Arrived into Mendoza and found ourselves a great little place called Hotel Alexander, swayed by the loveliness of the owners and the fact it was named after my brother (and Rob - work that one out!) we booked in for the next few nights. We spent the first day in the city trying in vain to find a 'Gaucho experience' to take us off into the Pampas on horseback for a few nights; after admitting defeat on this one we consoled ourselves by booking a wine tour and just a days worth in the saddle.
We were picked up the next day from our hotel and ferried out to the vineyards on the outskirts of Mendoza to be shown the intricacies of wine making and more importantly to sample some of the vino! Being the only English speakers on our tour we ended up with our own private guides and the chance to guzzle as much of the produce as possible. We also visited an Olive oil producer and a small business which produced liqueurs disguised as innocent products such as chocolate sauce and dulce de leche, when if fact they were highly dangerous, alcoholic demons! Apologies for the lack of photographs from the first couple of days in Mendoza, but the extreme heat obviously effected the performance of the chief photographer.
Sunday in Mendoza was quiet and spent exploring a small corner of the city's General San Martin park, which is as big as New York's Central Park; as well as sampling some of the glorious ice cream we found.
Monday bought renewed activity and we set off for another day on horseback. We were driven out into the Pampas to a ranch where we were given our horses and set off at a leisurely pace. The main event of the morning, however, was the opportunity to finally sample Mate (remember the tea from Uruguay, also popular in Argentina?) This is how its supposed to be done, passed around and shared amongst a group of friends; I found it rather bitter but Dave enjoyed it and declared himself a Mate convert.
We rode on for a while after the tea break and eventually arrived back at the ranch for a lunch of Asado (BBQ meat) and red wine, perfect.
Back in the saddle after lunch and time to tackle some more difficult terrain, steep hills and uneven ground and a full on gallop at the end of the trek which evoked a scream of 'shit, no, stop!' from me.
Our last day in Mendoza and we thought we should capture some of the picturesque squares of the city on camera so we set off with that in mind. There are 4 corners of the city and each one has different square in which people can gather in case of another earthquake ( the last one bought Mendoza crashing down around their ears in 1861). We started in the central Plaza Independencia and made our way out to Italia, followed by Espana which was intricately decorated with beautiful tiles. Very difficult to do it justice on camera so you'll have to make do with a picture of me in front of a monument instead!
Plaza San Martin was next and lastly Plaza Chile with this very tempting fountain in the centre, we resisted the urge to dive in and escaped from the heat to the shade of a bar for a refreshing beer.
Time to wave goodbye to our lovely hosts at Hotel Alexander the next day and jump on our last South American bus to Santiago, Chile.
We were picked up the next day from our hotel and ferried out to the vineyards on the outskirts of Mendoza to be shown the intricacies of wine making and more importantly to sample some of the vino! Being the only English speakers on our tour we ended up with our own private guides and the chance to guzzle as much of the produce as possible. We also visited an Olive oil producer and a small business which produced liqueurs disguised as innocent products such as chocolate sauce and dulce de leche, when if fact they were highly dangerous, alcoholic demons! Apologies for the lack of photographs from the first couple of days in Mendoza, but the extreme heat obviously effected the performance of the chief photographer.
Sunday in Mendoza was quiet and spent exploring a small corner of the city's General San Martin park, which is as big as New York's Central Park; as well as sampling some of the glorious ice cream we found.
Monday bought renewed activity and we set off for another day on horseback. We were driven out into the Pampas to a ranch where we were given our horses and set off at a leisurely pace. The main event of the morning, however, was the opportunity to finally sample Mate (remember the tea from Uruguay, also popular in Argentina?) This is how its supposed to be done, passed around and shared amongst a group of friends; I found it rather bitter but Dave enjoyed it and declared himself a Mate convert.
We rode on for a while after the tea break and eventually arrived back at the ranch for a lunch of Asado (BBQ meat) and red wine, perfect.
Back in the saddle after lunch and time to tackle some more difficult terrain, steep hills and uneven ground and a full on gallop at the end of the trek which evoked a scream of 'shit, no, stop!' from me.Our last day in Mendoza and we thought we should capture some of the picturesque squares of the city on camera so we set off with that in mind. There are 4 corners of the city and each one has different square in which people can gather in case of another earthquake ( the last one bought Mendoza crashing down around their ears in 1861). We started in the central Plaza Independencia and made our way out to Italia, followed by Espana which was intricately decorated with beautiful tiles. Very difficult to do it justice on camera so you'll have to make do with a picture of me in front of a monument instead!
Plaza San Martin was next and lastly Plaza Chile with this very tempting fountain in the centre, we resisted the urge to dive in and escaped from the heat to the shade of a bar for a refreshing beer.
Time to wave goodbye to our lovely hosts at Hotel Alexander the next day and jump on our last South American bus to Santiago, Chile.
1 comment:
Hola! A language of the past for you two now! Great to see you both enjoyed South America so much...it really is an awe inspiring place! Although I'm sure you'll now be having the same thoughts about NZ...but this time no language barrier - it just keeps getting better. Catch up soon, G & C
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