Paragliding, wine tasting, and alfajores in Mendoza, Argentina!

Chile Part 12

People say that Mendoza is a charming, relaxing place you go to when you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the big cities of Santiago and Buenos Aires, and they are so right! It's in Argentina, but just over the border so it's pretty close to where I am. Nevertheless, I got my first taste of what land border crossings our like, everyone stumbling out of the bus at 2 am (I was on a night bus) to show their passports and letting the police dogs smell their bags. It was somewhat annoying because it took at least an hour, but once we got there I was super happy, gazing in wonder at the streets lined with brilliantly colored trees. Mendoza is a relatively small city, but it has a huge and beautiful park called Parque San Martin, and is somewhat like a Argentinian Pucon in that there are tons of adventure activities you can do. Oh, and did I mention our wine tasting bike tour? So cool and fun.

Before we went to Mendoza, I was really curious to see the differences between Chilean culture and Argentinian culture. Needless to say, it's practically impossible to analyze an entire country based on one city, but I definitely noticed some un-Chilean quirks. For one thing, the food was a lot better (sorry Santiaguinos), in that the pizza was unbelievably delicious, the pasta sauces were very creative, and that famous Argentinian beef was wonderful. Also, the attitude towards the law is way more lax in Argentina. Jeff, a friend we made who was studying abroad in Rosario (another Argentinian city, birthplace of Che Guevara) and on vacation in Mendoza for the weekend, told us that the best way to describe people's attitude is that "laws are more suggestions than requirements." Once we caught a taxi to go downtown and the driver treated red lights as stop signs, I knew Jeff was right! I should also mention the topic of wine - the Malbecs of Argentina are indeed delicious and super cheap. Even for a young wine connoisseur like me, I could tell it was tasty.

However, for the most part, Argentinians didn't seem much different from Chileans. Sure, they pronounce certain sounds differently, and use different money, but that's about it. Says something about the peoples of the world, doesn't it?

Fotos!

A typically beautiful Mendoza street, lined with trees, creating a comforting tunnel-like feeling as you strolled.

Gnarly trees! Paired with some cool fountains.

You may be thinking, "Woah! Argentina is so cool! They've figured out how aesthetically pleasing toothpaste-color fountains are!" You're right, that's exactly what I thought. They had dyed all of the fountains in the city for a holiday celebrating the May Revolution, a precursor to Argentinian independence in 1816. 

Kicking it by the fountain 

These reminded me of the Bellagio hydro-spectacle!

Awesome entrance gate to Parque San Martin! It was originally built by the English for Turkish Sultan Hamid II, but ended up being a gift to Mendoza instead. I especially like the eagle at the top, and just how incredibly ornate it is.

Gnarly statue - good relection of the machismo culture

Multicolored avenues of tranquil beauty - unlike cluttered Santiago, where the hustle and bustle can often wear you down, here in Mendoza you can breathe deeply and gaze in wonder at your surrounds.

Shadow covered sidewalks

The brilliant colors of fall in Argentina

Pretty man-made lake with the tree reflections melting into the water...not unlike Lake Merritt, shout out to all you Oaklanders!

Mendoza should just really be called "Land of the Trees"

Some nice views from the top of Cerro Gloria, the biggest hill in Parque San Martin

Monument to the Andes Army, made by Uruguayan  Juan Manuel Ferrari to celebrate the Centennial of independence. Talk about epic!

Artsy photo - it's hard to get pictures of butterflies!

The Isla Malvinas soccer stadium, built for the 1978 World Cup, Argentina's first time hosting and first world title!

Mendoza from afar!

Good and cheap Peruvian restaurant - I like this photo a lot for some reason. The restaurant's called "Cinnamon Flower." Mmmm.

Don't ask me why, but there was an American space exhibit alongside one of the streets. I guess the Discovery astronauts just really needed some Argentinian wine or something.

More of Mendoza's beautiful streets with irrigation ditches shown extending far off into the distance - they do a great job of hiding the fact that Mendoza is actually a desert town, in that it receives very little rain throughout most of the year!

Seems just an old ordinary shack, right? Well, this was our "jumping-off point" (pun intended) for one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life - paragliding! I didn't even know we could do it until we got to Mendoza and asked about activities at the hostel, but that's just how things happen. If you're open to new things, you'll see how awesome it all is!

Paragliding is an amazing experience, no other way to describe it. It's like you're flying, except you're not on a plane! I came to the conclusion that it's as close as humans will ever get to understanding how birds feel when they fly - completely unrestricted, gliding along with the wind, the whole sky beckoning to be explored. 

