Wine, bikes, and parachutes...

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This past weekend I checked another place off my long list of places to visit; I had the fortunate experience of spending four days in Mendoza, Argentina’s wine country.

My friends and I spent a day on a biking tour of three different wineries, or bodegas as they are called here, complete with tastings at each one. We first went to Weinhert and got to see their extensive cellars, including massive casks of wine (one over 4,000 liters); the second one was Cecchin, which produces all organic wines; and finally we stopped at Di Tommaso, which is one of the oldest wineries in Mendoza and sells its products exclusively in Argentina. I learned lots of techniques to makes me feel fancy next time I order wine—how to taste it, how to swirl it to release the flavors, and how to taste the differences between younger and older wines (young wines are aged only in the bottle, while older ones are aged in oak). But wine wasn’t the only thing. We also stopped at an olive oil factory and a small chocolate and liquor store, where all the products are homemade and the recipes are exclusive to the family. Between drinking good wine and biking through vineyards with mountains as a backdrop, it was a lovely day.

I also got a peak at the Andes. I went on an all day bus tour to view the scenery. We stopped at Puente de las Incas, a naturally formed land bridge that has been turned a bright orange color from the natural minerals in nearby hot springs. There used to be a bathhouse and hotel nearby, but a landslide destroyed them. We also stopped at a viewpoint for Cerro Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain in South America and the highest peak outside of the Himalayas. At this point in the tour we had driven up to an altitude of over 3,000 meters; it was surprising how short of breath I got just walking up a hill to view the mountain! The air was significantly thinner. Only a hint of what it’s like to climb that peak. Our guide said around 8,000 have climbed the mountain this year and 7 have died in the process.

The last day we originally planned to go to the spa. But when that didn’t work out a few of us decided to do something a little more adventurous—paragliding! Basically how it works is you have a parachute and a guide, and when the wind is right you run off the top of a mountain and get carried away by the wind. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being up there; it felt a little bit like flying, except I was sitting in a chair-type thing. My guide also did some acrobatics, which felt like being on a roller coaster or amusement park ride. My head couldn’t take too much of that, but it was still a blast. We all couldn’t stop smiling afterward. I have to thank my friend Crystal for the experience, since she was the one who suggested we go and she ultimately talked me into doing it. So I can check paragliding off my life’s to-do list…even though it was something I had never thought of doing before.

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