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martes, 27 de abril Chile is dead. A monumentally short week has passed and it´s time to return to Argentina. More specifically, Mendoza. The ten hour bus went through, around and even sometimes over the Andes. The entire journey was one long photo opportunity. To get over at one point we took the windiest road in history. Think that one in San Francisco then feed it steroids. It took probably half an hour to negotiate.
Again no trouble at customs, except for two girls who delayed our bus by at least an hour. They weren´t limping so can´t have been too serious.
In the evening we bought some local wine and chatted with some other residents about the wine tours available.
That´s right. Wine tours...
miercoles, 28 de abril The wine tours in Mendoza are as must do as Macchu Pichu or the Uyuni salt flats in South America. Unless you´re allergic. Or boring. Something like 75%!o(MISSING)f all Argentine wine is produced here. It´s a shortish bus to Maipu where most of the vineyards are which we (we being us plus Dan, an Englishman on a year long journey, and Ido, an Israeli straight out of
The chasing dog
Followed us for 5 blocksthe army despite being small enough to fit inside his own gun) waited for at the stop. And waited. And waited. After over half an hour an Argentine told us they didn´t run from where we were. Thanks the other hundred people that walked passed us. B*st*rds.
We walked to where the lady had told us we could catch the bus (a number 10). The sequence of buses - 9, 9, 9, 6, 5, 9, 9, 3, 9, 9, 9, 9...ah f**k this! Taxi time. We piled in, followed by a dog which had more or less picked us up at the hostel. It sprinted after the taxi a whole 5 blocks before we lost it at a busy junction. It´s truly the first time I felt sorry for a dog, I would sooner eat one than have one as a pet.
The taxi took us to Mr. Hugo´s bicycle hire. Mr. Hugo kind of has cult status amongst travellers, an Argentina Boba Fett. All he really is is an old man who hires bikes but is pure personality. A photo with him thumbs up and grinning his nicotine stained smile is something to be regretted if not
obtained (because everyone will ask you if you got one). A cool fiver for having the bike the whole day.
The first stop on the unguided tour is the museum. It´s mainly just old wine-making equipment and houses the biggest barrels we´ve ever seen. That includes the one the pirate holds at Black Gang Chine. For some reason there are lots of guns. Slavery or wine wars? Dunno, we don´t speak Spanish. Our first free wine for tasting. Red. Sh*t. Little baldly Ido necked his, it´s only 11 o´clock.
Just down the road is an olive farm. Its tour took less time than it does to read this sentence. However afterwards it had a tasting session of olives, peppers, chocolates and liquor. This included absynthe which Ido and Dan shared. Ido nearly puked. Dan and I spotted two identically dressed, what we can only assume as homosexual, fellows on a tandem and got caught laughing at them. Both at least 6´3´´; quick let´s scarper.
Trapiche was our first winery and the obvious powerhouse of the area. The huge brickwork factory surrounded by chimney and well-tended gardens definitely would have beaten up all the other wineries at school.
The tourguide told us the average Argentine drinks 92 litres of wine a year. Being as that doesn´t include children, going from 7th richest country in the World to the hyper-inflated economy of the 90s makes more sense. Trapiche contributes 25 million litres annually, 70% of which is red. Boo. The guide told a good story about why the wine had to be weighed in the old days to stop the transporters drinking it and replacing it with water.
The tasting itself was an education. We were told to smell the wine and coat our mouths with it to get the full taste. Nobody spits here. Seems like it´s frowned upon in fact. Probably not as much as Ido necking it and then making gagging sounds. We actually quite enjoyed the red, clearly we are maturing; the days of $4 goon have all but passed. We laughed at some of the comments put into the comments book - it´s amazing how some Essex types can actually extend your perception of their retardation.
Winery 2 was Viña al Cerno. It was a knackering 3km away, often followed by the police. Just with the carabineros it´s hard to tell whether
Trapiche
The heavyweight they are for safety or to arrest the p*ssed up tourists. They looked more arresting. At Al Cerno we had a huge parilla and a quick tour. Wine was free with lunch, we had a Torrentes (white). Ido asked to try the sweetest wine, didn´t want it and asked for the next sweetest, then he had a Fanta instead. It was a poignant picture, his flourescent orange glass at the dinner table.
Our last stop was the Familia di Tommaso, oldest winery in the area. Here we got to taste four wines (3 red, one sherry). For the first time we came across pretention in all its glory. Its nationality - French (of course). He yapped on for about 15 minutes about how one of the wines was too aggressive. Also detailing the meat he would eat with it. What a nob. Oh wait, he´s set an American off. She doesn´t know anything but that didn´t stop her. Thankfully reliable Ido butted in with how much better the sherry was than the wine. Boy has a sweet tooth. The Tommaso tour was by far the best, well worth the 6km bike ride.
Our procession took the main road
back which has a cycle lane for parts but largely is an episode in avoiding huge trucks who take great pleasure in beeping at you and trying to catch the back of your head with their wing mirrors. We must have lined our lungs in dust, thankfully Hugo was on hand with free wine back at the bike shack. A few downed then bus home (for a free wine at Hostel Empedrado).
jueves, 29 de abril After a boozy Wednesday came a calmer Thursday. With the weather in our favour and a town to explore we walked around and took in what Mendoza had to offer. It feels like a student town, kids appear to be everywhere, muchilas hanging off their shoulders. There was a huge earthquake here in 1861 and the place had to be rebuilt almost from scratch. Milton Keynes take note - just cos it´s new doesn´t mean it has to be devoid of character. Mendoza´s wide avenued streets are testament to the fact that not everyone has to live in everyone else´s pocket. There will still be space to drive through and catch the rubble when the next one comes (wasn´t that far from the
Al Cerno
The artsy shot (only Dan could take something like this) Chilean one not long ago!).
Mendoza is all plazas (squares). The main one, Independencia, expands for four blocks and has an enormous fountain in the centre. Constant sprinklers keep the grass green. It´s friggin´ boiling but no hosepipe ban here. On the corners of Independencia four other plazas exist:
San Martin - a tribute to a general (like every other street here)
Italy - apparently there is a large population here
Chile - a tribute to the "neighbours" - contradicted the graffiti adorning the inside of the customs toilets at the border
España - a huge mural aside statues and fountains.
Hope you enjoyed work today.
viernes, 30 de abril Freshly disappointed by Liverpool´s attempt to salvage their season (but still enjoyed the commentator singing "Es Aquilani, Es Aquilani" in his finest Pavarotti impression) we went to Parque San Martin, so huge it doesn´t fit on the Lonely Planet map. It was a fresh 2km walk to the park via Independencia which today could not be navigated with trampling on protesting children. Argentina bloody loves a protest. Not sure what it was about, probably the cleanliness of blackboards.
At the park is a regatta club and
a stadium purpose built for the 1978 World Cup but which is now just derelict. Bit wasteful. Somehow we managed not to find the mountain in the park, classic SpencerBulls. Even more classic I sulked cos it was hot until we ate lunch over the lake. That was about it. It´s good to stay in one place and relax sometimes.
sabado, 1 de mayo 18 hour bus on a national holiday = no taxi to get to the bus terminal, absolutely no space at the station and a bus fuller than a London homeless shelter.
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John Bull
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Volcanoes
Hi, I hear they are angry with you for losing your camera and phone to nasty gringos. Trip affected?