Bikes and Wine
Trip Start
Jul 16, 2008
1
41
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Mendoza,
Argentina
Saturday, December 13, 2008
After settling in at the hostel we headed into town. I had heard good things about Mendoza from many people and had a picture of a quaint, charming town in my head. I was definitely mistaken. It was a crowded city, with huge discount clothings store after huge discount clothing store...definitely not what I was expecting.
We walked to Plaza Indepencia, the main plaza. There were some artesan stands set up there which had some nice stuff. Abi bought a great necklace and I thought hard about a leather bag that would replace the bag that had gotten cut up in Quito but decided that leather was just heavier then I wanted to have to carry around the rest of my trip! After our shopping it was about 2:00 which is the beginning of siesta (from 2 pm to 6 pm) and everything was beginning to close so we headed back for a siesta of our own. We cooked a delicious dinner that evening, bife de chorizo, onions, and a big salad (I'm getting really good at making salad dressings from random leftovers in hostel kitchens), enjoyed our free wine, and even managed to catch an episode of Law and Order on TV (it had been months since I'd seen it!!)
The next day we went to visit the wineries with Kevin (British) and Meg (Australian) from our hostel. We went on a wine and bike tour which visited several bodegas. I was slightly confused at the time we booked it as to why I would want to go on a tour of the bodegas of Mendoza as I have seen plenty of bodegas in NYC however I learned that bodegas in Argentina are not the corner store that carries everything from rotten fruit, to birthday candles, to beer, but is a winery! Slightly different from the NY version!!
We took an hour bus ride from our hostel to Mr. Hugos where we rented bikes and got our map to lead us to the 5 wineries; 1 chocolate, marmelade, and liquor factory; and an olive oil factory. It was a very exhausting day-drinking a lot of wine and biking around in the heat! My favorite winery was the familia de Thomasa (or something like that) which was the last one on the tour. The olive oil factory was pretty good too (especially because they gave us bread to dip in the oil and a little snack was needed after ALL of that wine!) The chocolate factory was fun as well. We tried four different liquers...pimiento verde (hot pepper!), limon, some mulled wine liquer, and something else (I can't remember!) We wanted to try the tobacco flavored one but they were sold out. Wasn't too disappointed about not trying that!!
Today Abi left for New Zealand and Kevin and Meg headed to Chile. When they all left, I was completely undecided as to where to go. I am feeling exhausted by all the rapid traveling I have been doing-too many overnight buses with not enought time in between. I have a week and a half left in Argentina. I knew I want to visit Iguazu Falls but other then that I wasn't really sure. Thought about heading to Salta (which is in the northwest of Argentina) and from there heading to Iguazu and then back to BA but that would have been sooo much traveling (this country is just too big!!) and I would have only had 1 night in each place. Traveling with Abi I realized that I can travel quickly, taking an overnight bus and staying somewhere for just a night or 2 and then heading out again. However, I also think I realized that I don't really enjoy traveling that way. I don't really enjoy going somewhere just to be able to check it off a list. I prefer spending time in a place and getting to know it, rather then just getting there, doing one thing, and then moving on. My last day in Mendoza I spent a lot of time thinking about these things, as it was the first time I was alone in a while and had time to just relax and do my own thing! And I realized that everyone has their own style of travel. Although I think it is good that I can adapt to other people's way of traveling, I think it is even more important that I am discovering what I truly like and the best way for me to be.
Anyway, I ended up deciding to take an overnight bus to Cordoba, spend a night there, and then take another overnight bus to Iguazu. Although this was two overnight buses with only one night in between (what I just said I didn't like!) Cordoba was on the way and I figured breaking up the trip to Iguazu would be good (rather then spending 2 nights in a row on another 32 hour bus ride!) After I made this decision and bought my ticket, I had several hours to spare before my 10:30 pm bus.
I spent the day walking around Mendoza. I found it to be more pleasant this time, I think it was because it was siesta and so it wasn't as crowded and the huge discount stores weren't as overwhelmingly present! I walked to a few more plazas in the city. I really like Plaza Espana which had beautiful mosaic tiles all over it. I spent several hours in the park. Layed down in the grass and watched some sort of yoga class for a while and then just relaxed and read my book. After a few hours I got up and walked around the park. It reminded me a lot of Central Park. There were paths where people were running and riding bikes. There were also groups of people just sitting down together, relaxing. There was a big lake, that sort of reminded me of the reservoir, however there was a big crew time practicing in there, which was very fun to watch. Almost every group of people that I saw was sitting and enjoying a beverage, usually Mate but sometimes sharing a large bottle of soda. It was like an event, this sharing of a drink, at the end of the day. Not something you see much at home (especially with non-alcholic beverages!) I really love mate, the tea that they drink. They use a special cup and fill it with the mate (kind of like tea leaves, kind of ground up) all the way to the top. Then they have a thermos with hot water. They fill the cup with the water and the first person drinks the mate through the straw. Then it is filled again and passed to the next person, who drinks all of the water. It continues until the mate has become weak, and then sometimes they will make a new cup and start over again! I love the way mate tastes and I really love the social aspect of it. I like sitting around, sharing this drink with people I meet!
I really enjoyed my last day in Mendoza. It was nice to have some alone time (for the first time in a while) and be able to reflect on my recent travels. I also got to do my own thing without having to worry about someone else. I like traveling with other people. I have gotten to know many wonderful people on this trip. However, it is weird when I think about how I went away on a trip on my own and have hardly spent any time on my own. I think I have more alone time when I am in NY, which is where most of my friends and family live! But I think it has something to do with not having my own space while I travel. I am constantly with other people. It is an effort to make time for myself, requiring me to shut out other people, something that I don't like doing, and am not particularly good at. So, I relish the moments I am on my own, when I can do my own thing, and when I do have time for thinking!
