Many More Mendoza Memories

As we prepare to leave Mendoza following our month long stay, we wish the time hadn't passed so quickly but we are departing with more good memories of this beautiful city and region. Since our daughter Rachel arrived 11 days ago, we have been busy taking her to our favourite places and seeking out more new experiences.

Beyond repeating our favourite city walks (the expansive San Martin Park, the multitude of city plazas, and the pedestrian-friendly streets), we have also made multiple trips to the Central Market and street-side dining restaurants. Another day we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art where the 3 of us could not agree on our favourite pieces of art or sculptures, but that is what art is all about. We also managed to find plenty of time to do more wine tasting, with four different day trips to Chacras de Coria (Alta Vista was great), Coquimbito (Mr. Hugo bikes to Vina El Cerno, Tempus Alba, Trapiche and finally to Entre Olivos for olive and liqueur tastings), Lujan de Cuyo (fabulous 5 course lunch with paired tastings at Lagarde), and then back to Coquimbito (Bodega La Rural wine museum, La Botella tasting room). A good time was had by all on those excursions, although we may have been over-served at some of the bodegas :-) Another time we took a bus to Cacheuta where we spent the day at the public hot springs, checking out the many pools with  their varying temperatures (hot to cold). To satisfy our hiking needs we climbed to the summit of Cerro Arco (1500 metres) which was great exercise but that was the only reward......the 'sunny with cloudy periods' forecast never developed and our view from the top was lost in the surrounding clouds and light mist. The hiking clubhouse at the base however served ice cold cervezas, and with pictures covering the walls with summit views and a model of mighty Aconcagua (western hemisphere's highest summit at 6960 metres), we could sit and enjoy our beverages imagining we had just returned from the two week treacherous climb to the summit.

The Easter holiday in Mendoza started on Thursday, with Good Friday being the most special day (almost all shops and restaurants were closed). I'm also not sure the Easter Bunny comes this far south because I couldn't find any chocolate treats on Sunday morning :-(

Tomorrow morning we check out of our lovely apartment and the three of us will head to the bus terminal where we will board the bus headed to Santiago, Chile. The 7 hour bus ride through the Andes mountains was a highlight from our first trip to South America in 2010 and we are looking forward to doing it again travelling in the opposite direction this time. From Santiago we will continue on to the beautiful coastal city of Valparaiso where we will complete our adventure.

Just another mid-day stop to replenish our energy with one litre cervezas.

Alta Vista vineyard with the Andes Mountains in the background.

Merlot grapes ready to be harvested

Old cellar at Vina el Cerno.

Preferred parking for our bicycles. I presume they consider us all handicapped drivers.

At Trapiche winery......this is the room we should have booked our month-long stay in.

The 'do not disturb' area at Lagarde winery. 'Henry' was their top of the line wine.

The grand finale at our 5 course meal with paired wines at Lagarde. The 'pig' was a napkin holder.

A peaceful protest downtown on Easter weekend.

Taken at the Wine Museum which was part of the Rutini winery. There were all sorts of cooperage tools hanging on the wall to the left of the barrels.

Reporting In

An update from Mendoza to let everyone know that all is well.

Once the Vendimia Festival ended we thought we might be able to get to bed a little earlier.....with nightly activities starting after 10 pm it led to some late nights. But it didn't quite work that way. Good friends from Calgary (Dave and Susan) rolled through the city for 4 days on their own South America trip. We got together every day (sometimes only in the evening due to daytime tours they had pre-booked), so with dinners at our place or out on the town, it was close to midnight when we shut things down after consuming lovely meals, local wines and good conversations. I'm sure it was harder on them though since they had to get up early a few mornings for their tours. We had a good time together and we hope the rest of their journey (Salta region, Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires) goes as well as our previous visits to those places.

We played one game of golf at Golf Club Andina (established 1926). I had a great start to the 2016 season (par, birdie), but a soft finish. Rhonda had her usual early season rust (her description!). We decided to limit our golf to only one round as we weren't enamoured with the rental clubs -  and playing in the 32C temperatures.

Yesterday we finally completed our first trip to the Mendoza wineries, a much later visit than we had originally envisioned (2 weeks beyond our Mendoza arrival). We took local transportation (commuter train and bus) to Maipu, the site of the original wineries and had two excellent visits. The first was a short bus ride to Carinae (small and personal, owned by a French couple who came to Mendoza for a visit and stayed). Then we walked a further 3 km's along the road to get to Casa El Enemigo, our primary destination, and it was well worth the extra steps. Arriving without a reservation (recommended for the higher end wineries down here), we were treated very well and they created a table space for us in their crowded outdoor dining room to enjoy a delicious 5 course lunch with a wine tasting at our table that included 6 different wines. To top it off, their renowned winemaker (Alejandro Vigil, formerly from Catena Zapata) dropped by to welcome us and spend a few minutes answering any questions we had. His wines were wonderful, and I seem to have recovered my love for red wines during this trip, so I was able to join Pocahontas in enjoying the fruit of their vines. We are already looking forward to the 3 or 4 additional day-long wine trips that we will make during the next 10 days.

