A Weekend in Mendoza

Last weekend I took a trip to Mendoza with four friends for a little weekend vacation. We left on a Thursday evening and returned on Monday morning. It was a great trip, with a few minor bumps in the road.

First we arrived at the bus terminal in Retiro to get on our bus to Mendoza. Apparently the government has made a new code regarding the tires allowed for such buses, so ours was deemed unacceptable. We left the terminal almost 2 hours later than planned. Other than that, our bus trip was actually fairly nice! Granted, it was almost 16 hours long.... But the seats were much more comfortable than plane seats - they reclined and had leg rests. I knew it would be a pretty good ride when they passed out little boxes of chocolate and candy to everyone. We had a little boxed dinner too which was fine. The only other unfortunate aspect was that they played World War Z, a zombie movie. I detest zombie movies. Also the tv was right next to my head so I had to blast my music and close my eyes to drown out the screaming and zombie noises. 

We finally arrived in Mendoza, but too late to make our connecting bus to our next activity. We actually missed two buses that day. We did finally get on a later bus and drove out to a small village. We spent the day biking around and meeting the people who live there. They were all very kind and showed us all kinds of interesting things. We also drank a lot of mate, which should be the official drink of Argentina if it isn't already.

our first stop - lunch with a woman named Susanna at her lovely home

what a sweetie

It was a beautiful day to eat outside - we had a pasta dish with chicken on the side.

The tour group we traveled with partners with this town in a rural tourism project. The idea is to take visitors to various homes and small businesses in the community. It supports them by bringing in extra income and allows us to get a more unique travel experience and meet local people. It was a cool project! Susanna actually cried a little bit when telling us how meaningful it had been to host people from all over the world in her home. I'd like to go live in her house and practice my spanish!

pretty views of the andes mountains

Mendoza & the surrounding areas are known for wine - especially Malbec

next stop, a local organic farm

We met a lovely couple who moved here and set up an orchard - they harvest peaches, among other fruit. They also collect honey here. We really loved talking to them and stayed for several hours, chatting, drinking mate, and eating crackers with jam & honey. The husband told one of the girls who came with me that she should return in December when his sons are home and find a boyfriend!

our host explaining the process of collecting honey

these little guys were either 10 days or 10 weeks old... can't remember

the aroma was interesting...

pig pile

they offered us homemade peach preserves - they meticulously chop each peach by hand

fresh honey!

bees adjusting to their new home

later we visited a pottery workshop and tried to make our own creations - it's actually pretty hard! This started out as a circle. 

Overall, our day in the village was really fun. We spent almost two hours talking with the couple who own the organic farm. We had a great time at lunch, making pottery, and briefly visiting a small vineyard. The best part of the day was breathing in fresh air and gazing at the beautiful Andes mountains. After spending two months in a loud, polluted, chaotic (but still nice!) city, it felt amazing to soak up the peaceful atmosphere of this small town. We stopped in a little convenient store at the end of the day and chatted with the owners. They mentioned that they had seen us ride by on our bikes and actually ended up knowing or being related to everyone we visited that day. I also spent several minutes bonding with their sweet dog. Side note: I really miss being around dogs! They are everywhere here but everyone is in a hurry and you can't exactly stop strangers on the street and ask to pet their dogs. Maybe I need to befriend someone who will let me have playdates with their dog.

On our second day we visited a large, elaborate winery. It's called Familia Zuccardi and is owned by an italian family. They also make olive oil but wine is their specialty. (Also I was not amazed by their olive oil, though it was nice). Sadly it was a rainy, dreary day. We still enjoyed touring the facilities and sampling both wine and olive oil. I liked the wine at this winery better than the smaller one from the previous day. But I'm not a wine person so I'll leave the comparison to the experts. To prove to me that you can indeed pair olive oil with sweets, our second tour guide (for the olive portion) brought us some complimentary dark chocolate truffles made with olive oil. YUM I will accept his argument.

our tour guide from the winery - I found him a little difficult to understand

pretty olive tree

our lunch restaurant - we had gnocchi, lots of bread, and cake :)

Later that day the sky cleared up so we were able to explore the city of Mendoza. It's much smaller and more laid back than Buenos Aires. If I were going to live in Argentina, I could definitely see myself living somewhere more like Mendoza. It's still close to the mountains and has nice views. It was the first day of spring so there were a lot of festivals going on. We saw several of them and just enjoyed walking around. 

a fountain in plaza de chile - a little bit creepy!

deserted subway cars

To add to the creepy vibe, we almost stepped on a dead rat. It was laying on its back with its red eyes and mouth open, legs in the air. I definitely screamed. Luckily for anyone who reads this blog, I did not take a picture of that.

art in the central park of Mendoza

roasting meet at the plaza de Chile

in the heart of the city, near our hostel

Our last day in Mendoza was my favorite. We headed to an area about 30 min away to ride horses through the foothills of the Andes mountains. Again, after the chaos of Buenos Aires this was just what I needed. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was gorgeous, and the animals were all very friendly. Our horses knew the path by heart so all we had to do was sit back and relax during our two hour ride. I befriended the two dogs that trotted along with us the entire time. At the end of our ride the horses actually galloped back to the starting point on their own since they are very familiar with the area.

preparing to leave

this isn't actually my horse - mine was a pregnant horse named Maria. She did NOT like to go fast.

after our ride we got to have a delicious asado feast - with chimichurri sauce of course (sort of tangy/garlicky/spicy)

our tour guide serenaded us with some traditional folk music and an interesting mash up of about 7 songs from the US haha...

