After breakfast and settling our food and booze account with Finca Valentina, we hit the road for the Salta airport, only 15 minutes away.

Final thoughts on Finca Valentina:

• Very friendly and accommodating staff. Nobody speaks English but at this point, the language barrier was no longer a problem for us.

• Not as beautiful or well-maintained property as the others, but comfortable and with furry friends (always a plus for me)

• Good food, but didn't rank nearly as highly as most of the others

• Not as lovely a locale as the others. We liked the vineyard and bodega component of the others, which Finca Valentina did not have.

• Internet connectivity was weak and no cellular coverage

Upon arrival at the Salta airport, our instructions were to park our camioneta and find the agency representative in the departures area to hand over the car keys. The rep never showed up and after several What’s App exchanges with our agency contact, we were told that our representative in Salta had suffered some undisclosed misfortune, and we were instructed to leave the key in the drop box of what was presumably a partnering rental agency.

Our domestic flight from Salta to the regional airport in BA was fortunately short. The air pressure was so high that I thought that I was going to lose an inner ear, the temperature was uncomfortably high, and the overhead ventilation wasn’t working. All returned to normal when the plane landed, with no evident damage.

We met our contact at airport arrivals as agreed, who took us to a couple of places to buy specific things. Lorna wanted an Argentina charm from Pandora, which she successfully acquired. I wanted a traditional bolero hat, which I could not find. Maybe in Spain, but bolero hats are evidently not a thing in Argentina.

Jardín Escondido

After completing our short shopping trip, we arrived at our accommodations for the evening, Jardín Escondido (Hidden Garden) in downtown BA.

The front door, like most small shops in the city, was locked, with a security camera above and a buzzer available to permit legitimate guests after what I assume is a “does this guy look like an attacker?” verification method.

This was the only accommodation so far on this trip that did not offer supper. Our host offered us some cheap options, because this being Saturday, nothing good was likely to be available on short notice.

To his credit, he did send a nice tea and coffee service up to the room and the coffee was excellent (read prior reports, search term “coffee snob”).

From what we learned of the place, Jardin Escondido was originally a hotel where Francis Ford Coppola and his family stayed while he was making movies in Buenos Aires. Featuring seven guestrooms, the hotel impressed he and his family so much that he purchased the place from the hotel chain that had owned it, branding it as his own.

True to its name, there was also an atrium inside, open to the sky, hence the name of the place.

After signing us in,our host showed us to our room, accessible on the second floor from a flight of stairs. I should mention that Lorna’s gimpy foot was still healing after being broken, with stairs and extended walking being problematic, so this was a concern.

The room featured a Juliet balcony with a view of the street, complete with amateur graffiti along the wall across and the intermittent din of traffic from the street.

Our host had recommended a place called Colden Del Soto, which was a five minute walk from the hotel. Just before dark we headed over and easily got a table. This was about 7:15, which is still very early in the evening for most Argentinians to dine. We ordered sauteed mushrooms, steaks, potatoes, and an excellent bottle of Cabernet Franc from the Valle de Uco region in Mendoza province. The meal ranked in the top five of our suppers so far for this trip.

The restaurant décor featured locally-made tapestries and artwork.

Next up - Days 14-15: Buenos Aires, Return Home, and Final Thoughts

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