe shops filled with leather boots and other shops too filled with leather goods. Lewis the Lion laughed at Helen as she seemed to sigh every time she walked past a shoe shop: she said she missed her boots from back home but yet couldn’t buy any whilst travelling! The annoying thing was that they were so cheap here too! But never mind, it was much more exciting to travel anyway.
Lewis the Lion wears a traditional North-Argentinean poncho
One of the distinctive, traditional dress was a red poncho with a black trim and believe it or not, Lewis actually saw someone wearing this when visiting the surrounding countryside. (Check out one of Lewis’ next blogs).
Lewis the Lion waits to catch the cable-car
On the first sunny afternoon, Lewis the Lion made the most of the day and took the cable-car, up to the San Bernardo Hill to have a vantage point over the city.
Lewis the Lion looks up at the San Bernardo Hill
Lewis goes up the Cerro San Bernardo
Lewis at the cable-car entrance
Like the time he had taken the funicular up the San Cristóbal Hill in Santiago, Chile, he was amazed at the scale of the city of Salta.
Lewis looks over the streets of Salta
Lewis looks over the magnificent city of Salta
It seemed enormous from above and yet it seemed deceptively small from down below. Like in Santiago, he was impressed with what looked like a mountainous spine that hugged the city, however the mountains looked even higher and more imposing again.
The cable car has climbed and climbed
Lewis can see the Andes mountain range in the distance
Lewis the Lion and his friends enjoyed a pleasant and relaxing coffee on a sunny terrace overlooking the city of Salta and when they had finished, they enjoyed the waterfalls which were found at the top of the hill. These weren’t natural but manmade. They were nonetheless very attractive and many people were having their photos taken beside them.
Lewis enjoys the splashing waterfalls
There were also some very interesting plants and vegetation on the hillside as you can see Lewis the Lion here with these great big flower-bells.
Lewis sees enormous flower-bells
From the top of the hillside, Lewis was surprise to find an open-air gym and wondered how people could train in the sun and at such a high altitude? There were also several religious statues and a crucifix and Lewis was reminded once again that Argentina is a Catholic country. Religious icons seemed to be much more evident in this city as seen in this little cafe where Lewis the Lion went for lunch one day.
Catholic statues in a local cafe
Also on the walk back down the wooded hillside, Lewis discovered a trail for the Stations of the Cross.
On returning to the main heart of Salta, in the main square, Lewis the Lion was impressed by traditional wooden-barrows on the street selling fruit
Lewis sees a traditional fruit barrow in Salta
and then just around the corner the pink-painted Cathedral.
The pink cathedral in Salta
It seemed to contrast in colour to the many orange trees that surrounded the plaza.
Lewis looks on the orange trees in the central plaza
Orange trees in the cathedral grounds
Lewis the Lion had a quick peek inside the church and was amazed at its grandness.
Inside the beautiful Salta Cathedral
It seemed bigger and more ornate again than the Cathedral in Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires.
Looking up the central nave of Salta Cathedral
Some of the artwork in the church, such as its paintings and statues, was simply beautiful.
Lewis likes the tiles on the cathedral floor
Lewis the Lion even loved the tiled floor as he thought it produced a sort of optical illusions with it’s repeating patterns and colours!
Can you produce an optical illusion using regular patterns and colours, like the tiles in Salta Cathedral?