our little lunch spot

A happy ending to a nice weekend getaway :)

I wish I could say our return trip was equally charming... The bus did leave on time but it wasn't quite as nice. The seats were a bit uncomfortable and mine had a questionable looking stain on it. A small child kept popping up above my head and moving my seat which was actually kind of funny. We didn't have any yummy snacks on this trip. Also, they showed Marley and Me so I was forced to hold back tears on the middle of a public bus... The bathroom had a toilet that didn't flush and also lacked soap and paper products. You can imagine how that was by the next morning. But what's travel without roughing it a little! I had a little bit of hand sanitizer so I survived. Even though I felt like dying a little bit when I finally returned to Buenos Aires, it was definitely worth the trip. I loved getting out of the city a little bit and relaxing in a more peaceful environment. It reminded me of why I love traveling in the first place.

A Day Trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Last week I decided to take a ferry across Río de la Plata to visit the small town of Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. I needed to make the trip specifically because you can withdraw USD in Uruguay (but not Argentina) and I needed to pay my rent this month in dollars. The only ticket available on the day I traveled was first class, but it was still cheaper than the other company's ticket (which would have taken 3 times as long). It's only an hour by ferry to visit an entirely new country!

So I took an early afternoon ferry and sat in my special seat. Honestly I don't know what was so special about first class... I guess I am more interested in budget traveling. But the seats were comfortable so that's nice. I mostly just listened to music and relaxed.

I arrived in Colonia and stopped at the visitors center to get a free map. Then I started to make my way over to the historic district, which is what Colonia is famous for. An older man called out (in Spanish): "Welcome tourist! You will love the historical area!"
It was nice to be greeted kindly. After living in Buenos Aires for a little over a month, I am already much more wary of people. I usually walk quickly so people will leave me alone. I appreciated that in Colonia there was a welcoming atmosphere where it wasn't necessary to be quite so guarded.

The historic section of the town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has preserved its original stone roads and architecture. There is influence from both the Spanish and the Portuguese - both have controlled the town in the past. When you first enter the historic area, you can cross through the city gate, which has a drawbridge and was rebuilt using part of the original stone wall. That wall also has it's own cannon sitting on top!

Calle de los suspiros (the street of sighs)

this street was built by the Portuguese and drains down the center, rather than the side like the Spanish streets

To sum it up in a word, Colonia is adorable. It's very sweet to walk along the old cobblestone roads (though it really makes for sore feet/legs later) and look at all of the interesting buildings. It kind of reminds me of Old Salem (at home in North Carolina) but with a Spanish & Portuguese twist. There were restaurants and stores, but they didn't go as far as to dress up in period clothing.

a plaza in the center of the historic district

many of the buildings were very colorful

others were more understated but still lovely

The town is so much more tranquil than hectic Buenos Aires. It felt wonderful to just enjoy the quiet and not feel like someone could steal my bag at any moment. I got to breathe fresh (non smoky) air and enjoy the sun for a while. There were lots of sleepy dogs laying around and basking in the sunshine. I had a lot of fun adventuring by myself, but it would also be a very romantic place to wander around, and thus there were many couples. Sadly my dear Donovan is about 5,000 miles away... but maybe one day.

this guy has the right idea

a view of part of the lighthouse from the wall near the drawbridge

My favorite part was the abundance of pretty spots to watch the river. There were plenty of rocky places along the shore to sit and relax. I ate some ice cream here :)

dulce de leche and some other flavor - maybe a cookies & cream?

Donovan insisted that I appear in some of the pictures - my camera actually fell into a little pool of water during this photo attempt so it's a good thing it's water/shock proof. Perfect for adventuring!

a lighthouse (built between 1845-1857) and the ruins of a convent built in 1694 but destroyed by fire in 1704 

I also walked along a little pier - there was no guard rail for about half of it which was a little bit intimidating. There were benches so it would be a nice place to sit and read or have lunch.

I wandered out of the historic area and into the more modern part of Colonia. Here there were banks and more restaurants and shops. There is really only one busy road but unlike in Buenos Aires, the cars often stop and allow you to walk in front of them. (I'm used to more of a "move or I will run you over" approach). I had a "chivito" for lunch, which is the national sandwich of Uruguay I think. It's basically thin beef with a fried egg and some ham. I can't remember if there was cheese. You can add lettuce or tomato but I don't like lettuce on sandwiches. Yes, I admit it. I think it's unpleasant and interferes with a perfectly good sandwich. Anyway, Argentina has a similar sandwich called the bondiola that is made with pork and includes chimichurri sauce (but more on that later). Things were much more expensive in Uruguay than in Buenos Aires but it was still fun to visit for a day.

the chivito

Adding to the feeling of history in Colonia, the town is also known to have vintage cars. I spotted one on my walk back to the ferry terminal. Anyone seen a car like this before? I'm not sure what kind it was. Apparently there is a man who you can pay to drive you around in his vintage car, if that is something that interests you. 

So after a full day of exploring the town, watching the river, trying new food, and attempting to use the infuriating ATMs (so many error messages), I settled on a bench to watch the sunset. I had about half an hour before I wanted to walk back to the terminal for my 8:30 ferry to Buenos Aires. That was probably the most peaceful part of the trip. The sun set directly over the river, with the city of Buenos Aires just barely visible on the horizon. The town was quiet now that the day was winding down and I got to just relax and enjoy being there.