We flew from Buenos Aires to Mendoza on viernes. We had a bit of trouble with the ride to the airport. We’d arranged for a 9a taxi the night before, and called at 5 after 9 to inquire. After some confusion about the arrangements, we were told it would be there in 5 minutes. They signed off with “take it easy!” We called again 10 minutes later and were assured it was just a block away. By 9:30 we were told that the car was there waiting. When I assured them it was not, the English got suddenly worse and I was told something about how the police wouldn’t allow a pick up there and that there would be no ride. Fortunately, the hostel got a car for us in 15 minutes and we’d built just enough time in the schedule to make the flight.
Mendoza’s a beautiful town a few hundred kilometers east of the Andes. We spent the first afternoon arranging activities for the next three days. Day one – today – we hired a local driver to take us wine tasting. We started at the largest producer in the region, La Silva. We took a tour of the winery including a museum with tools used for making wine going back to the 16th century. We tasted a single Malbec. The second winery featured a sparkling Chardonnay and a flight of 3 Malbecs. The third winery had a beautiful balcony overlooking the vineyards.
We tasted a Rose of Malbec, Tempranillo, Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet Savignon, and a blend. Good thing we share each taste! The final winery was a small producer who only distributed through their tasting room. They featured Cabernet Savignon and Malbec.
Tomorrow we’re off at 5:30a to hike on Aconcagua, the tallest peak in the world outside of the Andes. We’ll just hike to a base camp – nowhere near the summit! Then we’ll do some more wine tasting on day 3 and head off to Santiago, Chile for a couple of days.
We learned today that LAN pilots (domestic airline) went on strike today, but the strike only lasted half a day. All of our domestic flights are on LAN, so hopefully everything goes smoothly!