We didn't waste much time. After meeting up with the Buenos Aires crew, finding Hillary a synagogue, and downing a quick lunch at a restaurant that seemed to be out of everything but pizza and Milanese, we were picked up at our hostel and whisked away for an afternoon of alcohol.
The first stop was an artisan liquor store. They made a bunch of different liquors including our favorite, frutas rojas, absenthe, and a pimentón picante. They also made various liqueurs such as dulce de leche, dulce de leche con banana y chocolate, chocolate avellana, y chocolate menta.
Aside from the alcohol, they also made jams. I had to buy the tres citrus and the zapallo con canela because they were only AR $13 or US $2.50. I have yet to try them, but I'm sure they'll be delicious. My host mom in Chile makes her own jam from the fruit that her parents grown on their farm, but I have a feeling these ones will give my mom's a run for her money. We'll see.
The next two stops were wineries that were pretty much the same. A quick tour of the bodega and then a quick wine tasting. Grenata, the first one, offered us a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Malbec. (Just FYI: Carmenere : Chile :: Malbec : Argentina.) The second winery gave us a Syrah in addition to their Cabernet and Malbec, but all of the wines from the first winery were better, in my opinion.
The last stop on this tour was an olive oil factory. It was pretty interesting, especially since Hillary had met the owners son a few weeks back at a retreat in Cordoba, Argentina.
The olive oil was delicious, but what was I going to do with a bottle of Argentine olive oil?
That night we headed out for dinner. Argentine service is very different from American, and even Chilean food service. They aren't really in it for the tips, so they aren't too concerned with the customer.
A few notes:
1. Anything can be delivered in Argentina, including a coffee from one restaurant to a different one right across the street.
2. 10 minutes means half an our
3. Chances are they will not have your first or second choice on the menu.
After dinner we headed home. Not too exciting, I know, but we were tired from not sleeping well on the bus the night before.
Day two began with another great hostel breakfast and then we were picked up again to go hiking in the Andes. It was 2.5 hours up, lunch, and about 1.75 hours back down. We were accompanied by an adorable dog the whole way. I was impressed; it wasn't easy.
That night, we headed to the famous Las Tinajas restaurant that every Chilean talks about with Max's friend, Hannah who goes to Bryn Mawr, and her friend who goes to Haverford. It's tenedor libre and pretty delicious. We had to wait about an hour to be seated at a table that was vacant since we walked in, but once we sat down, we were pretty satisfied. After dinner, it was off to a bar to try Quilmes, Argentina's crappy beer that is cheaper than water. It wasn't great, but I'm glad I tried it. Chile's Escudo beats Argentina's Quilmes any day.
We went to bed around 4am and woke up around 9am. There wasn't a whole lot of time before us Chilean had to catch our bus, so we headed to Parque San Martin for about half an hour. It's a ginormous park on the edge of Mendoza. I wish I could have spent more time there. It was okay since the bus ride through the Andes was pretty amazing that afternoon.
I was home in Santiago by 9:30pm. Great trip!
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