The end of the long and wine-ing road

Our last two nights in Mendoza were fantastic! On Thursday night we went to a cooking class where we watched and learned how to make empanadas, chimichurri with steak and caramelized fruit.

All the while our wine glasses were never empty of Malbec. The other students were also fun with a German speaking group of four, two American students from California and a couple of men from the US. One of the German speaking girls was sitting next to Christos and he had to keep indicating that he was here with his lovely wife! We finally left the school/farm/posada around midnight and stumbled back to our place shortly thereafter. The next day was our final day of wine tours and Christos had to skip the first tasting due to overindulgence the prior evening and a desire to do sometime riding. Christos enjoyed a couple short rides between wineries while Lisa travelled in the van.

Lunch was excellent although by the end (3pm) we were so tired we skipped the full winery tour and just hit the wine store. We made it back to Mendoza city shortly after 4pm and rested until dinner ... Dinner was simply amazing and the best meal of our trip. It was at a winery some half hour by cab from our hotel and was prepared by an American/Korean chef named Mun.

Dinner consisted of a chicken-tangerine salad followed by a cold spices soba noodle soup, a sushi plate (oh so yummy), a main of filet mignon with a Malbec reduction (and wasabi mash) and finally dessert of green tea ice cream and biscotti. The meal was served "closed door" which means one big table and no menu per se. We enjoyed chatting with the other diners and finally finished up around midnight for the cab ride back to Mendoza city and a few hours sleep before our early morning ride the next day across the Andes to Chile.

Boxing Day and the next

Our dinner Christmas Day was the best food we have had to date in Argentina! Lisa had a mouth watering steak while Christos once more had the salmon (gout stay away!). Both were excellent. For Boxing Day we were picked up around 10am for a day of bike riding but unforeseen opportunities changed our plans. Before we left Posada Salentein, the local old dog (Mitre), whom we had befriended, decided to take us for a walk around the grounds!

It was really quite touching. After breakfast, we visited the art gallery on the grounds of Posada Salentein which was pretty cool; a mixture of 19th century Dutch paintings, 20th century Argentinian paintings and Argentinian sculpture.

Our guides then suggested we go on the Salentein winery tour and it was worth it. The founder of the Salentein estates is a rich Dutchman and he spared no expense at the winery. Tasting was in an underground room with a huge marble table (perhaps four metres long, a metre wide and half a metre thick). The winery produces some 2m bottles per year, much more than other places we have visited on the trip. We finally got back on the road around 1pm so we were decidedly late for the biking. In any case, Lisa decided to stick with her strengths and passed on biking for the day. We arrived at our next stop, Posada Borravino, around 3pm and our guides started making a yummy lunch of sandwiches and toasted wraps for us. It took some time for lunch or get to our table but by 4:30pm lunch was done and we were stuffed. Christos went out for a short ride, Lisa lounged by the pool and our guides took off with plans to meet us the day after the next for more wine and bike fun. After relaxing for a few hours, it was off to dinner at a restaurant called "Hand of God" which is owned by the same people who own the first winery we visited on the trip. It was a half hour walk to the restaurant so we worked up a good hunger by the time we sat down. Dinner was an interesting experience .... The food was good (really yummy bruschetta and salad) but the service was literally the worst we have ever experienced. It was so bad we had to just roll with it and appreciate the experience for what it was! Our server was a cute dark haired girl who Christos was convinced was a "blonde" in spirit if not in appearance! She took forever with our water, messed up our order, took forever with our wine (which she opened and then plonked down on the table without pouring) and generally made a mess of the whole affair. The crazy thing was we were one of only two tables she had! The other table was a Canadian family so we bonded over the mutual experience ... They had some upside though as the husband ordered the five 2oz glass wine tasting menu but each glass was a free pour and was a full glass at least. We suspect he slept well! We finished dinner after 11pm and wandered back to our hotel where we polished off a half bottle of Sauvignon Blanc while listening to a live band play golden oldies next door until 1am for a local's birthday party!

Feliz Navidad en Mendoza!

Christmas Eve dinner was at the Posada Salentein restaurant and consisted of salad, fish and two desserts. I guess it's double dessert time for holidays! After dinner we wandered back to our room, stopped at the pool on the way and discovered that at night it is the lair of many frogs! After lounging in deck chairs and staring at the stars for a while we headed back to our room, getting to bed some time after midnight. The next way we awoke and exchanged Christmas gifts before heading to breakfast. Breakfast was good, we finally had something more than toast, cheese and meats which seem to be the usual offerings at breakfast buffets in South America. We had omelettes! Then we headed out for a two hour ride which was wonderful! Perfect weather, the Andes in the distance, no traffic and Walkmans for listening to Christos' "All Folked Up" mix. After the ride it was time for lunch (almuerza in Spanish) which was salad followed by yummy beef ribs. We then lounged for a bit playing carcassonne before Christos headed out for another bike ride while Lisa lounged outside our room. Christos visited the Art Gallery on the grounds while riding and although it was closed the sculptures surrounding it piqued his interest.

It is now just after 7pm and we are watching a little television before dinner tonight around 9pm. All in all an excellent way to spend Christmas! See below for link to the "All Folked Up" mix. http://www.4shared.com/mp3/ZWQ-lBIc/All_Folked_Up.html

The Zonda!

