Mendoza, Argentina: Let the Wine Floooow Flow Flow Flow

Casa Pueblo Hostal, Pellegrini 377, two blocks from the bus terminal 35 pesos for a dormitorio

Mendoza is one of the biggest wine producing capitals in the world. We unknowingly arrived just in time for the Festival de la Vendimia (annual wine celebration). We also unknowingly arrived at the hottest time of the year and were momentarily paralyzed by the heat. During the summer it's so unbearably hot that everything closes between 1 pm and 5 pm. This did not work out so well with our usual wake up late schedule.

Mendoza in my opinion is the most beautiful city in Argentina. It's big, but feels small; cute and elegant restaurants, cafes and ice cream parlors line the streets; and there are more than 5 main plazas to relax in. Apparently anyone (including foreigners) can study at Mendoza's public university for free! I could definitely live in this city.

I might sum up our time in Mendoza with one word: WALK. During our 7 day stay we walked everywhere, partly by choice and partly because we couldn't really get a handle of the public transportation.

We made our first usual stop at the mercado artesenal where we met Sebastian, a sweet, but spacey guy selling duck puppets and moldable faces. He was kind enough to fix Laura's sandal with his puppet glue. At that time we didn't know that he'd pop up over and over again during our stay in Mendoza.

At night we went to Plaza Italia for the Italian Festival where we listened to opera music and waited in looooong lines to try food from different regions in Italy... polenta, calamari, tiramisu, cannolis... mmmmm (It definitely made up for all the bad Italian food we've eaten while in South America.)

The next day our walk-a-thon began with a trip to the zoo. We spent about 4 hours working our way through the winding paths lined with various species of lions, monkeys, birds, etc. Our favorites being the hippos. ("I said, you're huuge, you're funky...") Really this zoo was neverending.

At night the Festival de la Vendimia began with an impressive parade during which the candidates for the queen of the Vendimia threw gifts to the spectators. The whole city had gathered to see this event which is why Sebastian, the puppet guy, tried to explain to us that if you go in the crowd, "te toca"... in other words, something will happen. We weren't really sure what that meant, but we did think entering the crowd could be dangerous since some of the girls were throwing melons! (Knocking someone unconscious with a melon doesn't seem to be the best way to get elected, but what do I know?)

The next morning while eating our bread with dulce de leche breakfast (mmm), we met Gabriel, a free-spirited, hipster Colombian, who can best be described as "buena honda" (a term used for people who give off a really good vibe or energy). Gabriel, Laura and I chatted our way back to the second day of the parade, ran into Sebastian again and watched horse after horse trot by. Then came the chicas again, this time throwing grapes and just apples into the crowd (maybe their aim was better than with the melons...)

When the parade ended, we hopped on a bus with Gabriel headed for the vineyards. We got off a little too soon and what looked like a two block walk on our map turned out to be more than an hour in the scorching heat. When we arrived, the vineyard was closed. So we walked some more, arrived to another vineyard where the rudest host ever showed us our wine tasting options and limited food options... ( A sandwich or....No that's it. A sandwich...) We finally sat down with a bottle of Malbec and our sandwichazos (huge sandwiches) which turned out to be more like a big, juicy piece of meat with bread.

Getting back to the city ended up being almost as complicated as our arrival. Gabriel had a bus to Buenos Aires to catch, but with a small miracle and our police car, bus, taxi combo, he made it without a minute to spare.

At night back in the hostal, we met two people who'd play a large role in the rest of our Mendoza days; Hiya, a funky, adventurous girl from England and Negro, a quiet, but intriguing Argentinean. After a few beers the 4 or us decided to test out the Argentine nightlife. Going out in Argentina is a commitment; it involves having a lot of energy and knowing that you'll probably do close to nothing the next day. Clubs open around 1:30 a.m. and don't get hopping until 2:00 a.m. So we put on our dancing shoes, left the hostal around 1 a.m. and rocked out until almost 6 in the morning.

Next day: recovery.

On Monday we went with Negro to the repetition of the big vendimia fiesta which really happened on Saturday, but was much cheaper and just as good on Monday. Our expectations where low when they told us there would be a play about wine making. (We pictured a few guys running around on stage stepping on grapes...) However, our mouths hung open as 500 + dancers did a dramatic, artistic reenactment of the wine harvest complete with lights, fountains and countless costume changes. This was followed by one of the most impressive firework displays I've ever seen in my life. Then 2 famous Argentine singers performed, Kevin Johanssen and Javier Calamaro (less famous than his brother Andres, probably due to his fashion sense.)

Our last day in Mendoza was a perfect finale to the time we'd spent there. We decided to head back tot he vineyards in hopes of having a more successful experience than the 1st time. We hopped on a bus with Negro (unfortunately, the wrong bus) and somehow ended up closish to the vineyards where we wanted to be, only to find that it was closed, again... We were not off to a good start.

We then walked in circles for a couple of hours while everyone gave us contradictory directions until we decided to take a break and eat the biggest ice cream of our lives in the plaza with a fountain that spurted out wine colored water. With a new sense of determination we got on another bus and finally made it to where we wanted to be, Familia Di Tomasso, the oldest winery in Mendoza. We got an interesting and informative tour for only 10 pesos, followed by a wine tasting.

We then went back to Tempus Alba where we originally tried to go with Gabriel. The winery was completely different than the first, with modern technology, lots of steel and everything computerized. After a tour, we sat on the balcony with a view of the whole vineyard and shared a bottle of wine and some incredibly delicious, fresh made grape juice with the crazy, exceptionally friendly server who seemed more interested in Negro than in us.

After a long ride back, we continued the wine tasting in our hostal accompanied by some good food made by our own chef, Nego.

The next day we said good-bye to our new friends and comfy hostal, but not before meeting a Rhode Islander who had just arrived the night before. We laughed for a minute about Newport and Del´s and said we'd see each other at McFadden's in Providence.

We couldn't have loved Mendoza more!!!

...We were off to Salta... another 20 hour bus ride.