We drove from Cachi to Salta thinking that we would just stop for a day in Salta. In our notes we had written San Lorenzo (a suburb of Salta), per the recommendation of Adrian, but we couldn't remember any details. We thought we would stop there first, just in case it was a good place to stay.
As we were driving among the beautiful, jungly, fancy old mansions in town, we spotted a crazy one with four towers. We remembered that Adrian had told us about a building with four towers that had been converted to a hostel and we decided to stop. Enrique, the delightful and eccentric owner from Cadiz, Spain, decided we were alright and said we could stay. He invited us to join him in Salta for an International Festival that night. We went and had a wonderful time and met a bunch of expats who were all really friendly and fun.
As we had some web work to do, we thought that San Lorenzo would be a perfect base to work and to hang out with the new friends we made. Almost every day for a week and a half we woke up, went to the local cafe for coffee, medialunas (croissants) and free wi-fi and spent the day working, and socializing with friends at night. Often when we would go to a cafe to work we would run into someone we had met before and chat for awhile and make plans to hang out later.
Two of the friends that we hung out the most with were Noah and Leigh, from NY, who have been living in San Lorenzo for 4 years. They have an NGO that works with indigenous Argentinians, helping to raise money so that can have their own sustainable gardens. They are a lot of fun, and if anybody decides to visit San Lorenzo, I recommend that you meet up with them.
Jordan's 31st birthday happened while we were here, so we had a birthday asado at 4 Torres with Enrique and a few of our new friends. Jordan was having a wonderful time but after overindulging on Fernet has a hazy recollection of the night. Everyone was eating, singing, drinking and having a lovely time. The next day Jordan was so hungover that he only got out of bed to go to the bathroom and couldn't even get up at dinnertime.
San Lorenzo is so beautiful and has a great small-town feel. A lot of the ex-pats who live there bought property years ago when it was cheap and live in amazing houses that would be unaffordable now. San Lorenzo has been placed firmly on our possible list of future homes, especially if Enrique ever decides to sell Cuatro Torres to us. :)
On the drive over the pass from Cachi we ran into a small town having a festival, right in the middle of the road.
This is Cuatro Torres, the amazing old house that we stayed in. The story we heard is that a man had 4 daughters and so he built his house with a tower for each daughter. It fell into a bit of disrepair but Enrique has been continually working on it, and it currently has something like 16 bedrooms and amazing windows and interiors with super high ceilings. It's Jordan's dream house. The room we stayed in is the one you can see on the middle floor and the two right windows.
3.The view of the back patio and yard from the top story.
The sunset at 4Torres.
Jordan and Elena at the International Festival our first night in Salta.
Jordan and I went on a hike in the beautiful Qubrada de San Lorenzo.
The trees were amazingly green and happy looking. We were told that all the ferns and lichens that grow on the trees show how clean the air is.
more trees
Happy Jordan on his birthday wearing Enrique's fabulous sequin hat.
Left to right: Jordan, Leo (Argentinian), Carol (Brazilian), John (USA), Enrique (Spanish) and Lauren (USA).
Jordan manning the bbq.
Quebrada de Conchas and Colchaqui Valley