Monday the 24th was out first full day in Mendoza and what a day it was! We awoke around 7:30am after a good sleep to get started on our wine and bike riding portion of the trip and met our guides with their van just before 9am. Our first stop was a winery just outside Mendoza city called Achaval Ferrer where we enjoyed the tour and enjoyed the tasting even more! We enjoyed the wine so much that we purchased three bottles to take back home with us! After that is was an hour drive towards the Andes where we visited another small winery called Azul where we bought two more bottles although one (a lovely Sauvignon Blanc) is earmarked for drinking before we return to Canada. We then stopped at Posada Salentein where we will be staying the next two nights to drop off our bags before lunch. What an amazing setting! Manicured gardens with the Andes in the background! Then it was off to lunch at an amazing place called Tupungato Divino. We had our best meal to date at this fine establishment which also boasted an amazing view of the local vineyards with the Andes in the background. Lisa had the steak while Christos had the salmon. At the end of lunch we noticed it suddenly getting hotter ... And then came the wind! This wind is called the Zonda and it blows hot and fierce. We had to cancel our afternoon bike ride due to the Zonda and its concomitant dust and danger. Truth be told, after the wine tasting and huge lunch we were already considering reducing our riding endeavours for the day, the Zonda finalized our decision. So we headed back to Posada Salentein in the van and as we turned on to the road that leads to the Posada we discovered that the beautiful tree lined path had suffered three casualties from the Zonda!

Our guide, his helper and Christos had to clear three trees from the path that had been knocked over by the wind! We finally got to the Posada and wisely decided on an afternoon siesta ....

The road to Wine Country

Our last night in BA was a blast. We arrived around 5pm, had a couple beers on the balcony of our hotel room and then hopped in a cab to go across town for dinner. A co-worker of Lisa's had recommended a place called El Obrero in the neighbourhood of Boca. Boca is a working class district and when we crossed into it our driver reached back and locked the cab door.

El Obrero was awesome. When we arrived the place was empty but all the tables had reservation signs on them; fortunately we had made a reservation as subsequent diners without reservations were turned away. Within half an hour, the place was packed. We had a super yummy cold calamari to start as well as an OK arugula salad followed by two excellent steaks! Christos finished his off (as well as most of a plate of potatoes) but Lisa could only get half way through hers. The waitress was excellent; both attentive and appropriately chatty. After dinner we took a cab back to Palermo and dropped in on a tango bar. When we arrived at 11:30pm classes were underway and we were told the actual dancing would not start until 2am! So we watched the class for a bit before heading back to our hotel as we had an early flight the next day to Mendoza. Back at our hotel, Christos set the alarm for 6:45am and we retired for a short sleep. When we awoke we got ready to head to the airport and then Lisa realized that Christos' blackberry was still on Uruguay time; in other words it was an hour ahead so it went off at 5:45am BA time! We had a little rest then it was off to the airport and the two hour flight to Mendoza. When we arrived in Mendoza our driver was not there to pick us up so we hopped in a cab to our hotel. Lisa put on her bitchy voice with our tour planner on the phone and when we arrived we discovered a bottle of wine with an apology from our tour planner; this smoothed things over quite a bit. We had a lovely salad lunch with really good arugula before heading back to our hotel for a little downtime. Mendoza is much hotter than we had anticipated; well over 30 degrees today and the forecast for tomorrow is even hotter with a high of 39! We shall see how much biking we manage to achieve ...

Last day in Uruguay

We awoke from sound sleep to another gorgeous day in Colonia. Although both of us are a little homesick, a quick look on the Internet to see Toronto weather reminded us why we escape south! We leave today at 5pm; right now it's noonish and we are relaxing in the courtyard of our hotel reading, watching birds frolic in the fountain and enjoying down time. The festivities went pretty late last night, we had to retire before they were finished! We have one last night in BA, and have made reservations at a highly recommended restaurant, and then tomorrow it is off to Mendoza for the next leg of our journey. Mendoza is of course wine country ....

Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay

We arrived in Colonia de Sacramento on Thursday around 11am after taking the ferry over from BA. Our first day did not start well as the skies poured down rain and our lunch was at a bad tourist trap place. Fortunately the weather improved in the afternoon and the day turned glorious! We had a bottle of wine and cheese at a local bar and enjoyed a fun conversation with two ladies from the US (one from LA, the other from NYC) and two Germans. At 9pm we wandered over to the shore and watched a gorgeous sunset. Our final stop was another bar where we snacked and split another bottle of wine before retiring for the evening. Colonia is quite a change from BA as it is a small quaint town that has maintained its charm with cobbled streets and only two floor buildings. The town was founded by the Portuguese in the late 1500s and changed hands many times over the years. It is quite a popular tourist destination as well as an escape for a few days of calm for residents of BA. Our second day was amazing. Wonderful 25 degree weather and sun! We found a restaurant called La Florida where we had an expensive but awesome lunch; our best meal to date on he trip. Lisa had an excellent salad and steak while Christos had gazpacho and lamb. of course we split a bottle of wine as well. As we left the proprietress chased after us telling us we had left too much money; we told her it was 'propina', or a tip as we were so impressed with the service and the food. After the big lunch and a bottle of wine we retired for a 'conference' (a euphemism for nap).

We also noticed some sort of activity in the main square and found out that tonight (being the 21st) there will be live musician dancing till the wee hours! It's now 8ish and we are off for another wander, view of the sunset and to enjoy tonight's festivities.