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Published: December 3rd 2008
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Picnic in the park
Plaza Independecia Mendoza
You´ve probably gathered by now that there are (at least) four things that are very important to me when I am travelling. In no particular order; landscape and culture, good company/friendship, great food and last but not least red wine (my dad will contest to this one when I visit Oz)!
I arrived in Mendoza, the principle wine region of Argentina very excited about my fourth aspect, red wine, especially the Malbec variety. About 6 months ago, Paul and I attended a food festival in London, tasting various wines from the Mendoza region so I knew what it was going to be all about.... Yum!
With my mates up the road at a hostel that was fully booked, I checked into a plush hostel with an Ibiza villa feel about. It had possibly the largest pool known to exist in a hostel, which was perfect for the scorching afternoons and warm climate of the region. We headed out for a wander around town, stopping by the supermarket for all important picnic in the park supplies on the way. Having come from smaller towns this city reminded me of Barcelona, with wide tree lined streets, intricate architecture and design,
beautifully designed plaza´s, and lots of shopping to be done. I later found out that the whole city was wiped out by earthquakes and volcano activity in 1891, so it was relatively new and had been planned that way.
Stopping for a picnic at the main plaza, plaza Independcia, we had some bubbles to celebrate friendship and the fact that Harrison had made progress with getting a doctors referral for an operation on his hernia. What a mission that was turning out to be! Not much fun being poorly in another country, or finding out that you need to have surgery, then having the insurance company mess you around for weeks.
Peddling our way through the vineyards
Ah, I loved this day so much! I´m such a big fan of bike riding and was missing my daily ride to work. The thought of hiring bikes and meandering our way through the local wineries was a perfect idea. We made our way to lovely ´Mr Hugo´s´ bike hire in the Maipú valley and got ourselves kitted up with some pretty basic but functional bikes and a map and set off down the flat tree lined roads in search
of good wine. It as lovely, just cruising along at our own leisure. To one side we had the impressive mountain ranges soaring up over the vineyards, and the other was the never ending vast open countryside and more vineyards. Beautiful!
The first stop was Bodega La Rural. Wine was not the highlight of this particular winery, however the museum was very impressive. I´ve been to a fair few wineries on various holidays around the world but I have never seen such a large collection of wine making instruments as old and well preserved as this. It was great for photographing, if only my camera weren´t falling apart - quite literally, I had it taped together with blister tape at this point!
After several tastings and visits to wineries, a repaired buckled wheel (not mine!), we finished up with a cheese platter, a glass of dessert wine and talked about plans for the next stop, Buenos Aires. The others were on the next bus that evening and we had to rush back to town. Fortunately I was in no hurry to leave Mendoza so spent a few more days there chilling out by myself. What´s the rush.... afterall,
I had the best pool in town to relax by!
The important things in life
Such a big part of the culture here is about sharing and experiencing life with others. Be it family or friends. Gabriel, the friendly travel agent at my hostel invited me to share mate with him one afternoon. I don´t really like tea but had been advised to accept if offered, as the ritual of drinking mate, is ´mui importante´- very important. Brewed in a little silver pot, and drunk with a straw, it was extremely strong blend of a tea like substance. Potent, would be my preferred word! I didn´t like it but was thankful for the invitation.
Another aspect of south american life I´ve really enjoyed is the culture of music and dancing. To say they love it over here is an understatement! Everywhere you go, you meet really friendly guys and girls who invite you to dance with them and take time to teach you the steps. It´s so much fun! I´m keen to take some lessons when I get home and improve my two left feet. Ah, I´m not that bad really but in comparison to these guys I
am!
All the way to BA!
Having had a couple of days to myself to relax, I was keen to get to Buenos Aires to meet up with various groups of friends I had met on my travels. I´d booked a first class bus, the type that you get a horizontal bed, fantastic food and service. I know I have spent an awful lot of time talking about buses, but it´s a way of life on the gringo trail! I´d heard fantastic things about these buses and was excited.
I arrived at platform 9, as printed on my ticket, about half an hour before my scheduled departure. Then about 5 minutes before departure my sixth sense kicked in and I figured something was not right. No other gringos, no bus to be seen. Hmmmm. I dashed to the main ticket office, presented my ticket to the indifferent women behind the counter. A slight look of horror and I instantly knew something was wrong. I find out it´s on platform 38-42.....ruuuunnnnn!!!!! The sight of me running through a crowded bus terminal with my backpack and two other bags flinging about in the desperate hope I was going to get
Wine museum
I really enjoyed this wine museum, lots of interesting implements my bus in 1 minute was quite a sight. As you can imagine, everyone was staring at me.
I get there about 6.02pm, there are several buses in the designated platforms but I can´t find the 6pm to BA. A quick chat to the chief organiser working for the bus company, a confused look from him, a frantic look over the other side of the car park and we see the bus leaving. Leaving the carpark, MY bus...... noooooooooooo!
A few phone calls later, lots of confused questions from me and I am shoved on the local bus to Buenos Aires. Oh well. at least I was on my way. I was gutted to miss out on fully reclining leather seats which turned into a bed, delicious food and wine, a nights good sleep. But, me being ever optimistic, I was pleased to be on my way so I could meet up with my mates before they left BA.
About twenty minutes into the journey, I see a bus ahead pulled over by the side of the highway and our bus begins to slow down a bit. Could it be MY bus? We start to slow down
properly.... Hallelujah!!!! It was MY bus! They had waited for me! A hop, skip and a jump and I was up the front, in my massive luxury seat on my way. Yipppeeeeee!
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