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Published: October 28th 2011
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After another luxury overnight bus trip we arrive in Mendoza at a stupidly early time. We decide to walk the 3km to our “B&B” to allow time for the sun to come up. We knock sheepishly on the door as normal check in times are after lunch, and are greeted by Marta who sweeps us into her living room and insists on making us breakfast. We had already had some cakes on the coach, but tuck into toast with homemade jams, a range of pastries and wash this down with juice and coffee. We are then shown to our bedroom and catch up on some proper sleep.
We are the only guests at Chalet Parque Central and our host Marta could not be more friendly and helpful. We immediately feel like part of the family and meet her 90 year old father Armando (who makes the marmalade from trees in his garden - apple is our favourite), her niece and their three dogs. We feel more at home here than anywhere we have stayed on our trip so far and enjoy our many “Spanglish” conversations with Marta and her family.
After awaking from our sleep around lunchtime we feel
revitalised and are ready to hit the wineries. Marta books us on to a trip and we are picked up that afternoon. Each winery visit consists of a tour of the vineyard, followed by an insight into the process of winemaking and then finally the bit we have been waiting for….. The fascinating explanation of fermentation and how the flavours are created through ageing methods. Yeah right, of course it’s the tasting, or as we English call it, the drinking! (We had no spitters in our group thankfully, but we did have a couple of wine wasters which was a real shame). We tried some amazing Malbecs and were surprisingly taken by a cheeky Argentinean white from the grape Torrontes. We finish the trip with a visit to an Olive oil processing plant. I learn two things; firstly that the black and green olives come from the same tree and, secondly, that Olives come from a tree. We were a little worried about what the Olive oil tasting would involve, as drinking cups of oil doesn’t float our boat (it would help though!). We were relieved to find that different flavoured oils were drizzled over a selection of breads with
accompanying tapenades. Amazingly, on the way back in the minibus, it began to snow in the city of Mendoza (which ‘never’ happens and is all the more surprising as it should be around 16 degrees at this time of year). This snowfall puts our onward bus journey over the Andes mountains to Chile and subsequent flight to New Zealand in doubt.
The next day we decide to explore the greenery of Mendoza and head to San Martin Parque. We take a trip up the hill of glory for outstanding views of the Andes mountain range which are ominously covered in snow. We walk back through the park and check out the rowing lake and this motivates me to catch up on a bit of training in the park exercise area. After all that exercise we decide its time for another Argentinean ‘All you can eat’ Parrilla.
We pass another day with the customary visit to the city sites. These are pretty much the same in every Argentinean city. They consist of some squares (every city has a Plaza de Armas), fountains, statutes of San Martin (their provider of independence), and all the roads are named after the same
important dates or nearby countries. We decide to stock up on some Malbec before we leave Argentina and buy a bottle for our lovely host and her father. We eat dinner with them in the evening and are treated to a bottle of Armando’s homemade Lemoncello which finishes the meal off with a warm feeling.
The following day the snow finally lifts from the Andes mountain pass to Chile and we make for the hills. It’s a long day on the coach, but its filled with some spectacular mountain scenery with the highlight being Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres at 6962m. At the border crossing we are all made to stand side by side while they check our bags, they then pick 5 at random and people have to open them in front of everyone else. It reminded me of a strange game of Deal or No Deal. The road down into Chile is also pretty scary with endless switchbacks covered in ice and no barriers to be seen. We arrive in Santiago and make our way to the hostel via the metro. Not much is open so we crack and eat the worst
KFC we have ever tasted!
Chile is surprisingly expensive and we decide to budget for the next few days. We find a local supermarket that does very good lunches (for the local students) which include a jelly for desert. Our first meal looks like Shepherd’s pie but has chicken and egg included, which is a bonus, and is also served with a plate of freshly sliced tomatoes. Our days are filled with interesting walks up the local hills which provide exercise and good vantage points of the city and surrounds. However the views are constantly masked by the infamous Santiago smog that sits above the city skyline. I find a leaflet for a walking tour that costs about £10. They stupidly have printed the map and points of interest on the back so I decide to treat Cat to the tour for free. I knew nothing about the points of interest, but neither did Cat, so I don’t think she noticed (or cared).
After doing numerous wine tours in Mendoza we didn’t feel the need for another full vineyard tour, but we also did not want to miss out on the famous Vina Concha y Toro vineyard where
they make Casillero del Diablo. We work out how to get there by train and taxi and pay a visit to the vineyard, shop and tasting room. We try a couple of their special edition reds and walk back to the train station a little merrier.
Our final day in Santiago coincides with some local student riots. This has been building up all week with smaller protests which seemed to consist mainly of banging pots and pans, singing and waving banners. We stay in the hostel to avoid the worst of it, although when we pop out for lunch, the police are getting ready for some action outside our supermarket. Cat seems shocked that they may use a machine gun on the student protesters until I inform her that its just a water cannon mounted on a car! After a lot more banging we decide to risk it all and go for some ice cream at Emporio La Rosa (amazingly voted the number 1 thing to do in South America on Lonely planet’s forum). We head off into town and notice a lot of people have garments over their face. Cat tells me that she has a sore throat
and cough, then her nostrils are burning, and finally her eyes are streaming… I tell her that we are nearly at the ice cream place and to stop complaining about the walk, however I start to feel the same symptoms and it is only then I realise that it must be a full on ,Grade One tear gas attack. I try to pretend its not effecting me for a bit while Cat wraps her scarf around her face, but finally I succumb and decide to cover up, however I only have small gloves which I then have to use to cover my mouth and nose and end up looking a bit special. We survive and make it to the ice cream place where we buy a litre of the stuff in order to sooth our stinging throats. After devouring the Dulce de Leche ice cream goodness we head off to the airport to fly to Fiji where we hope we are more likely to get burnt in a somewhat different manner altogether.
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Matt
non-member comment
yo!
So basically you both led a full scale riot? If you are that into rioting and protesting, there is a tent near St Paul's with your name on it when you get back, though you are too late to save Dale Farm unfortunately, also JD Sports will just have re-stocked after the looting, so you can fill yer boots. Maybe Kev will become the face of the south american student revolution, the new Che, and people will buy t-shirts with his face on for the next 50 years. PS it looked chilly, in Chile.