Provincial Mendoza

... We imagined that this may well be heaven for Chris S.). After sampling some very tasty treats we once again reembarked our transport and headed towards the next destination. Our route took us long roads lined with vineyards and olive trees - the weather was beautiful.

This leg of the journey was a little longer and more arduous, and it's when arduousness generates complacency that accidents happen (as well-seasoned tandomites we ...

... and family run, had some wine, lunch and bike riding inbetween. On the way back we also went to a small chocolate factory which was really cute and they gave us yummy chocolate, liquors and jams to try - the highlight of the tour ;)

On our last day there all of Argentina had elections (voting is mandatory here) which meant that the bars closed at 12 the night before to make sure no one went to vote drunk and most shops were closed for the day...

... way through the tour the guys broke there blikes and i ended up chipping my tooth which i freaked out about. Anyway we had to wait for an hour for two kids to bring us new bikes and take the old ones it was organised madness. We ended the day with a nice dinner and a few beers.

... tons of salt, friend potatoes and salad. Accompanied with a litre of beer and 1 or 2 bottles of wine. Followed by again, some sort of fruit or cookie smothered in Dulce de Leche. 9. Go to sleep. (All meal and drink amounts should be double if being consumed by a 6´3 male named Rob) The result of the MendoZONE diet is extreme weight loss in 5 weeks while eating some of the best food in the world in large quantities. 4/5 stars.

... to call the police. He backed down after that, and left with the taxi driver swearing and cursing at us. Speaking to the hostel owners a few minutes later, the trip should only have cost about 2,000 pesos and we were told that taxi issues are a regular problem in Santiago. Our lesson to always set the price of a taxi before getting in will not be forgotten. Having been told by numerous travellers of the past six weeks to spent little time in Santiago if at all, I ...

... rooms be any smaller - visions of submarine living quarters spring to mind... [Mer: Favorite wines: Perpetuum Cabernet Sauvignon, Achaval Ferrer Port, Trapiche Gran Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon... I'm iffy on my Malbecs... and although I never tried a Torrontes (a white wine varietal special to Argentina) at any of the wine tastings, we bought a bottle in WalMart (yes, we went to a Walmart!) for a picnic. The Torrontes is fantastic!]

... wine wasn't great, it was all a bit 'style over substance'.

For some reason it seems that the bodegas (wineries) here insist on only letting you taste the YOUNG (cheap) wines, which are aged in metal tanks, rather than French oak barrels, and then straight into glass bottles. So they ...

... d not seen Katie this excited for a long time.

Once inside, Katie managed to sign us up for a wine and cheese tasting session which started at 7pm and she was so excited at the prospect that I'm not sure she even heard the price of the evening (!) so we wandered off to kill the 45 minutes until it started.

Healthily, we bought some crisps and soft drinks to try and line our stomachs a bit before the wine tasting and then headed back ...

... late, so our arrival at 6:30 pm catches everyone by surprise. We order parillada for all of us, and then visit the kitchen to watch it all being done. Unfortunately as we were the first, only our meat was being prepared, which meant the photo of the huge open grill doesn't look as impressive as it would do later in the evening. We order the best wine, Norton Malbec D.O.C. and enjoy a superb dinner, rounded off by sinful desserts and more coffee.