Mendoza, Argentina

Taking the bus from Cordoba to Mendoza took roughly 7 hours. Once we arrived, we took a cab to a hostel we thought would be available for the weekend but unfortunately it was booked. Leaving our packs at this hostel, we ventured around town looking for a place to stay, and eventually ended up right around the corner at Huellas Andinas. That evening we took it easy and mentally prepared for our wine tasting bike tour the following day.

The next morning we woke up early, packed our bag with some snacks, and took the local 10 bus to Maipu (one of the wine regions south of Mendoza). We jumped off the bus right in front of a bike rental place called Mr. Hugo's bikes. We rented the bikes for 50 pesos each, were handed a map outlining all the winieries, tasting rooms and beer gardens, and then headed off. Marcela was a bit nervous about bike-riding given her lack of experience, but after the first tasting room, her nerves were put to ease. At the second winery, which included a tour and a few tastings, we made a new friend, Nick, who works for Coke and enjoys regular weekend excursions out of Santiago. We biked together for the rest of the day, visiting wineries and a beer garden with great food and artisan beer for lunch. At the last winery, we added a friendly German couple to our clan. On the way back to return the bikes Marcela fell twice, but she survived like a trooper. That night all 5 of us kept the party going and went to a brewery in town for beers and food.

bottling machine

The next day was misery for Marcela, so we read in bed all day and eventually went out for a nice dinner once the hangover wore off...

On our last day in Mendoza we decided to take a wine and olive oil tour organized by our hostel. The wineries we visited weren´t anything special, but the tour of the olive oil factory was really interesting. We got back to our hostel around 7pm, packed our bags, and went to say bye to our German friends. Then we enjoyed one last Argentinian BBQ dinner, and rushed to the bus terminal. We timed everything perfectly, and made it just in time for our 10pm bus to Viña del Mar, Chile.

stones for crushing olives

Steak dinner!