Mendoza
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2008
1
21
37
Trip End
Jan 01, 2009
Mendoza,
Argentina
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Well we're still in Argentina, and will be for the next few weeks cos there's so many places to see here and the people are treating us very well. We came here mainly as it's a major wine region, the 7th biggest in the world in fact!
Once we got here though, we suffered a dose of bus-lag. I don't know if that's a word, but it's the only way I can describe it. The three long bus trips we did in the previous 10 days or so caught up on us and exhaustion kicked in. So the first couple of days were just lazy ones and getting lots of sleep in!
On the Saturday morning we decided to do a bit of horse-riding, unfortunately for us, this turned to be the coldest day in the whole trip so far, and we were going high up into the mountains! So shivering and looking very blue, we got going. There was a lot of mist in the area so the views weren't as good as expected but we got out and running. My horse had the nickname "Kicker", and for a very good reason. He was a little unpredictable and even kicked a dog in the head. Our group leader was the owner of the land we were on and he looked the part poncho and cowboy hat on. We stopped half way to warm up and started a little wood fire and passed some Mate around. Mate is an Argentine herbal tea thats served in a little silver or wooden cup and is drank through a silver straw. It's a lot nicer to taste than it looks and definitely warmed us up.
Back at the ranch, we got stuck into the preparations for a massive BBQ, and I mean massive! The meat being cooked was practically half a cow, and it tasted unreal! In fact all the steaks we've had here have been unbelievable, if not for the taste, then definitely for the price. An average steak, chips and salad with a beer costs a very budget friendly 8 euro!!!
Sundays in Argentina are quite strange in that everything closes so there isn't always a lot to do, unless mass is your thing. We wanted to do a tour of a winery but these too were having the off, so we put this off until the next day.
We had an early start (9am) and got to the first tour at about 9.45, the tour itself wasn't fantastic, pretty much a case of in and out as quick as possible, but the wine was obviously great. The second tour in the Viniterra house was a lot more interesting as we got to see the grapes being chosen and a bit more of the fermentation process and of course, more beautiful tasting wine. The last of out stops was to a liquor distillery, which was probably the worst of the lot, as all we got to see was a replica of one of the vats they use. We did however, get some sambuca, and some tangerine and caramel flavored liquors....not bad for 1.30 on a Monday afternoon, I've certainly had worse ones!
The best part of the day was the meal, which was more of a feast to be honest. The first course was table of around 30 different types of tapas, from rice cooked in red wine, apples cooked in white wine, cold meats, breads and many many more. The second course was meat & veg empanadas, followed by cheese and ham pies and a final course of spaghetti bolognaise. All of this was followed by a desert of ice-cream with caramel sauce and washed down with all the red wine we could wish for. So suitably full and just slightly tipsy we got back to the hostel at about 5pm and were just fit for bed.
We left Mendoza yesterday for a 20 hour trip south to the freezing region of Bariloche where snow and rain seem to be very much in demand right now. In preparing for this Eoin has discovered a new vice....shopping! He has developed the habit of impulse buying clothes that he says he needs for the cold. These include, an Argentinian rugby jersey, an Maradona jersey, a New Zealand t-shirt a new camera and probably the only thing he can use there, a fleece! We've also had the luxury of having custom made wolly hats, made by one of the girls in the hostel, Charlie, there'll be photos of them soon so if anyone wants to put in an order just let me know! We traveled down here with two American guys, Jared & Ryan. The best way to describe them is to think of Will Ferrell in Old School or Wedding Crashers so there's lots of sayings like "awesome" and "that rocks" and also high 5ing at every possible opportunity, so it'll be an interesting few days ahead in the cold and rain!
Will send on all the stories soon,
All the best
James
