Argentina: Bikes and Wine

Mendoza
Day Six
Thursday morning we traveled from Mendoza to Maipu to rent bikes from Mr. Hugo. Along with our bikes they provided a map of the wine road with eight suggested stops: six wineries, one olive oil factory and one chocolate factory....YES!

San Felipe
Our first stop was el Museo del Vina la Rural, which makes San Felipe wine. There we got an extensive tour and at the end, finally, a tasting.








Trapiche
The next winery was a ways down the road. We were excited when we got there and realized we'd had some Trapiche wine the day before. Also, we met a really nice couple from Guatemala. And, you'll never believe this, the girl half of the couple studied abroad in Algona, Iowa! She loved it.
I think you can find Trapiche pretty easily in the States. It's all over the shelves here in Colombia. Trapiche's winery was noticibly more modern then the others, but they would have to be considering the huge amounts of wine they produce.







Bodega Familia Di Tomaso
By this time we were pretty hungry and luckily there was a restuarant/winery just a few miles down the road. We didn't tour this winery, just sat right down to eat, and of course, drink. Their malbec was the best...so good. And we split a prosciutto sandwich with herbed butter (prosciutto AND butter, good thing we're on bikes!). We also split a salad with fresh garden greens and you guessed it...procsiutto, big delicious hunks of it. Brad and I agree, it was the best meal of the trip.
view from our table


Laur
After our lunch we headed a long way down the road to visit an olive oil factory. The tour was short and made making olive oil look pretty easy. Squeeze it, seperate it, eat it. We brought back four bottles, which were kind of a pain to haul around on the bike, but worth it.
olive trees
old olive press

Vina el Cerno
After riding halfway back up the wine road Brad and I discovered that we were hungry once again. Fortunately we knew from the friendly people at Mr. Hugo that we could find chorizo sandwiches at the winery Vina el Cerno. When we got there we were greeted by a big group of little kids, dressed up like superheros with burlap sacks as capes, challenging us to a game of turkey. I played along and charged right at them with my bike. They moved out of the way and then grabbed on to the back of the bike, making me pull them up to the main house where suddenly they disappeared. After having another malbec and another, even more delicious chorizo sandwhich we were hoping to see the kids again on our way out. We weren't disappointed.
the wine road





Our last stop was the chocolate factory, so we had a few pieces of chocolate and a nice liquor and then took our tired butts home.

Argentina: The Wasted Day

Buenos Aires
Day Five
Wednesday night we left for Mendoza, the wine region of Argentina and even though we had most of the day in Buenos Aires we managed to do almost nothing but eat and drink. We were going to go to the art museum, but ended up sitting at a cafe for over an hour waiting for a lunch place to open and then spending an hour or so at lunch and then on the way to the art museum we had to use the bathroom, but of course, you can't just go in the bathroom so we ordered another round of drinks and somehow the time just slipped away. We did manage to see the botanical gardens and take some pictures.

Argentina: Tombs and Tango

Buenos Aires
Day Three
On Monday we went to the Recoleta Cemetary where Argentina's rich and famous are laid to rest. It's going to be hard to settle for anything less than a big marble tomb after seeing this. The grand attraction is Eva Peron's tomb.






After scoping the cemetary we went to El Sanjuanino, a restaurant famous for its empanadas. They were delicious, but also very messy.


Buenos Aires
Day Four
On Tuesday we went to the neighborhood of La Boca, a colorful place near the river home to the tourist trap El Caminito, a street lined with brightly colored buildings and restaurants hosting outdoor tango shows.

Argentina: Feria de Mataderos

Buenos Aires
Day Two

On Sunday, Brad and I headed southwest of the city to the Feria de Mataderos, which is held every Sunday to celebrate the gaucho traditions of Argentina.
The first part of the adventure was getting there. We took the subway most of the way, which wasn't all that fast, but worth it. The subway in Buenos Aires is so cool looking. The trains are old, with wooden interiors and all of the terminals have great designs with murals and mosaics. It was a little like being in a moving art museum.



When we got to the fair we were greeted by gauchos of all sorts and the delicious smells of grilled meats. (Let's count how many times I use the word delicious when talking about Argentina.) There was great shopping to do, so we picked up a couple of souveniers, gawked at the folk dancers and then, after resisting for a full 45 minutes, sat down to eat. It was.....delicious. Crispy, fatty chorizo on soft baguette, all washed down with a bottle of Quilmes, we wanted to keep eating, but at the beginning of the trip our stomachs hadn't yet enlarged to the massive size that they were when we left, so we filled up too fast to enjoy the rest of the choices laid out on the grill.