On sunday night rommel, katie, ryan and I took an overnight bus to mendoza. The hanging out at the bus station was an event in itself! What a crowded place. We decided to travel chevalier bus lines in their Suite!! They have the seats that go all the way down to beds, they offer a movie, free drinks, dinner and breakfast! Like first class! all of this for 400 pesos RT. not a bad deal!
We arrived in mendoza the next morning and set out to find a place to stay. We had researched - well Ryan and Katie had researched :) - hostels - and we had decided upon 2 places. But upon arriving in Mendoza it was a totally different story. We were "politely accosted" by several reps from other hostels and hotels. We did give in to see one place and well, partial ghetto let's say - and then they continued to offer us another place - we ended up in an apartment! 2 bedrooms with a little kitchenette - we got a great deal! So here we are in our little apartment and we have been keeping up with the Roland Garros - French Open!
Yesterday we went on a small tour!
After much hassle - well - hassle in american terms - let's explain. So we knew we wanted to visit some wineries and some olive factories(is that the word?). AND mendoza still honors the siesta hours - everything is closed between 12ish and 4ish! and we're still on buenos aires time of staying up late and getting up late - thus getting ready to leave our apartment at around 1pm. During the siesta hour!!! So this on top of trying to get more information about visiting wineries was a little frustrating. Tourist information being closed - people suggesting you go to a travel agency to organize a tour. But they can't tell you what wineries you would visit. So after a bit of running around - and a lot of finger pointing (picture a bunch of arms with fingers pointing in different directions and the 4 of us trying to follow them!) i marched into the Sheraton Hotel concierge desk and with Rommel's excellent skills of negotiations we were able to get a driver (with a great personality) to take us to 2 wineries and to an olivicola and to suggest some nice restaurants. We spent from about 2pm - 6pm with him. He, Gustavo, was our personalized tour guide. He took great care of us - we did this for 300 pesos.
Here we are at CarinaE - a small winery. A french couple from the Toulouse area of France - ended up retiring here and taking over a vineryard that had been deserted for some time.
http://www.carinaevinos.com/
We had a wonderful tour and tasted 3 wines for 15 pesos. It was a beautiful day.
We also went to an Olivicola called Laur - and saw olives and tasted them and yummy extra virgin olive oil....
And of course we left with goodies - oil, olive paste, olives, and not sure what else we bought!!!!
We also went to an older winery - La Rural - used to be the Rutini Family and now owned by some inverstors and still with the same winemakers.
We bought a bottle of Rutini for Gustavo and for ourselves! Now we just need to get a bottle opener!!!
And lastly worth mentioning is our fabulously unique meal we had last night at 23. http://www.winery.com.ar/locales.html
yummy!! - really outstanding and unique for argentina!!! Meaning - a menu that had more than just bife de chorizo or lomo a hundred different ways or milanesa a hundred different ways!!!
They had a unique ceiling and i think after all the food and wine he had had all day we got a little silly with trying to take pictures of ourselves with the ceiling!!!!
We arrived in mendoza the next morning and set out to find a place to stay. We had researched - well Ryan and Katie had researched :) - hostels - and we had decided upon 2 places. But upon arriving in Mendoza it was a totally different story. We were "politely accosted" by several reps from other hostels and hotels. We did give in to see one place and well, partial ghetto let's say - and then they continued to offer us another place - we ended up in an apartment! 2 bedrooms with a little kitchenette - we got a great deal! So here we are in our little apartment and we have been keeping up with the Roland Garros - French Open!
Yesterday we went on a small tour!
After much hassle - well - hassle in american terms - let's explain. So we knew we wanted to visit some wineries and some olive factories(is that the word?). AND mendoza still honors the siesta hours - everything is closed between 12ish and 4ish! and we're still on buenos aires time of staying up late and getting up late - thus getting ready to leave our apartment at around 1pm. During the siesta hour!!! So this on top of trying to get more information about visiting wineries was a little frustrating. Tourist information being closed - people suggesting you go to a travel agency to organize a tour. But they can't tell you what wineries you would visit. So after a bit of running around - and a lot of finger pointing (picture a bunch of arms with fingers pointing in different directions and the 4 of us trying to follow them!) i marched into the Sheraton Hotel concierge desk and with Rommel's excellent skills of negotiations we were able to get a driver (with a great personality) to take us to 2 wineries and to an olivicola and to suggest some nice restaurants. We spent from about 2pm - 6pm with him. He, Gustavo, was our personalized tour guide. He took great care of us - we did this for 300 pesos.
Here we are at CarinaE - a small winery. A french couple from the Toulouse area of France - ended up retiring here and taking over a vineryard that had been deserted for some time.http://www.carinaevinos.com/
We had a wonderful tour and tasted 3 wines for 15 pesos. It was a beautiful day.
We also went to an Olivicola called Laur - and saw olives and tasted them and yummy extra virgin olive oil....
And of course we left with goodies - oil, olive paste, olives, and not sure what else we bought!!!!We also went to an older winery - La Rural - used to be the Rutini Family and now owned by some inverstors and still with the same winemakers.
We bought a bottle of Rutini for Gustavo and for ourselves! Now we just need to get a bottle opener!!!
And lastly worth mentioning is our fabulously unique meal we had last night at 23. http://www.winery.com.ar/locales.html
yummy!! - really outstanding and unique for argentina!!! Meaning - a menu that had more than just bife de chorizo or lomo a hundred different ways or milanesa a hundred different ways!!!
They had a unique ceiling and i think after all the food and wine he had had all day we got a little silly with trying to take pictures of ourselves with the ceiling!!!!
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