Mendoza

Mendoza was our first stop after crossing the border from Chile. We were really excited to explore this town, as it is known for the surrounding vineyards, plenty of good wine and the infamous argentinean steak. We had made plans to meet with our Irish friends, Ritchie and Deidre, from the Salar de Uyuni trip as we were interested in renting a car and doing a road trip together into the south of Argentina. As a result we got to enjoy their company during the adventures in Mendoza as well!

We chose to avoid costly tours and made our own foray into wine country by catching the local bus to Maipu, one of the winery districts. We arrived at Mr Hugo´s bike rental in the morning and chose some stellar metal steeds. We visited the Museo del Vino Bodega La Rural winery for free wine tasting (yesss), Club del Olivo for tapenades and marmelades (with liquor tasting too!), and the Familia di Tommasso, one of the oldest wineries in the region, with a beautiful setting and gorgeous wines. Our last wine stop was Vina El Cerno for really big pours!

Finally we relaxed at a local micro-brewery to take a break from the wine with artesanal beer and empanadas, and then headed back to Mr Hugo´s to return the bikes. Little did we know that the wine adventure was just about to start, as the friendly owner supplied all of his customers with unlimited free wine! Thank you Mr Hugo!

A large group stayed in his cute garden to enjoy the unexpected treat, and drunkenly caught the last bus home in time for the two of us to enjoy an enormous steak dinner in the main plaza of Mendoza. Just on cue two talented young Mendozans provided an atmospheric outdoor seranade on acoustic guitar.

The rest of our stay was spent exploring Mendoza while looking into car rentals, buying camping gear and making plans for the great Argentina Road Trip!!!