Mendoza....good people, good times

The four of us got off the bus, and went to the restroom (remember, we don’t use the bathroom on the bus), and these ladies come up to us offering us toilet paper for a fee. Umm, hell no I’m not paying you for toilet paper at 7 a.m. in the freezing morning. I pulled out my napkins which I had stocked up, and took care of business. We were about to catch a cab when Hasil reminded us we needed to buy our tickets to Chile. So Rebe and I decided to go with CATA because we saw a good advertisement for them. We went into their clean office, and a very nice representative hooked us up with tickets for Santiago for 10 a.m. the next morning. Thankfully my itinerary had our hostel address, and we simply had to catch a taxi. Oh, but all the taxis go in line, so you can’t just hop in one. So we had to walk back to the front of the station, where we got in our taxi. It dropped us off in front of our lovely looking hostel, and we entered, where we were told a room would be available for us around 11. We were going to go elsewhere, but when I called the other hostel, they had the same response. So we decided to stay.

Ended up being a great decision. Hostel Independencia let us go ahead and shower, use the internet, and eat a hearty breakfast complete with bread with dulce de leche spread, umm yes!, coffee, and cereal. I also got to talk to my parents through Hasil’s “magicjack” phone thing, which was super cool because normally their internet connection cuts out, but this actually called their phone.

Once we got situated and cleaned up, we locked our stuff up and then headed into town. Mendoza is a lovely town, and I’m really glad I had the opportunity to visit. We thought we knew where we were going, but we quickly realized we did not. We asked this guy standing in front of his furniture store, and then we had 3 guys helping us, and the original one was actually calling the company and getting specific directions. Above and beyond what was necessary, and we really appreciated it.

BTW – in Mendoza, which is known for its wines, the thing to do is rent bikes and bike throughout the various vineyards. So at this point, we were trying to find the bike company, Mr. Hugo, which had been recommended to us. So it turns out the place we thought we could walk to was actually about an hour’s drive away. So we found the bus that would take us there after pooling all of our moneda and having Angie spot those of us who were short. Also found out the hard way that the buses in Mendoza don’t give change, as we put in a dollar to cover 10 cents and didn’t get change.

The bus ride was really chill and we just took in the scenery as it changed from city to industry to farmland. It was really funny though because about 30 minutes in, the bus driver calls out to Hasil to figure out where we’re going, as we’re obviously the only tourists on the crowded bus. Well, he calls out, and all four of us head to the front of the bus, and Hasil tells him where we’re going, and he’s like, no, it’s not your stop yet, so we all head back and sit down, and everyone is watching us. Then, when it is our stop, everyone on the bus is motioning to us kindly that this is it. It was really sweet.

So we made it to Mr. Hugo’s and met the namesake himself as he helped us onto our bikes. We were advised about which vineyards to go to, and also to not worry about it if the police came up to us – that they were only there to help.

In retrospect, this is probably one of the stupider things I have done, simply because we’re drinking wine, then getting on the highway with bikes. But it was a lot of fun, haha. So our first winery is the big industrial one, which comes with a tour and a free tasting. So we arrive 5 minutes past the hour, with tours every half hours, and the guard tells us to just catch up. Well, we somehow get really lost, and we’re about to give up, when we find the group. At this point, we have missed most of the tour, so we’re just being goofy and taking fun pictures. It was cool though to see the contrast between the huge wooden barrels and the modern steel containers now used. Then we got our first wine glass, and then we headed out. And ugh, it was far. The idea of riding bikes to various vineyards did not translate into reality quite as well. Mainly because there were about 10 different vineyards, and we rode to like #8 first because it had food. By the time we arrived I was tired, as well as not a huge fan of riding right on the road with all the cars, and well, yea. So we made it to this one, and we’re the first ones there! One of the owners greets us, and shows us the wine selection. We each pick a different type to have with lunch, and then head outside to await our parilla, which consists of bread and meat. They were all cooked picante, with pepper, but I requested not to have any on mine. It was a DELICIOUS meal and we all left satisfied. We then hopped back on our bikes to the next location.

