It rained on our last day at the end of the earth. We strolled downtown anyway, enraptured by its charm and the sad knowledge that we would soon have to leave. Playing in a clothes shop was a folklorica instrumental version of the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post." Blasting from another store and drenching the streets in music was a CD of a live performance by an Argentine rock band. We went into a record store. It was small and brightly lit and had on its walls posters of Nirvana and Velvet Revolver and the Beatles and Britney Spears. It also had Argentine acts Diego Torres and Vicentico.

We listened to several CDs of Argentine rock. One we liked a lot, another we thought we weren't sure about, a third we thought we probably didn't like but bought anyway. It was nice to begin our trip back home in accord.

via buenos aires or santiago, chile. american airlines offers daily service to both cities. for info, go to www.aa.com.