Tonight we will receive another treat......our oldest daughter Rachel, now living in Switzerland, is arriving for a 2 week visit to help us finish off our South America - Antarctica adventure.

Escalada de San Martin - the proper way to build a sidewalk.

A former bank building still in use. It was beautifully designed to be inset from the street corner allowing for a courtyard in front.

Plaza Espana, a lovely park near the city centre. There is colourful tile work through out the plaza commemorating the Spanish influence (including the Columbus discovery of the Americas).

After dinner one night with our good friends Dave and Susan......with the writing on the wall indicating all will be good when we eventually age.

The monument at the top of Cerro de la Gloria in the 900 acre San Martin Park which we walked all the way around one day with Dave and Susan.

During the walk up to the monument (above picture) we had a good view of the 22,000 seat amphitheatre where the main event was held during the Grape Harvest Festival (Vendimia) the previous week.

Our first course (cheese and prosciuto) during a delicious lunch at Casa El Enemigo in Maipu. The meal started with a chardonnay, followed by malbecs and malbec blends

Some leftovers from a group that were moving on to another winery. It seemed a shame that such great tasting wine would be wasted but apparently they were Canadian wine distributors and needed to retain their senses for their next visit......if only they had invited us to join their table before leaving :-(

The Journey is the Reward (ancient Chinese proverb)

The main target of this trip was travelling to Antarctica, which would be our 7^th continent since retirement. But as we have learned in our worldwide adventures, it is not so much about the destination but rather the journey. The unexpected experiences that occur along the way (mostly good), the friendly people that you meet and the knowledge you gain about other cultures and regions, leaves everlasting memories. Our travels south through Patagonia and the Salta region were an excellent example and now more good fortune is falling our way in Mendoza.

It wasn’t part of the initial plan but we arrived in Mendoza just as the annual week-long Grape Harvest Festival (Vendimia) was getting underway, one of the largest wine festivals in the world. In an area where Malbecs made Mendoza one of the top wine regions in the world this is truly a time to celebrate and they have a lot of fun with it. One evening we walked to Plaza Italia where the square was filled with Mendecinos listening to live music and the surrounding streets were closed to traffic allowing for food and drink stalls to satisfy the evening appetites of the revelers with lots of wine flowing. The next evening we took in a parade that didn’t reach our end of the city until 11 pm. It featured 18 ladies on decorated floats (nominated by every community within the Mendoza province) hoping to become the Festival Queen. The following morning the parade started up again but in addition to the wannabe Queens, who along with their princesses were tossing fruit (usually grapes) to the crowd as the parade moved along, there were gauchos (cowboys) on their horses (hoofprints rivaling the Stampede numbers), marching bands and native dance groups. It was fun to see especially watching the young people use fruit capture baskets at the end of long poles reaching up to the floats to easily collect their rewards. Saturday night’s main event, The Central Act, was held at the large amphitheatre in Parque San Martin (seating 22,000 patrons), and beyond selecting the Festival Queen there was a choreographed music and dance show with hundreds of performers paying homage to Mendoza’s history and wine cultivation. The show was sold out months ago but fortunately for us it was shown on national TV so we were able to watch the 10 pm start in the comfort of our living room. We both fell asleep though before the crowning of the Queen and the massive fireworks display which both took place after midnight………we have obviously not yet adjusted to the late night Argentinian way of life where even the restaurants do not open for business until 8 or 9 pm. The whole week was a wonderful re-introduction to the beautiful city of Mendoza for us and we will continue to ride the wave.

Our Mendoza apartment......tiny but with everything we need.

Plaza Italia.....a lovely setting for for music and street food.

The Grape Harvest Festival (Vendimia) Queen's Parade

The princesses would have been waving like this for over 2 hours while the rest of us would have been sipping on wine. Where would you rather be?

Leading off the Saturday morning parade with the Virgin of Carrodilla, the patron saint of Mendoza's vineyards.

A princess in her own right, with hopes to be a queen some day.

Native dancers, still fresh at the beginning of the parade where we were.

The district Queen and her princesses doling our fruit to the masses. Note the homemade pole baskets which were very effective in obtaining more than their fair share of the treats.

Our haul from the parade standing near the back row. The raisins came with an attached photo of the La Paz queen hoping to source some extra votes. We also caught a clump of grapes but they were consumed at the parade.