Mendoza & Cordoba
Hola! Well Argentina has proved amazing so far! After a brief hiccup with the pass over the Andes being closed due to bad weather, we managed to get a hostel for the night. & try again.
The trip over the Andes was sensational and well worth doing during the day. There was probably only one moment where I held my breath, other than that, it was pretty spectacular. Bright blue sky’s and snow covered mountains!!
We arrived in Mendoza as it was getting dark, the map we were using was a bit off and after “I am sure it’s this way” (Matt) “I just have a feeling it’s this way” (Jess) we got there. My ‘feeling’ was not accurate. Quick shower and off to dinner. Little did we realise it was only 3 degrees and by the time we were leaving the restaurant for our 20 min walk home it was even colder!
We did have an amazing dinner, steak of course!! It was so cheap and so delicious!!!
The next day we got on a local bus and headed 40 mins away to a wine region. We were advised by our very lovely Hostel host that the Touristy Maipu was no longer the best place for visiting wineries and advised us to head between Chacras & Luján.
When we arrived we hired bikes, were given a map, Matt asked where he could get an Empanada (I’m not even joking) we got one and off we went to the first (and furthermost) winery. It was freezing cold and some of the roads were a bit skinny / dodgy, but the snow capped Andes were to the right and there was wine at the end of the trip!!
At the first winery we had a tour of the amazing establishment where they hand picked all the grapes and had vines that were from 1906!! We tried the regional Malbecs which were lovely and we were lucky to try a really expensive bottle of sparkling which that had left over from the owners lunch the day before!! While there we started chatting to an English / Aussie guy Darren and Aussie girl Steph who seemed really nice and were on a similar tour to us!
Next winery was where we decided to have lunch! It was delicious (steak again!!) and I had an audience of two dogs the entire time!! Darren and Steph arrived and we decided to have lunch together. A few more wines, we’re all best friends, we head to the next winery together…. A little bit tipsy! Last winery was a lovely blur of new friends and more wine. Shit it’s time to get the bikes back the boys race off and Steph and I meander behind!!!
Back to Mendoza and a quick trip to the super market to grab some stuff to make dinner!
The next day we had a whole day before the overnight bus to Cordoba so we headed off the San Martin Park which is a MASSIVE park. We walked for miles to get there and then for hours around the beautiful park in the lovely 21 degree sun!
That night we went into a plaza and came across a huge group of people all singing and banging drums dressed in River Plate gear! River Plate is an Argentinian soccer team and we think they’d won the cup the night before (thanks Matt, who is a bottomless pit of Soccer related information). It was pretty crazy! People were climbing lamp posts, flares were going off, and confetti bombs! That night we had a disgusting dinner at a cheap burger place, and hopped on a bus for Cordoba!
The night bus was ok, the chair reclined to almost flat. Matt seemed to sleep ok but I didn’t. We arrived at our hostel after about a 15 min walk and were shown to our room, 2 flights of stairs up. Toilets the flight below and showers all the way down the bottom. Uh oh.
All in all that hostel was rank!! Having a shower left you assaulted by the shower that was aimed at the face in about 1 square foot, feeling dirtier than when to got in and there was no where to put any soap or face wash!!!
Mid afternoon we got a waft of sewage into our room. Yum. And on the first night at 1am some guys decided to play the (metal) fuse ball table which was on the other side of our window. Yeah. F@cking sucked.
Cordoba itself was pretty cool, sensational Jesuit churches (so I was saying them je-sweet and Matt did think that was hilarious!!) and some nice buildings. We walked and walked an walked and ate shit loads of Empanadas. It did however get a bit boring. Cordoba is a University town, there are 7 Universities and about 150000 students, but on a Monday, Tuesday night there was not much to do. Not that there wasn’t hundreds of people out at all times of the day / night! But it was just a bit boring, so we headed to Buenos Airies a day early.
Slight hiccup again as after we booked our accommodation, we went to book the bus; bus strike. Changed our accommodation and resigned ourselves to our fate (another night in the sewage room). However, bus strike OFF!! Changed accommodation back and bought bus tickets!! This time we went for the ‘Suit’ where the beds recline completely flat and you get a blanket and pillow. Team that with a blanket I bought and I was snug as a bug!!!
So today we have done not much!!! Our apartment in BA is amazing, in a a really cool area called San Telmo (google it!) we went to the supermarket and got stuff of breakfast and lunch! After breakfast I napped. Then woke up for lunch. After lunch Matt napped!! Tonight we head out in search of steak (unsurprising) and tomorrow the walking / touristy stuff starts. And shopping. I need to do some shopping haha!
Miss everyone lots! It’s weird thinking that we still have about 15 weeks left!!!
xxx
Jess vs The World 