More wine!
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2006
1
42
75
Trip End
Dec 13, 2006
Mendoza,
Argentina
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
We spent the first night wandering around getting our bearings. It was Sunday and a public holiday (Mother's day) so there was a big outdoor concert going on in the central park. We watched for a bit and looked at the stalls of artisan goods.
The next day was spent in the big park covering a huge chunk of Mendoza. Lots of families out enjoying the weather and having b-b-q's. Also again lots of mullets and muscle cars! Argeninian bangers galore! We had intentions of climbing the hill that gives a great view out over the city, but after the effort it took to cross the park we couldn't be bothered in the end
01 - Cool sculpture
!We noticed mid-afternoon in the park that EVERYONE had with them a thermos and little cups with metal straws. We were intrigued with what it was they were drinking. It looked like it may have a severe addictive quality as no one seemed willing to leave home without it. We later found out it was maté and a few days later had the opportunity to see how it mas made and taste it. If you like to drink boiled hay with a slight hint of barn then this is the drink for you! Very bitter but they seem love it!
We have got sick of eating out, believe it or not, so on the way home from the park we nipped to the supermarket to buy some food to (shock, horror) cook for ourselves. We settled on a nice easy tuna pasta type thing and, whilst Tara was cooking, we got chatting to a French bloke in the kitchen. We offered him some of our food and wine when it was ready and, being a hungry backpacker, he readily accepted.
Things were going very smoothly until Tara tasted the pasta before she served it out. A panicked look spread across her face and she shot Steve a worried glance and subtely mouthed, "It tastes horrible!". Steve waved this off as normal chef's modesty and heartily welcomed the French guy to the table and encouraged him to serve himself a hearty proportion
02 - A five out of ten
. Whilst he was doing that, Steve himself decided to taste the fare that Tara had prepared. He too, had the shock of his life and flashed a panicked look at Tara and subtely mouthed, "It tastes horrible!". We tried to stop the French guy, but it was too late. He had already raised a loaded fork to his mouth and started munching. We both winced as he chewed for a bit, looked slightly nauseous and then gave a gallic shrug accompanied by a very hesitant, "Eet 'as an eenteresting taste." We went out for a drink afterwards with him. He was OK but a bit stuck up his own bum, so the experience of eating "earthy fare" probably did him a bit of good. Steve also had a bash at drinking a Fernet and coke, but it tasted like cough medicine so didn't even get past the first sip, much to French bloke's amusement. He probably saw it as some sort of divine retribution.After a few days of being lazy and not going to a winery we thought we would rectify that and take a "bikes and wines" tour. We took a bus up the wine region of Maipu and there we got a bike and a map to the 5 bodegas, 1 delicatesen, an olive oil and a chocolate factory. The idea is to start early and make your way to all of them. We started mid-afternoon so decided to hit the recommended wineries and the deli for a meal. Good thing too because after a few wine tours you have a pretty good idea of how it is made and we didn't fancy another 3 tours just to get another 3 free glasses of wine (made especially for tourists: read: the bad stuff they can afford to give a way to people looking for a freebee
03 - Bikers!
. La Rural were guilty of this!) It was a nice day. We tried some nice wine and the view from Tempus Alba winery was great. (It had good quality wine that you had to pay for...although we forgot to pay and the lady had to follow after us, oops how emarassing, we were so used to free wine samples...).
We had a nice lunch at Arena del Sur which advertises itself as having "fancy food". They have an elaborate electronic entrance gate set out on the road which is then a short bike ride up the long driveway away from the main restaurant. As we were leaving, Steve saw that the gates were closing so, in "Indiana Jones grabs hat" style he sped off on his bike and just managed to get through the gate before it clamped shut. Tara, on the other hand, was a little slower off the mark and managed to get herself trapped behind!
We have seen lots of tour agencies offering excursions like climbing and rafting but they involve driving out of the city and then back in so we are going to move tomorrow to the site of all the sports and see what these Andes have to offer!
DAILY FACTS
- Stayed at: Rincon Vasco, Las Heras 590, Mendoza (Tel 0261 423 3033)
04 - Nice lunch location
. Places were packed when we were phoning ahead to book, so this is the only place listed in the Lying Planet that we could get. Nice place, good location but a little expensive. Recommended.- Stayed at: Estacion Mendoza. We moved here because it was cheaper and had a kitchen we could use - getting sick of eating out! Also we tried to get into Hostel Lao but it was full! Near to San Martin and Colon for bars, supermarket, etc. Nice place with family feel and has free (but slow) internet. nice back agrden for BBQs. Recommended.
- Trip organised by: bikesandwines. Very good concept. You pick up bikes near the vineyards and hey supply you with a map. Great logo of a guy riding with a glass of wine in hand! You could rent bikes from a diferent place and do it by yourself - not sure how much cheaper this would be.
- Wikitravel: Mendoza
