April 13, 2025 Trip to Quilmes Lunch - Black Tote Parilla
Today we woke at 6:30 and together went to breakfast by 7:30. Suzette and I ordered a special egg dish, two Poached eggs on a layer of avocado on a slice of nine grain bread toasted.
We then left for Cafayute at 8:00 to pick up our interpreter, Laura, for a drive to Quilmes in the adjoining Province of Tucuman. We met her at the cathedral at 8:30 as the mass for Palm Sunday was being said and many of the gathered faithful were holding bouquets of flowers with Palm fronds. It was a stirring picture that I dared not take.
When Laura arrived we drove fifty miles to Quilmes. Quilmes is a very important and interesting Arqueological site. It is the last stronghold of resistance to Spanish control of Argentina. A small part of the indigenous people of Argentina resisted Spanish control for over 100 years. Quilmes was their last stronghold ringed by high mountain ridges on two sides to fall to the Spanish in 1667. There were two prior wars between the Spanish and the Quilmes natives won.
AI states: The Quilmes people, an indigenous Diaguita group, were defeated by the Spanish conquistadors in 1667 after 130 years of resistance. Following their defeat, they were forcibly relocated to a reservation near Buenos Aires, with many dying during the arduous 1,500 km journey.
After climbing through the village and taking a few pictures Suzette,
Laura, and I returned to the museum at the bottom of the hill as Billy and Elaine climbed higher up the ridge above the main village to get a better view.
There were several rooms of exhibits and two videos that we visited in the Museum. The most interesting part of the exhibit was an illustration of how the Indians built dams to catch the storm runoff and then directed the water to terraced plots down the hillside through an elaborate irrigation system.
The other interesting aspect of their culture was the burial of the dead in ceramic pots built in two pieces and joined to hold the body and then fired.
We drove back to Cafayute and Laura directed use to an asado restaurant named Black Tote where we ordered a complete asado mixed grill for 33,000 pesos, a bowl of French fries, and a Cafayute Crianza Malbec made by the large producer, Bodega Etchart.
I also ordered a bottle of selzer water with gas because I was feeling poorly in the stomach. After several glasses of seltzer I began to feel better and attacked the pile of meats served on a hot brazier that was still sizzling.
We liked the wine, especially at 14,000 pesos.
The entire bill was 57,000 Pesos, half of what our not great meal at Vinas de Flor was yesterday.
After lunch Billy and Elaine took off for the square and Suzette and I followed for a block until we came to a souvenir shop and ice cream kiosk. Suzette found a cute bottle cork decorated with a llama and I ordered two scoops of ice cream, one of cajeta and nuts and the other of Torrontes Dulce. Both were delicious and I happily perched on a chair and read the first few pages of Diva by Delacorta as I ate ice cream until Suzette returned to tell me she found something wonderful that we should buy for our bedroom.
She helped finish the ice cream and then we walked to the shop at the corner of the plaza where there were stacks of woven bed runners made of large loops of wool.
They were very unusual and we instantly decided to buy one in brown.
When we paid the owner things got really interesting. The marked price was 71,900 pesos. We asked if we could obtain a discount and he showed us 57,000 pesos. Suzette gave him a $50.00 and asked if he would take US$50. He said yes and he gave us 7,000 pesos back. Which amounted to an initial discount of 20.5% and then an additional discount of 24.56% on the exchange rate to a final price of $45.00 assuming the current exchange rate of about 1350 pesos to the dollar. Looked at in a different way if the owner knew we would offer US $ the total discounted price equaled an exchange rate of about 1600 pesos to the dollar, a shocking increase of almost 30% from the 1100 pesos to the dollar we were getting in exchange in Iguazu just 12 days ago. Welcome to the world of hyper-inflation fueling merchants’ urge to sell inventory quickly and to secure dollars or other hard currencies that will keep up in value with the rate of inflation of the peso.
We took our purchase back to the car and drove to the Wine Museum and toured it.
It had wonderful exhibits that described all aspects of wine production including a month by month description of the activity in a vineyard and a description of how the Torrontes grape was created by hybridizing two different grapes.
Wikipedia - Torrontés, Argentina's signature white grape, is a hybrid created through a natural cross between Muscat of Alexandria and Criolla Chica. While Torrontés is known for its aromatic character, it doesn't perfectly reflect the flavor profiles of either of its parent grapes. Specifically, Torrontés Riojano and Torrontés Sanjuanino are considered offspring of this cross, while Torrontés Mendocino is believed to be related to Muscat of Alexandria, but the other parent remains unknown.
Suzette and Elaine are texting all the time and when we exited the museum Billy and Elaine were waiting for us.
We walked across the street to a very interesting building decorated by a Llama and an emu.
We walked into the building and discovered the building was the studio of an older potter who was at work and a shop with all his wares for sale. It was nicely painted work but low fired earthenware that had no chance of surviving the trip back to Albuquerque in one piece.
We then drove back to the hotel and I rested and figured out how to access You Tube and we were able to watch part of last night’s SNL.
Suzette went for a massage at the spa at 5:30 and at 7:00 we walked around the resort and looked and took pictures of the sunset. Even on a cloudy day such as this the view of the Andes is dramatic.
I ate a few slices of llama salami and joined Suzette in a glass of vermouth when we returned to the room for my dinner and then she read and I blogged until 11:00.
Bon Appetit
No comments:
Post a Comment