Mendoza...mendozy zzzz

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Arrived in Mendoza on Sunday morning after a 12 hour trip from Cordoba (see map.) After getting here exhausted, we managed to get a hotel room but had to kill a couple of hours for it to be vacated and cleaned. Nothing was open and this continued throughout the day so the first day in Mendoza was spent wandering around the empty streets and recovering from the bus ride.

Got up ready and rearing for an action packed day of biking or possibly rafting on Monday... left the hotel and realised that shops, cafes and all the other stuff we needed was still shut. Being away you forget what day it is but after returning to the hotel with our bag of un-washed laundry we were informed that everything was shut because of the bank hols. So ´action´ was put off until Tuesday. A bit of a slow start to Mendoza for us!

Tuesday we got up early to make the most of the day and hired some bikes to visit the vineyards outside the city, expecting a pleasant ride along country roads for a couple of hours. However, as it turns out the ride was on busy main roads and the vineyards themselves were not in the idyllic setting we had pictured. Still, with a daily intake of at least a bottle of wine, several beers and a steak or two, the excercise was probably required!

Exhaused from the previous day´s 50km flat cycle ride (its a lot harder when its not downhill!) we spent Wednesday basking in the sun in Mendoza´s main plaza while planning the next few weeks of the trip.

Today (Thursday - Happy Birthday Lucy, and Jo for 2days ago!) we went to the Zoo on the recommendation of an unnamed relative. However, neither of us were impressed with the conditions for the poor blighters inside the cages and quickly left after seeing a couple of POLAR BEARS in a 15m x 15m concrete ´pen´..... cheers Jim the visit throughly depressed us! P.s we went to the mexican you suggested and Rachel was up all night being sick!... I really enjoyed it though!

(Other travellers - give it a miss, seriously... we´re not animal activists or anything but it was pretty bad!)

Been a bit of a non-entity of a blog really, so apologies for that. The activities we planned for Mendoza seems to have amounted to nothing with the 2 days of closure and the exorbitant cost of rafting trips (1 ´day´ consisted of 50mins of rafting for nearly 50 dollars!!!!?????!!!!)

Anyway, here´s hoping the next blog will be more entertaining and we will have some better pictures as we get out of the city and into the fresh air of the Lake District (a mere 22hours bus away!).

Hope everyone´s ok at home, lots of love, Rach and Chris.

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Photos

Map
Here we are... follow the BLUE LINE!

Mendoza
Leafy.

Plaza Independencia
Mendoza´s main plaza at 8:00 Sunday morning, waiting for a hotel room after a nightbus from Cordoba...NOTHING was open!

The usual suspects
We seemed to drink the red faster than we drank the water...

The usual suspects...II
Of course! Well, we needed something to accompany the red...

Horse and cart... on the highway
Argentina is pretty much european but there is still the odd horse and cart on the city roads.

Bike Ride 3.
We hired bikes and rode out to Mendoza´s vineyards. Was a little less scenic and exciting than previous rides; all flat and the roads were quite busy. This was a rare quiet moment.

Wine Tasting
Fortunately the signs on the wall told us what to do...We have remembered a few of the ´tips´ but still probably would accept any old plonk offered to us.

¡Bienbebidos!
" He who drinks gets drunk... He who gets drunk sleeps... He who sleeps does not sin...He who does not sin goes to heaven... So to go to heaven we must drink."!

Bodega (winery) Lopez
The second vineyard we visited was much more industrial. Tour was in Spanish, rapid Spanish, so we didn´t understand at all, but having visited them in Peru and France we got the gist!

Bodega (winery) Lopez: Bottling plant
The first vineyard we visited put in the corks by hand. Lopez however produces 3000 bottles an hour thanks to some impressive engineering. It goes from single bottles, to boxes of 6, to crates, to shrink-wrapped pallets in a matter of seconds.

Amigo
Wherever we seemed to walk in Mendoza, we kept bumping into this dog who seemed to attach himself to us and follow us around for blocks on end. He spotted us on the street yesterday and came walking over wagging his stumpy tail.

Policia
Cycling Proficiency test?

Beer
If only we took as many photos of the scenery... they all seem to be of wine, beer and steaks.

Comments

[Angela - Anchorage]

Keep on enjoying yourselves
Thought of you today, so thought I'd read your latest entry. It's not all luxury and excitement, but you'll remember this holiday for a long time. Take care and let us know when you're back here. Love Angela x