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Published: September 23rd 2010
Thursday was Steve's birthday and in order to celebrate we planned to stay somewhere more lavish than our usual choice... The bus! Due to our lengthened stay in Buenos Aires and a little problem Steve seems to have with dates (see 1st blog), he arranged for us to wake up on his birthday on the bus and this time not as luxurious as the last! However this journey did have it's positive points: Ellie unleashed her bingo skills and after ticking off numbers better than those around her won the ´on bus entertainment´ and was presented with a prize; a bottle of wine. A fitting start to our stay in Mendoza!
So, after waking up to a birthday breakfast of instant coffee with powdered milk and a dulce de leche filled penguin biscuit, (this contained enough sugar to keep a class of 5 year olds high for a whole afternoon), we checked into the very nice Hotel Argentino on the central plaza and enjoyed 2 nights in a bit of luxury courtesy of family. (Thank you, it was especially nice to have our own bathroom!)
Our time in Mendoza has been action packed, we had no idea there was so much to
Birthday Boy!
Steve enjoying a steak and a glass of red wine on his birthday. do here. Apart from being the home of Argentine wine, Mendoza's position at the foot of the Andes makes it a great place for trekking, rafting and all things active.
Since arriving in Argentina Steve has been obsessing about riding a horse like a real Gaucho. His wish came true when we went on a sunset riding tour in the foothills of the mountains. It was alot of fun, Steve especially enjoyed it. Apart from having a lovely, obedient and well groomed horse, he was entertained by Ellie who was trying to reign in her horse (literally), whilst it tried to bite all of the others. At the end of the afternoon, feeling slightly saddle sore, we were treated to an asado, (BBQ).
The biggest highlight for us both was our last day in Mendoza. In the good company of some friends we met on the bus (when Ellie beat them at bingo), we went out to Maipu (pronounced my-poo, hours of entertainment for Steve) Valley, the home of Malbec. We hired bikes and spent the day riding to the different bodegas (vineyards), enjoying guided tours and tastings. The best bit was riding along after our picnic lunch (enjoyed
Horsin´ Around!
Complete with delinquent horse. with some of our favourite wine from the previous bodega), and looking out through the tall Alamo trees with the sun streaming through and seeing the vineyards against the backdrop of the Andes. Amazing.
After a long day of boozy biking we returned to Mendoza to finish off our day with a Steak. Huge and perfectly cooked, served with the typical barbequed vegetables it was the perfect way to end a perfect day... and not to mention our stay in Argentina.
We've loved it!
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Melanie
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In your shadow...
... Hey, i've been really enjoying reading your blog - we're following in your footsteps it seems, a week on monday we fly to Rio - then we're doing practically the same route as you (Ilha Grande, Iguazu, BA etc etc...) good luck with the rest of it :) My blog: golyweg.wordpress.com