Good times in Argentina

Having gotten a good sense of what Argentina had to offer from Buenos Aires we left the capital and headed a little north west, bound for the city of Cordoba. We knew it was the home of the famous Ernesto 'Che´ Guevarra and a few other big Latino names so we figured it´d be worth the trip, if only for a few days to see what the place was about. When we arrived in the hostel we were asked "Why Cordoba?" and the unfortunate thing about it was these were locals... It soon became apparent why they put the question to us. It´s a university town and popular among Argentinian students for that reason. One day we headed out to a smaller local town and a bus journey that was supposed to take 1 hour took 3 because we were passing through a rock concert. When we arrived there the town wasn´t up to much so we made our way down to the river where we chilled out for the day before heading on home. Aside from that we don´t really have a whole lot to say about Cordoba so we´ll leave it at that. Onwards to Mendoza!

Now this is a town that we heard a lot about and enjoyed every minute of it. Our hostel was a quiet little place, really well situated in the town but not the type of place you go to party. It´s a relatively small city with a population of a little over 100,000 but it´s got its own charm and character that really adds to give us great memories of Argentina as a whole. As well as the steak the region is very well known for the grape. Mendoza produces over 70% of the country´s wine and we were keen to sample as much as possible. The day we arrived we took a stroll around to familiarise ourselves with the town. When we say 'we´of course we mean Vicki because it has become apparent after 5 months of travelling that Vicki is the sat-nav out of the two of us and if we went by Conor´s directions we wouldn´t have gotten out of Dublin airport. That evening we went under advisement and ate at a local 'parrilla´ or steakhouse to the lay-person. Although Vicki had said that Cordoba was the end of her steak diet she went and ordered the fillet whereas Conor went with the chorizo which is supposed to be a sirloin but by God twas no more a sirloin twas more a lump of meat the size of your head! Of course you cannot eat steak these days without a bottle of Malbec so we conformed and drank the local food stuff. We passed through the main plaza after dinner and sad down in an open air auditorium to watch a clown show. Within a couple of minutes Conor was up on the stage along with four other 'volunteers´ taking part in the show. After the other three lads were dismissed from the stage Conor of course was held back. Up until then he was following the lead of the other three lads because he couldn´t follow much of what was being said to him in the local dialect. He gave the kids a good laugh but was pretty soon the dunce of the show, with humourous results. The next day it was an early start and off horse-riding in the Andes for the day. Initially Vicki suffered a touch of anxiety and flashbacks of a horse landing on her sister´s arm when she was but a nipper. With some gentle coaxing from her horse-whisperer boyfriend she was soon on her way although Conor´s oul nag was a few months away from the glue factory and refused to budge. Of course this was nothing to do with any lack of ability or experience! Vicki was soon off leading the pack and not unlike the Lone Ranger in her poise and posture on her horse. After a morning´s ride through the a few fields and country roads we retired to the garden for some lunch, wine and playtime with the stable´s pups. Vicki´s appointed names of Michael Jackson and Goldie didn´t seem to take but we live in hope! For lunch there was steak and then some...steak followed by...steak and then some more...salad. We had to refuse the last few lumps but it was a good filling meal washed down nicely by a bottle of the local plonk. After lunch and for the rest of the afternoon we trekked up and down some of the hills of the Andes, through some desert regions of Mendoza, down a river and through some bushes although we´re not sure whether the last bit was part of the plan. After 6 hours of horse riding it was back to Mendoza to give our buttocks a rest before the next day´s activities. That evening we threw together a delicious (if we may be so modest to say) chicken and pasta dish and retired in front of the television for the evening. In the morning we set off on the famous wine tour through the areas main wineries. When we arrived at the bike rental company we thought it´d be a hoot if we rented a tandem bike and did the circuit on one vehicle. The laughs lasted all of two minutes... Don´t get a tandem people! The ratio of hard work to good fun is somewhat disproportionate. First stop was the wine museum with a generous helping of vino tinto or red wine. As we sipped on that delightful drop and soaked in the opulence of our surroundings little did we know it would be the only free wine we would get for the day. On to the first winery, or so we thought. It was a chocolate and liquer mini-factory, not worth the ten pesos we paid for the minute samples we got but all part of the experience nonetheless. Then a winery soon followed, then another and then lunch. Here we met a lad from New Zealand who had passed us in the morning but didn´t say a word because he thought we didn´t speak English (which we have gotten quite a bit on our travels) or so he said!! He came with us for lunch and joined us for the rest of the day. The next winery was certainly memorable if only for the eccentric host. We had barely walked in the door and he was kissing and hugging everyone. He did seem to give the lads a little more attention and not wanting to be rude, Conor reciprocated in kind. He referred to us all as his brothers (even Vicki) and told us to make ourselves at home. Then the rat bag went and charged us for the wine! The cheek! When he pointed out a haggered ould branch on the balcony as we sipped a delectable Cab-Sav, he told us the sotry of how his grandfather from Italy had brought the tree over to Mendoza and how sad everyone was when he passed away. The tree, not the grandfather! He was a very strange and intense fish but very entertaining. Later when we met others who had been there it turned out he had told them a completely different story and he had only started working there a few months earlier. Despite his blatant lies he was a nice lad! When we were leaving he looked as if he was going to break down and cry. We weren´t sure whether this was because we were leaving or because we didn´t buy any cases of wine. He soon got over this and hopped on the next poor unfortunate guy to enter the place, with his girlfriend looking on in shock. By the end of all the wineries we were able to tell the difference between a French and American oak along with a young and mature wine. Yea you could probably use the word connoisseurs! We eventually made it back with sore botties and legs like tree trunks with all the exercise from the day. That night we cooked and Vicki decided that steak wasn´t for her that evening so Conor had her share and ate three steaks that evening. Vicki dined on mashed spuds and carrotts. The next day we took it easy strolling around the plazas and later that night we went out for another steak dinner. Yet another cracking meal! Later that evening we met up with some people from the wine tour and had a few drinks. By the end of the night Conor had to be directed home but it was good times. The following day was a sullen affair and in the evening we got the bus to Bariloche playing bus bingo along the way

