We're backss now, aren't we, my precioussssss?

Happy New Year to all! I could add Merry Christmas, Happy Hallowe'en, Happy Thanksgiving, and even a Kwanza greeting to that, I suppose. After all, I have been absent from my blog for two months. Mea culpa.

In October, Luciano and I began to think of Christmas plans and we decided we would visit his hometown, Salta, in the province of the same name. Located in northwestern Argentina, amidst the Andes mountains, the province is known as Salta La Linda (Salta the Lovely) for its tremendous natural beauty. I was very much looking forward to seeing this area famed as Argentina's most beautiful and varied terrain.

Also around that time, we came up with an idea for a joint business venture, which would probably entail moving out of Buenos Aires. We decided to consider Salta as a possible future home. I spent most of November and part of December researching numerous aspects of our business plans as well as investigating Salta and other places as potential spots to live and work.

In the midst of all of this, my blog fell by the wayside. I was too busy looking toward the future to write about the present.

Now you're probably wondering just what the heck is this new business I'm talking about. Well, all I can say for now is that when I finally tell you, it will rock your world. And I'm not exaggerating. It's about 80% certain at the moment but we still need to do a bit more fact-finding before we commit ourselves irrevocably. Hang on, it will be worth the wait!

I'm trying now to organize the almost 1000 photos we took during our recent travels. I won't bombard you with all of them but I will put a few slideshow/photo albums here soon. We ended up not only visiting Salta but also the neighboring province of Jujuy and then extended our vacation time to include Córdoba, situated halfway between Salta and Buenos Aires. All in all, it was pretty amazing with gorgeous scenery, interesting people, and some unusual experiences.

For now, I will leave you with this photo of my newest prized possession, a ceramic piece of indigenous art that I found in Cachi, a village sited at 7750 feet (2280 meters) up in the Andes. When I saw it, I simply had to have it. It was perhaps the oddest thing I've ever seen and there was no way I was leaving Cachi without it! Look for a series of new posts about our travel adventures beginning within the next couple of days.