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Published: April 25th 2006
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Last we wrote we were in Salta eating steak for Easter. We have since travelled further south in Argentina and tomorrow will make our way to Chile, (Vina del Mar) to spend some time on the beach!
After a beautiful busride from Salta we ended up in Cafayate, a cute little town surrounded by wineries. Our plan was to do some wine tours and relax for a bit, and that we did. The town itself is kinda like Perth, quiet and relaxed, with a few less retired people. Here we engaged in tasting as much wine as possible during the wine tours around town. We also walked 1.5 km to get to a cheese factory only to find out we could taste 2 pieces of cheese each before walking 1.5 km back to town.
The thing we found most imposing, especially in the small town, was that the whole place shuts down between 2pm and 8 pm, so if you want to do any shopping or eating you better be ready to do it before or after these times. People all go home and sleep or relax in the afternoon, only to get up and eat a big meal
Full of wine!
Aging process of the wine. around 9 then go to bed again... I really don´t understand it. A word to the wise..give people at least a half hour after re-opening thier businesses to wake up..if you do not, be prepared for aftern nap crankiness!
Cafayate also has the BEST empanadas I´ve eaten in this country so far, we went to the same restaurant 3 times just to get them...yummy!
From Cafayate, we took a 7hr bus to Tucuman (they do not have direct busses from here to Mendoza) then waited a few hours and took an overnight (13hrs) to Mendoza.
Mendoza is the nicest city we have been in. It is clean and half the city is a huge park. The park has a lake in the centre with an fantastic looking rowing club. You can spend the afternoon rowing, running, rollerblading, playing frizbee, basketball, football or golf. Jeff and I went golfing this morning, it was a great course and you had to have your own caddie, so I got to have my clubs carried around the course for me...very special.
Because Mendoza is desert land, the city has an irrigation system in place that runs water around every street,
therefore they have trees lining EVERY street. It is so beautiful.
We are staying at Hostal Internacional on España street, and they are great for offering tours of everything, and the tor companies will pick you up and drop you off right at the front door. We have done a wine tour, paragliding, and horseback riding with them.
Paragliding was successful, we are still here! The day we went was too windy so we had to wait at the top of the mountain for about an hour before leaping off the cliff into tin air and hoping our parachutes would function properly. The guides were originally were going to send Jeff and I off when it was really windy, because we were the biggest people...I´m tall but I´m not that heavy..it made me a little nervous I was going to blow away! They ended up changing their minds and waited til the winds died down to send us.
My take off according to our friend Joan was amusing for the onlookers. I was given the go to start running towards the cliff, and when I did my chute started to carry me away backwards..so I was running
The park in Mendoza
This park is huge..and they have people ROWING all the time...could you imagine seeing this background everyday? forwards on the air and ended up going backwards...but I survived the experience just fine until the landing when my legs decided not to work. My feet touched the ground and my legs gave out, leaving me sitting on my but in the middle of a dirt field.
The next day Joan and I went horseback riding through a natural nature reserve just outside Mendoza, it was very pretty, and we had fun galloping through the trails.
Mendoza also has the funniest names for their shops. We have seen store signs reading things like...penisse inmobilaria, jardin de pooh, or clinica colon...amusing.
Jeff here... a few random thoughts to add...
- this town has the biggest park ever... in it are tennis courts, a rowing club, an artificial lake, a riding club, restaurants , museums, a zoo and a golf course! we played our first round this morning... first swing of the year resulted in a ball actually getting stuck in a tree... not the best omen but a lot of fun!
The paragliding was amazing for sure... the rise up was quite the expereince... prett damned ruff... we were all just ¨busting¨ to get outl...literally
Horseback riding
Yes I am from Lanark county!! in our freind Joans case...haha joan!
We absolutely love mendoza and will for sure be back someday... best city i ve ever been to... clean, perfect weather, tonnes to do... and
-the best part yet... TENADOR DE LIBRE! Picture this sports fans... an all you can eat meat buffet .. the grill right there...its my own lil idea of heaven... this is it baby!
we miss everyone at home... i picked the habs to win by the way and the sens are in trouble! lets go oilers!
well talk to ya from chile!
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Donna Peters
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Paraglidings a nono
Jeff Peters remember my friend Colleen. Dont do this again. Love Mom