Blogs from Mendoza, Argentina, South America - page 92

The view at Carlos Pulenta in the morning was even more spectacular than the night before. We went to post our blog but the Internet connection was not working. Breakfast was amazing. On the table was an elaborate spread of freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit medley, toast, jams, café, croissants, yogurt and granola, eggs and bacon. It was beautifully presented and as we sat there overlooking the sun and the gods shining down on our vineyard estate … ah, right, we were guests here … oh well, we can dream, can’t we? Reflecting on our good fortune, Jo-Anne commented, Do we really have to leave here? We decided to go straight to Vina Alicia and skip Dominio del Plata since our entire schedule was based on being at Pulenta Estates, not Carlos Pulenta. We had ... read more

My first impressions of Mendoza were not great - noisy, dirty and lacking in any noteworthy architecture. Add to that the fact that my accommodation for the night was a crazed drunken backpackers from hell and I have to say I was not enjoying the city. Life and travel however has a habit of throwing the serendipitous your way when you most need it and my little ray of sunshine came via a fabulous Mendocino tapas restaurant named Tasca Plaza. Yes I had: olives in lemon and garlic a sort of bruschetta with grilled vegetables, calamari and bacon grilled pork in a country style sweet/sour sauce home made chocolate icecream with brandy soaked grapes and a liquer and 2 cokes All of this came with the most wonderful service and incredibly, cost me the grand total ... read more

well after 3 very enjoyable but highly jet lagged days, I have left Buenos Aires to travel around. As it turns out, I have been so impressed with BA that I have decided to return a little earlier to spend 4 days or so there at the end of my trip. I am now in Mendoza which so far I must admit looks pretty ordinary, and apparently is not very exciting. Tomorrow however, I depart in the morning by bus to Santiago via a rather spoectacular trip over the Andes. Bring it on! ... read more

22/04/06 - 25/04/06 The wine capital of Argentina....and rightly so!!! wine is cheap and great!!! i´ve become friends with a grape called Malbec!!! i love anything Malbec...why we dont get it imported to asutralia surprises me!!! i arrive here at 2am in the morning and get into my hostel only to randomly bump into a guy called Feargal that i had now randomly bumped into for the 6th time during my travels!!! small world!!! so i unpack, have a shower and go out clubbin with him and 6 others (4 argentinians,1 spanish and 1 french!!) in a club called Apeteco...this lack of sleep thing is really gonna catch up on me at some point!!! Meet a crazy group of random travellers, we hire a car and go wine taste testing...wine and driving....hmmm...not a great idea. but ... read more

After Bryan´s skydiving adventures in Cordoba, we headed off to Mendoza—the heart of Argentina´s wine industry, and a favorite of travelers. After an overnight bus (again with our friends, Padraig and Sinead) we went to a hostel that came highly recommended by a Swiss couple that we met in Cordoba. After staying there, we were not sure why is was so highly recommended, given that we had to walk what felt like miles to get to the city center. Maybe it was the $14/night pricetag??? Fortunately for us, the family that owned the hostel decided to close up for vacation, forcing us to relocate closer to the city center. As they say, location is everything because our whole perspective on the city changed and we really enjoyed being able to walk to the cute shops and ... read more