Mendoza

The last two weeks have been super busy! I went to Mendoza for the long weekend and had a BLAST! The bus ride from BsAs to Mendoza was about 14 hours. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The seats reclined just enough to almost be comfortable, there was a bathroom, food service and I won a bottle of chardonnay for winning on-board bingo! It was my first time on a double decker and I hated the swaying and nearness of passing rigs next to my face all night but there was plenty of good company and maté to keep it enjoyable.

We arrived in Mendoza and headed to Hostel Empedrado. I have only stayed in a few hostels, but Empedrado was the best so far. The bed was comfortable, the kitchen was large and conducive to socializing, the bathrooms were nice and there was a ridiculous free breakfast every morning- panqueques con dulce de leche, naranjas, medialunas, café, cereal and bananas! I could wake up to maté and panqueques con dulce de leche for the rest of my life! The hostel also hosted an asado that was amazing.  All you can eat/drink vino, various cuts of beef and pork for 35 pesos (US$8.75)! Add in the good company and it was perfect! Oh, and there was a free wine tasting!

Our first day in Mendoza we met three girls from New Zealand, a girl from Finland and her Swedish boyfriend and a guy from New York City. I could not have asked for a better people with whom to enjoy Mendoza. There was never a lull in the conversation and we made sure to cook up some tasty meals between the seven of us! The three Kiwis actually met my friend Dylan (a friend of a friend I hung out with while in Costa Rica earlier this year) while traveling through Colombia. The world IS shrinking all around me!

 Johan, Ida, Claire, Stacey, Nicola, me and Agustin enjoying dinner

We spent two days biking betwixt (I LOVE that word!) vineyards. We made stops at La Rural, Lagarde, Luigi Bosca and di Tommaso. They were all nice, but Lagarde and di Tommaso were my favorites.  I thought Lagarde had the most informative tour, super tasty champagne (not much of a champagne fan) and an awesome guide who cut us a deal on a few bottles of wine. Di Tommaso was the most picturesque.  We opted out of the tour there (but still drank the wine) but did enjoy lunch and the scenery. Luigi Bosca was the swankest of all and La Rural was the only one that allowed us to venture into the vines. 

 Antique wine tools at La Rural

Lunch at di Tommaso and the view from the table

 Wine tasting room at Luigi Bosca

Fermentation tanks, 108 year old grapes in the vineyards and enjoying the champagne at Lagarde

The winery tours were a great way to spend our days. The idea is that you hop on a bus to the wine region of your choice, rent a bike (US$4-6) and set off. The bike rental companies give you a map, vouchers and recommendations then guarantee victory wine when you return in one piece.

Even though it seems like you would be too drunk to ride a bike, the truth is that you don't get endless wine at each winery. You do the tour, enjoy a sample or two then head on to the next. We did enjoy a bit of wine at di Tommaso but we also ate lunch there and biked 4ish kilometers to get there. Riding the bike is half the fun! The scenery is amazing- Andes on one side, desert on the other and vineyards sprinkled all around. Also, the wineries in Mendoza are a good distance outside of Mendoza city. And with so many places to choose from, it's rare that tourists cluster at any particular place.  Mendoza felt authentic. Not to say Buenos Aires isn't authentic, but 8 of 10 people here speak functional English- not the case in Mendoza. Also, Mendoza's proximity to Chile and Bolivia means a higher indigenous population.  No plastic surgery, no honking cabs, no sky scrapers.

Another day, we went up into the mountains for an asado with some fellow Argentineans Agustin met while traveling where else but New Zealand. That was the day I fell in love with maté. Agustin and his friends spent all of the hour long car ride catching up so I just slurped maté and tried hard to contain the 5-year-old side of me from slapping the windows every time we cleared a curve and the Andes burst onto the scene.  Oooh, the food was so good and the weather was ideal! I was wide-eyed the entire day- in a state of shock that my life landed me in the Andes with eight Argentines, speaking Spanish (okay, more listening than speaking), drinking wine, passing around maté and soaking up sol. 

Life is so good. So, so good. 

We packed up and got back on the bus to BsAs. The return trip was 17 hours because we stopped at what seemed like every bus station between Mendoza and Cordoba. If you're not familiar with the geography of Argentina- just know that that's a long way! But we were exhausted and the bus was nice enough to play a variety of movies. 

(Warning: Ranting ahead!)

The first movie was 'Shooter' AKA the biggest blow to American cinema since the beginning of time.  I was embarrassed through the whole movie and hoped no one on the bus would notice the gringa on board. The main character's name is Bob Lee Swagger. Really?! It was painful to hear several minutes of Spanish then a name like that. Like a dagger to my heart every time. "Muchachos, lo importante es que encontramos a los espies! Ahora vayan al edificio y le maten el hombre que se llaman BOB LEE SWAGGER." Throw that in with the fact that the subtitles were half Portuguese and my brain was crying for 1.5 hours. Although I did have quite a few giggles thinking about how much fun the movie would have been if Daniel were there. Daniel loves Mark Wahlberg. NOT! A few years ago we had a couple hours of gutbusting laughter while watching the second worst movie ever made: 'Rockstar' which also stars Mark Wahlberg.  The other two movies were okay.  I threw up thanks to God when the last movie was NOT dubbed. We were right under the monitor and this bus was not equipped with headphone capabilities. You either watched the movie or...watched the movie.

We finally arrived back in the city at 8 a.m.and if I could drop everything and go back right now, I would! Luckily the friends we made in Mendoza are all heading to BsAs this week so maybe the fun will continue here!