After a little over ten hours on a bus, we pulled up to the main bus terminal in Mendoza around 7:30am. We all crowded into taxis and rode to our hostel, Lagares. The first couple of hours were a little hectic; we had planned on going on an all-day wine tour, but once we got there the company wouldn’t answer or receive our calls. Additionally, check-in at the hostel wasn’t until noon and we arrived before 8:00. However, the hostel was really nice (in quality and atmosphere) and we worked things out quickly. They allowed us to stack up our bags in the lobby until we were able to move into our rooms. Also, they had a big board that listed all of the activities you could do and, if you chose to go through them, they would make the reservations for you and arrange for you to be picked up right outside of the hostel. We decided to do the half-day wine tour and give ourselves the morning to see the city. Caroline, Mary and I headed out close to 8:00 to take in the city of Mendoza. It was just as pretty as I had heard it would be! It is known for being the cleanest city in Argentina, and I would easily accept that as the truth. The streets were all lined and canopied with huge trees that were every shade of orange, and we seemed to frequently stumble across random fountains and landscaped areas. We walked all the way to and around the main plaza, Plaza Independencia. It was gorgeous with fountains, sculptures, manicured green grass, and a half-way underground art museum in the center. The three of us stopped at a bakery near the plaza for coffee, and after headed back to the hostel to check on our things. On the way back we stopped by a store for an Argentina-based chocolate factory to browse, and then I made them stop at a street vendor so I could finally purchase my Messi jersey in order to be prepared for the start of the big games next week! After arriving back at the hostel we were able to put our stuff in our rooms and change. Mary had read in her travel guide that Mendoza supposedly has a very large, famous park, and we decided that we wanted to go see it. After walking for over an hour and nearly across the entire city, we finally made it and I can without a doubt say that seeing the park was well worth the walk! It was probably the most beautiful park that I’ve ever seen; the main entrance was marked by a wrought-iron gate that was covered in banners left over from the bicentenario and a stretch of trees lined a driveway that gave way to what seemed like a forest, which opened up to a view of the Andes. Additionally there were thick groves of trees of all different shades that surrounded fields where numerous young people were in the middle of soccer games. Although we only were able to stay for about fifteen minutes we were all extremely glad that we had taken the time to go see it. We rode a cab back to our side of town, picked up lunch, and then got on the bus for the wine tour a little after 2:00pm. The drive out to the wineries was probably one of the most scenic drives I have ever taken. I feel extremely lucky to have seen many beautiful places in my life, but I honestly don’t think that I will ever forget the sight of the seemingly never-ending rows of red, orange, and yellow grape vines, the evergreens behind them, over which towered the snow-capped Andes against the clear blue sky. Just thinking back to it still puts me in a complete state of awe. The first place we visited actually wasn’t a winery, but instead was an olive oil factory. It is apparently a growing industry in the area, and although we weren’t really expecting to go there the tour was kind of interesting. I now know the exact meaning of “extra virgin” and “virgin” olive oil, and have seen the process in which the oil is squeezed out and collected to be filtered. However, I think everyone who was there would agree with me when I say that the best part was the taste test at the end! The second stop was a relatively new, small winery. We went inside and got to see the storage areas and the barrels of reserves. The tour ended in a sort of underground basement area (which we nicknamed “The Bat Cave”) that contained reserve bottles of wine as well as a spotlighted glass table. We all took our seats, had a short lesson on the pre-process of drinking wine, and then got to do our tasting. The last stop on the tour was an older and better-known winery. We toured this one as well and got to try a few of their wines, and afterwards the bus dropped us back off at the hostel. When we had first gotten to the hostel the man working there had told us that they had a grill on the upstairs deck that we were allowed to use. Following the idea of one of the boys in our group, all 15 of us pitched in twelve pesos each and Josh and I went to a supermarket to pick up supplies for our own little asado. After a minor setback with starting the fire in the grill, things went well and we all had a lot of fun! While the boys grilled we all enjoyed appetizers of wine and bread dipped in olive oil, and after the cooking was done we had steak, salad, beans and grilled pineapple for dessert. I had so much fun hanging out with everyone under the night sky of the southern hemisphere, and couldn’t be more thankful for being able to spend time in such a beautiful place.
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