Urbana Suites And Aparts Mendoza

My first night in Mendoza I went out for dinner on my own - was feeling a bit lonly as no one was around at the hostel to talk to. Sat down for Pizza and a bottle of wine (for a whole £7 - amazing). Then just infront of me a small Tango school started to show off their skills and get people to dance, so I was treated to a live Tango show whislts eating Pizza and drinking really nice Melbac. <br><br><br><br>Well ...

... with banana, caramel, hazelnut. then tried some jams or something, Dulce de Leche (caramel). Ended up buying some caramel and hazelnut mix which was the best.<br><br>Went to a winery Familia Di Tomasso and had a small tour and taste of some wines which where ok...<br><br>Then went through rivers of water to an olive oil factory and filled up on taste sample sundired tomatos afterwards for a free lunch.<br>

... of wine.<br><br>We got there early morning and after an unsuccsesful attempt of finding the right bus we took a taxi which was only 8 pesos and went to the street where most bars, restaurants and hostels are. After trying 2 hostels we found one we liked and had availability, had a shower and headed off into tow. <br><br>Mendoza is a really nice small city with wide avenues and 4 plazas/parks that are built in a rectangular around the big main square in ...

... we could take this narrow and steep gravel road up to Paso Cumbre, so we crossed into Argentina using the tunnel instead. Just after the border, there it is.... the Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas at an elevation of 6962m above seal level. There are some great hikes to be done in the Parque provincial Aconcagua but there was no time for that driving all the way to Mendoza in a day. Further down ...

... I´d sooner go and buy a bottle of wine (extortionately priced at a whole 3 pounds) and drink it in the comfort of my hostel garden. It certainly beats cycling for hours up hill, spending 20 minutes ´tasting´ (sipping actually) a meagre serving of wine and then being hurded back onto the bikes to rush on to the next destination. <br><br>When the group half walked half limped back into the hostel with severe saddle-****, I knew I had made the right decision.....<br><br>L<br>

... nog eens pijnigen met een paar uur paardrijden. Lisenka heeft zichzelf ooit na een bijna dood ervaring in Zuid Afrika beloofd dat ze nooit meer hoefde te raften, vandaar liever nog wat extra zadelpijn. Helaas bleek het niveau van haar mede... Cool! Ik zie net twee in volledig wit geklede nonnen het internet café binnen lopen. Zouden die gaan MSN´en? Geheime afspraak met een hogere macht? Ja ja, ook daar gaat de ontwikkeling gewoon door... Anyways, Lisenka haar paardrijgroep ...

... bed-bug bites on his face, arms and hands. Although I managed to avoid the physical trauma of their bites; I have however been psychologically wounded and I scratch my non-existent bites when thinking of them. Nasty little critters those bed-bugs. Due to a drug-related incident earlier in the week, the border crossing during the bus ride from Mendoza to Santiago took over three hours and every bag on every bus was thoroughly searched. Arriving in the dark in Santiago ...

... barns. Lovely wines, they specialize in the red more than the white. Learnt all about the process to make good wine and toured the old estate that still use alot of the same equipment or barrels from hundreds of years ago. It was a full day on the wine tour so when we got home we kicked back at the hostel with a beer and did some boring things like washing our stinky clothes. We decided to hit the town for some ...

... Of course we undertook a wine tour of three wineries in the area and sampled a fair amount of the good stuff, so can't really recall what they were called but it was a fun day. The trip was followed by a gargantous lunch that was thrown in as part of the tour. The table was full of cold meats, cheeses, salads and breads, and that was just the starter. We then had four courses and as much wine as we could drink. The best part ...

... of wine! A fascinating winery steeped in history.  We didn't have anything planned for the next day so we slept in and had a late breakfast. There are various wineries within walking distance of our lodge but they only accept visitors by appointment so we tried to make some appointments but, believe it or not, they were all full. I guess visiting wineries is a favourite activity of the Mendocinos on a Saturday afternoon. We then decided to go for a walk around the village ...