Viva y Vino Tinto

Mendoza conjures up romantic images of wines and countryside, doesn't it? We thought about spending several weeks in this midsize town to take spanish classes and explore the surrounding vineyards, as we had this image of a quaint, cultural town. But, Mendoza is a big city, with all the smog, traffic, and crime that goes along with big cities. After having several weeks in small rural towns, we found ourselves unnerved by the loud sounds of the city, the cloud-belching trucks, and the slight feeling of sketchiness. We also had just stayed in two of the nicest places of our whole trip in El Bolson and Bariloche, and got to our hostel in Mendoza with outdated furniture and a dreary feel to it. At first we were disappointed, but after accepting what Mendoza is really like, we could then enjoy it. It is like a good red wine, it gets better with time.

Bodega Cellar

We had two outings from Mendoza. One was a trip to the nearby town of Maipu, which is where the wine route is. Instead of doing a "wine tour" we got on the local bus and rented bikes. Sounds great, right? We were picturing our trip to Napa with Drew's family or the New Zealand's Malborough region with Aly. Again we were a bit disappointed as we rode through a shabby town, on a torn up road, with semi-trucks wizzing by us. It wasn't the peaceful experience we had in mind, but after a few stops, we started enjoying ourselves. The bodegas (vineyards) themselves were nice, and we got tours and did tastings at 4 different places. One thing we learned was that there is a big difference in taste between wines that are stored in oak barrels (mature) compared to those stored in stainless steel or other containers (young). We tend to like the mature, oaky wines best, but they are also more expensive. We ended the day at a chocolateria and got to taste chocolate liquors, spreads, and different homemade chocolates, it was my kind of place!

Wine Guard Dog

The following day, May 11, was Drew's big 32nd birthday and Mother's Day! For a treat, we made ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. We spent part of the day at a huge park in town, filled with families playing futball and couples laying in the sun. Drew talked to his whole family on the phone, and we got to see little Bridget and Braeden on Skype. This is one of the biggest gifts of all, just to communicate with our loved ones on special days. We celebrated by going out to a nice dinner. The funny thing was getting to the restaurant at 8;30 (late for us) and having the whole place to ourselves. The Argentinians started showing up at 9 or later. We had the most huge delicious steaks, and a wonderful bottle of wine. We toasted our moms, and life on the road! When we got back to our place, there was a bottle of wine with a note from the hostel for Drew's birthday. It was such a nice gesture, and we realized we were in the right place, afterall.

Drew on his 32nd with steak feast

For our second excursion, we took a bus to the region near Aconcagua, which has the prestige of being the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya! We spent 4 hours going and 4 hours returning, but it was worth it. We had clear skies and good views. The landscape is dry and barren, with red earth like Utah. But then there is this huge, glacier-covered peak right there! Pretty sweet!

Cerro Aconcagua

San Juan Vineyard

From Mendoza, we made our way to San Juan, another wine region of Argentina. San Juan is an interesting town because it was levelled in 1944 by a huge earthquake. Therefore, it has a 1950's feel to it and it is smaller and more tame than Mendoza. Yesterday we did another bike ride to the surrounding bodegas, but this time we were prepared for the roads. It's all about your mindset going into these things, and we had a great day because we weren't disappointed by our expectations. We visited 4 different places; 3 wineries and 1 place that makes organic champagne. When we were off the busy roads it was quite nice, and we got to see a slice of the Argentinian country life. All the tours we did were in spanish, which we could understand, mas or menos. Drew's spanish is pretty good, and he gets compliments from people all the time. I am sort of shy talking in spanish, so I am not progressing as much. But I'm trying to learn from Drew's example.

Biking in San Juan

Vineyard in San Juan

As we continue to head north, the weather is warming up. We head to the town of Salta next, on another! overnight bus ride tonight. 12 hour flights will seem like nothing after the bus rides in Argentina! Then we continue to head north into Bolivia, which will be more rustic and adventurous. We will begin our trip to Bolivia by staying with Norma's family (friend of Julie Edsforth), which should be a great inside experience of life in Bolivia. It will also be a good time to practice our spanish, as they don't speak english. Then we head to La Paz to stay with friends of Ben and Casey. We're so lucky to have these connections, and thanks to our friends for helping this along!

Thoughts of coming home are creeping in more and more regularly these days and I am even dreaming about work pretty consistently. We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends, but we're also enjoying our last 2 months of travel and freedom! Happy Birthday to my sister, Mari on the 18th!

Erin