On the edge of Patagonia, San Carlos de Bariloche is quite a tourist town in a beautiful setting surrounded by lake Nahuel Huapi on one side and mountains everywhere else. Famous for ice-ream and chocolate, this is a popular stop off point on the way down deep into Patagonia. We checked into an Irish run hostel and spent the day ambling about the town to see what was what. In the evening we went to a restaurant that was every bit a hobbit´s home from Lord of the Rings. We ate...yes that´s right! Steak! The following day we had an early start, made a picnic involing chicken salad and fresh bread and set out on a hike up a nearby mountain. We decided to take a shortcut up through the side of the mountain and eventually came to eat out lunch on the edge of a steep cliff face sheltered from the wind but open to beautiful sights. Not so bad for Conor´s birthday! That evening we went out for a few drinks with some people from the hostel and it was an altogether grand affair. The following day we got the bus out to a famous cycling circuit a few miles out from Bariloche, once again armed with a chicken salad picnic along with some other gastronomical niceties. We got our bikes, making sure to stay away from tandems, and set off for the day. We weren´t even two minutes on the bikes and Vicki went into a ditch full of stingers and this was to be a regular occurence throughout the day. It was a 25km cycle and without exaggeration, there were amazing sights one after the other for the entire day. The area is very hilly and so we were up and down and weaving in and out of the mountains, stopping every now and then to take everything in. We stopped for lunch at a little river which ran between two huge lakes. The setting was ideal and true to form Conor leapt in for a swim. The water was crystal clear and fine to drink but ice cold. Then we set off again on our way. For every struggle up-hill we were rewarded with a fast descent down the other side, no pedalling required. Every down hill would bring a shout from Vicki, "I´m bombin along!" As evening was quickly approaching we made it to drop our bikes in and bussed it back into the town. The following day we made our way through the town sampling a variety of chocolatey delights. There is a chocolate shop on every corner of the town and when we say shop we mean emporium. There´s also the ice-cream of which we bought a half-kilo. William Wonka has nothing on these ice-cream stores. Their variety is unsurpassed. That night, our last in Argentina we made steak and potatoes and drank some red wine. Conor´s steak was still moo-ing whereas Vicki´s was miniature but perfectly cooked. The next day we bid a fond farewell to Argentina and set off for a little taste of Chile before leaving Latin America altogether and starting another adventure

Argentina challenges any country we have so far visited for variety of scenery and landscapes, friendliness of its people and delicious cuisine. This is a fantastic place to go and we would recommend it to anyone who wants to see anything because this place has it all!

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