As of now, I have traveled near and far in the country of Argentina and in many different forms. If ever asked my recommendation on which way to travel? I would have to strongly encourage traveling in a Cama Suite bus. Just a few weeks ago, we decided to upgrade our bus to Mendoza to this “Cama Suite” and I don’t think we have made a better decision thus far.
The trip to Mendoza was well anticipated and hopping in the fully reclining bed-like chairs and getting served endless amounts of drinks and a 3 course-meal confirmed that this would be a trip to remember.
We arrived at the hostel just a few (and by few, I mean close to 14) hours later, dropped off our stuff, met the most hospitable staff thus far and we were well on our way to explore the city. We watched Brazil get defeated against Netherlands (the first start to en epic South American downfall in the World Cup), walked around for a few hours, and before we knew it, it was time for our bike wine tour through the vineyards of Mendoza.
Our trip started off at a winery (or Bodega, as they call them here), where we were able to view the miles of vines (and sparse orange trees!), before tasting the different kinds of wine they had to offer. Our trip through the wineries started off well, but of course got a little rocky. And by rocky, I mean we first had to mount our bikes in the rockiest part of the winery, which left a few group members with broken bikes and some others opted out altogether. Did I mention that we only had enough helmets for half of the group? That’s South America for you.
After getting through that rough patch, we had a short bike ride to our next destination. We toured a more modern winery just down the way before heading off to our final winery of the day. This was by far my favorite of the three. We were able to give ourselves a walking tour of the vineyards, before heading up to the deck for the tasting under the beautiful setting sun. Marcelo, our bike tour guide, made sure we made the most of our time in the beautiful view.
After making some memories there, it was time for one final stop. As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, I was anticipating this final visit. We were taken around a private chocolate liquor family-owned business and heard endless stories from the character of a woman that led us through the tour. After tasting some delicious chocolate-flavored treats, cheese, and countless spreads, I left with a handful of purchases. (Mom and Dad…can’t wait for you to try this stuff!)
The next day we wandered around town and finally made it to a tiny café to watch the Argentina vs. Germany game. What. A. Downer. After wallowing in the loss and grabbing lunch, we tried to make the best of the day and headed toward the main plaza, Plaza Independencia, and saw the sites, made some purchases at the little market and settled down on a bench to enjoy the view. After just a few minutes of sitting, we made friends with a few 13-year-olds (who, unfortunately, had better Spanish skills than we did) and found a clown show to watch to pass the time. Little did we know Erik would be pulled on stage with the clown as the main event. That made for a few laughs.
That night, the hostel hosted an all-you-can eat parilla, where we stuffed ourselves with the famous types of meat they have here and ended the night with a party with fellow hostel-ers, all from different parts of the world including New Zealand, London, Australia, and even another guy from Mizzou. Small world.
On our final day in Mendoza, the hostel so graciously booked a High Andes Tour that took up most of the day. We woke up at the crack of dawn and hopped in a bus that toured most of the Andes. Although we were talked into renting hard-core snow gear, such as boots, snow pants, and heavy winter coats, which were all highly unnecessary, we still had a good time viewing the mountains, drinking the sweet cold water from the Andes and basking in the breeze. Did I say breeze? I meant strong, harsh, and powerful but unbelievably fun winds. We made friends with a few Aussies and a girl from London on our trip, which made the trip more exciting and gave us some more friends that accompanied us in laughing at our strange attire. It was a day I’ll never forget. I got to see THE ANDES on the 4th of July? What did YOU do…grill hot dogs? ☺
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