Mendoza

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Hey again!

We finished 4 days in Mendoza...wine country! We understand now why everyone loves this place. It is beautiful with tree lined streets and many parks. There is so much to do here - extreme sports, wine tours, mountaineering, shopping etc etc. Our first day we walked to Plaza Indepencia in the center of the city and Aristides Villanueva street where there is many bars and shops. Last we walked around one of the park areas where many people were running and biking along the trails...in 38 degree weather! That night we went out for supper to a place called Sofia (thai food). It was an incredible restaurant, very cool looking and the food was amazing. We shared a bottle of wine to celebrate being in wine country and I (Laura) was pretty well drunk (I blame it on the heat!). We walked to a place called Decimo where you go up 10 floors to an outdoor terrace restaurant with incredible views the city. Unfortunately we sat for a half hour and didn´t get served, so we ended up just heading home...but it was a nice view!

The next day, we went on a biking wine tour with some people we met from our hostel (a couple from Denmark, and a girl from Holland). We rented bikes in a wine region of the city and biked from winery to winery. We started at an olive oil, chocolate and liquor shop. We tasted olives, balsamic vinegar, different olive and red pepper pastes, chocolate and caramel spreads with hazelnut, banana, liquors. It was all delicious, if only we had the space in our bags! Next we tasted some of their liquors, one being Absinthe...75% alcohol...we each got a shot and your mouth literally goes numb for a few seconds and burns more than anything as you take it. Needless to say, that started our morning off (its only like 11 at this point). Throughout the day we visited 4 wineries and drank glass after glass of malbec, cabernet sauvignion, syrah, reserve collections and rose - the wines were wonderful...and we were drunk. It was a great day. For the evening we went out with the Danes, the girl from Holland, and 2 girls from Norway for dinner at a really cool Mexican restaurant where we shared a great fajita meal!

For our 3rd day in Mendoza we went on a tour of what was called Alta Montana, basically a stretch of Andian mountains between Chile and Argentina in and around Mendoza. The only drawback, one which was likely due to our late booking, was an only Spanish speaking tour guide haha. We didnt find this out until about 2 seconds before we stepped on the bus unfortunately. The tour was still great, unparralled scenery, we just didnt learn much! Still a great day though.

Highlights;

Puente del Inca (2720m ASL)- according to our Lonely Planet guide book (remember, spanish speaking tour guide), this was a natural stone bridge that crossed the Rio Mendoza. Warm, sulfurous thermal springs stain the rock walls and ruins of an old spa beneath it yellow. This was really cool actually. Very weird/errie.

Cerro Aconcagua- Aconcagua is the western hemisphere´s highest summit at 6960m ASL. As you can see from the pictures (its the snowcovered peak in the background), we were pretty far away (it takes 13-15 days to climb it), but it was still cool to catch a glimpse.

For our 4th and final day in Mendoza we decided to rent bikes on our own and tour around the large park just outside the city center. As we mention before, the city of Mendoza itself is beautiful, and has tons of green space. The locals seemed very active, as plenty of people were out and about biking, running or walking. The bike rental agency suggested a 5 hour tour of the city but we didnt have quite that much time so we cut the tour short, biking for about 2.5 hours through the park and really enjoyed it). All in all we loved Mendoza. Really laid back vibe in the city itself. Like we said, tons of green space, great restaurants/bars, the major wine producing region of Argentina within the hour........great city! What else could you really ask for?

We headed out that night on a 20 hour bus ride to Bariloche which is consider in the ¨Lake District¨of Argentina. That means, beautiful mountain landscapes full of both large and small lakes. We´ll fill you in on our time there when we next get a chance!

Take care everyone and thanks for reading!

Greg and Laura

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Comments

[Nick]

Hey
I'm pretty jealous, 25% of which has to do with the weather, probably another 25% with you guys not having to work, and then 50% being on a sweet vacation. I hope you took the absinthe shots like champs and then introduced them to Zwack. Keep havin a good time guys!