We got such great views of Mendoza and the Andes! It was beautiful to see the contrast between the land hidden by the shade and the part illuminated by the sun.

The experience is great. You're basically sitting down in a makeshift seat, hands free to take pictures, letting the pilot guide the canopy. It's secured to you by all those brilliantly colored strings carefully arranged to not get tangled. To get into the air is quite a feat, you have to essentially run off the top of hill to get the wind to catch the canopy. Crazy! But awesome!

Laura and Jeff, our friend from Pennsylvania we met in the hostel, ready to rent bikes for the wine tasting! We had to take a bus an hour outside of Mendoza to a town called Maipu, where the vineyards lie.

Lots and lots of bikes for travelers ready to enjoy the Malbecs that await...and yes, that sign does say "Free wine only for customers," the idea being that after visiting all the wineries, tasting and returning your bike, you can stay for as long as you want and drink wine while chatting with the others. Pretty sweet! 

Our first stop on the tour! It was actually a Chocolateria/Fabrica de Oliva, not a winery, so we got to taste some delicious chocolates, flavored liqueurs and freshly made olive oil! Here, our tour guide is showing us how olive oil is made in this machine.

Barrels and barrels of olive oil...my Italian blood is crying out with joy!

At the chocolateria!

One word. Actually not a word...a sound..."mmmm." A bunch of different kinds of dulce de leche, an Argentinian caramel sauce. Alongside are some fresh jams and jellies as well. I bought the hazelnut dulce de leche and brought it back to Santiago. Mysteriously, it disappeared in a matter of days...

A green liquor, with sugar getting ready to be caramelized and added to ensure no throat burning...yes! It is absinthe! Personally, I am a huge fan of the flavor since I love black licorice. This was my second time trying it, my first being in Israel. And no, I did not see any green fairies.

The collection of liquors available to try, everything from absinthe to a dulce de leche mixture. Needless to say, it was amazing.

Yay!

A very Mendoza-looking picture. I really should send it to Lonely Planet for their Mendoza website picture, since the one they have right now is really boring and uninteresting!

Ironic since it is supposed to be a winery tour, but our second stop was at a great old hippie-looking hangout known as the Beer Garden. My facial expression is supposed to convey "I know, right??? My mind is blown too!"

Funky old foosball table

Hanging out with Jeff before our drinks arrived

We sat around a huge table, and as I gazed around, I could totally picture how it would look in the high tourist season, lots of people sitting around laughing and hanging out. As it was, I really enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.

Jeff, Laura and I, artistan beer in hand!

Finally, our first vineyard! They really are quite beautiful places, especially in fall when everything changes color.

Our wine guide, holding his wine in a very precious way, very indicative of how he felt about the beverage.

Cool little grape bunch design - each of the pictures represents a different grape and wine!

"To know how to drink is to know how to live."

Artsy wine photo!

Jeff and Laura, Malbec in hand

Me and Jeff, the expert wine connoisseurs!

Fun ambiance, lots of foreign travelers all meeting in one place to enjoy something together. 

The next winery! A stark contrast to the other one, which looked more like a log cabin, this one oozed modernity.

Barrel mania!

More pretty wine rows

These wines are world famous, and are exported accordingly

Why doesn't beer get such special treatment? As a hops man myself, I am slightly jealous. 

In between wineries, we pedaled down more tree-lined avenues of tranquility. Life is good!

The last winery! But drat, it was closed. Oh well. We were happy. A great day of wineries, beer gardens and chocolate/olive oil goodness!

Argentinian flags back in Mendoza.

Can't get enough of those streets...

We went back to Parque San Martin on the last day to enjoy it walking style, since the last time we had taken a bus tour and could only get off at certain places. This is the Fountain of the Continents! 

Each side of the fountain represents a different continent

This time, we actually got to walk along the lake, as opposed to just taking pictures of it. Mendoza is too pretty.

Flower

Another gnarly statue - see if you can figure out what's going on. It's the deer that's actually being taken down by smaller animals!

Coolest reflection picture ever!

Tree graffiti. I don't condone it, but it does look pretty awesome

My Argentinian treasures! From left to right, a delicious Malbec (only cost $5!) , a Mate (Cup to drink Argentinian herbal tea), Gancia (a liquor that someone told me I should buy), alfajores (chocolate-dipped cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche in the middle), and my hazelnut dulce de leche. So good!


Chau!