BTW – the whole time we were riding, the Andes mountains were in our peripheral, which was really beautiful.

So the next winery was really fancy, and we looked around and followed the self-guided tour, but didn’t actually purchase anything. Then we biked for a really long time to the last one we were going to visit. When we finally reached it, we were in awe of it. You enter the gate, and it reminded me of an old estate, like in Pride and Prejudice. On either side of you are the vineyards, and then the house is behind it all. To our wonder, the vineyards had some grapes still on them, which was the first we had seen. So we stopped for some pictures and quiet tasting.

When we made it up to the house, and parked our bikes, a guy came up to us and was like, do you want to do a tasting? We said sure, but instead of leading us to the wine, he dropped us off with another guy in the middle of a tour with 4 other people. Well, that was awkward, but then our new tour guide completely ignored us. And by completely, I mean after 10 minutes we walked off and started to explore the place by ourselves. At which point he came looking for us and motioned for us to follow him. Which was when we decided to jet. So we left the building and explored the grounds. The first guy found us and was like, what are ya’ll doing? And we just said we wanted to see this pyramid fixture they had, so he watched us go look at it. Then, on our way out, Hasil and I stepped back into the office because he was interested in buying some wine. And the guy was like, in Spanish, you guys aren’t going to do the tasting? To which I replied that the tour guide was completely ignoring us, so we decided to leave. And as he laughed and said Bueno, Hasil was like “No, no es bueno.” And if you know Hasil, and you add his frustration to his British accent and to the look of intensity on his face, you would’ve laughed with me. But even now, I’m sure it was a you had to be there moment. But I think you also have to know him. So as we leave the building, I’m doubled over laughing so hard I’m crying, and Angie and Rebe are like what’s going on? And we all end up laughing, and on our way out Angie snatched a cluster of grapes in our act of retribution to the snotty vineyard men. We also “saluted” them from our bikes on our way out.

So then we biked some more and ended up at the grand finale – the sweet shop! I was really excited for this, and we paid 10 pesos for a tour and tasting. This shop had only been open for a few years, so I’m guessing they saw the market and took it. So we toured, then we got one shot, mine was like a nutella chocolate liquor, and then 2 pieces of chocolate, and then two spoonfuls of deliciousness. Mine was dulce de leche with chocolate and a jam with wine, which was interesting.

We hung out at the dessert shop until the place was about to close, which was when the cops showed up. They were really nice and let us take a picture on their bikes. Then, they followed us back to Mr. Hugo’s. At one point, I was riding in front of the group, and I had a cop escort on his moto right behind me. I made me feel so important! They escorted us right up to the gate, where we entered, passed off our bikes to Mr. Hugo, and sat down to another glass of wine. He basically hosted this gathering in his backyard, and we got to meet to Dutch girls, an Israeli lawyer, and two Americans who Rebe and I dubbed “D.C.” and “L.A.” based on their respective hometowns. We all chilled for a while, during which time I also had a lovely empanada made by the awesome Mr. Hugo. Then, we headed back into town to go to dinner. The cool part was all of our new friends joined us. Mr. Hugo walked us to the bus AND paid for our fare home. He was really great.

The restaurant we chose was a buffet we found in the guide book, which at that time cost 5 US dollars, but now cost 10 US dollars. I suppose once you’ve made the guide book you’ve really made it. DC and LA cracked us up with their language and their Spanish stories, for instance how they talked in Spanish around their friends here because they didn’t want to be rude, like Yo homey watchu wanna do that? Yuh, si quiero. (This might not make sense, but I need to remember it!) So we made it to the buffet, Rebe and I split a margarita, and I ate such a wide range of food, it was crazy. My favorite was definitely the pasta though, and then at the end I got a dulce de leche crepe!! Mmmm, I miss crepes.

Then we made it back to the hostel, oh during the walk home I had an interesting talk with the Israeli lawyer, and crashed.