Malbec madness in Mendoza

    

A good message for us all to live by

Next Stop: Mendoza, Argentina (April 23-26, 2011). No visit to Argentina would be complete without a stop in wine country so we made our way north from the lake district in search of better weather and...well, wine. I'm happy to say we won on both accounts. We stopped in Mendoza, one of the better known wine regions in the country, though not the only one. It is a nice little city located on the eastern side of the Andes mountain range, and it was positively hot with the sun once again out in full force.  

Met: Surprise, surprise, look who it is! We again met up with Mike (from Uruguay and the Torres del Paine trek) but this time we were also joined by his lovely Canadian friend Laurie.

Saw: On our first day, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by spending the day soaking in the thermal baths and sunbathing at the Cacheuta hot springs just outside the city. 

  

On the second day we went wine touring in the Maipu region. We rented bikes from Mr. Hugo and set off for a full day of wine tasting. In addition to visiting several wineries, we also visited a wine museum and a family run chocolate factory at which we sampled olives and olive oils, jams and dulce de leche spreads, liqueurs, and, of course, chocolate. When we returned our bikes at the end of the day, Mr. Hugo ensured that our wine tasting didn't end there, encouraging us to hang out in his garden while repeatedly refilling our glasses with his own homemade wine. 

And the wine tasting begins

             

Me and Tricky Ricky (my bike)

Malbec Mishap

 

  

          

In a field of olive trees (I'm not sure what my hand is doing here...)

The legend himself, Mr. Hugo

Stayed: Hostel Independencia, Mendoza. This former mansion was a great place to stay in the centre of Mendoza. Although the building was showing its age, it was clean and the staff was lovely . 
                  

Ate: 

Grilled Provolone cheese...delicious

Quotes: 

"It's fucking JAM!" - my response to an overzealous wine taster, who, at a tasting of jams and dulce de leche spreads, held up the entire tasting by asking the owner in which order she should taste the sandwich spreads. D'uh! Everyone knows you should start with a light and fruity jam and end with a full bodied dulce de leche. 

Notes on Argentina: Since this was our last stop in Argentina, I thought that this would be a good place to note some of my observations from this country.

• Try to break your big bills (money) whenever possible! Most stores have very limited change, so if you try to buy something valued at 25 pesos with a 100 peso bank note, forget it, you'll be leaving empty handed. Even when you are within 5 pesos of the actual price, you will most likely be met with requests for additional coinage. This is an endemic problem in Argentina. 
• Hope that you never need an ambulance in Buenos Aires. You will probably be dead before it gets to you. 
• Pedestrian crossing are always at your own risk. Some cars slow down, some speed up.
• Know exactly which airport you are going to in Buenos Aires, there are two...and both have domestic flights.